Can You Kick It??
I came across a challenge on a msn home page this week and it got my noggin thinking. The article asked if we could kick the bottled water habit. There were some interesting facts and I would like to share them with you. (see below)
Bottled water is not my drink of choice and I don't buy a lot of it, but this still has gotten me thinking about all the waste we produce for the sake of convenience. We throw away a plastic bottle to save having to carry a reusable bottle. How lazy is that?? It is healthy for our body to consume all this water, but how healthy is it for our planet? And our pocket book?? Let's face it most bottled water is fancy shmancied tap water in a pretty bottle.
I was inspired by these facts and fetched my handy dandy Starbucks reusable water bottle sent to me by none other than Doozie. :o) thanks dooz!
exerpts from an article by Kelly Magill, publisher of
Positively GreenIn 2006, Americans spent $15 billion on bottled water and an estimated $16 billion in 2007. One can argue that it’s money down the drain. About 24 percent of bottled water is just filtered tap water such as Aquafina and Dasani. You can achieve exactly the same quality of water by installing a filter on your faucet at home. If the cost ($100 or less) of purchasing a filter for your home causes you to hesitate, consider this; you can buy a half-liter of bottled water for $1.35. If you filled this same bottle with filtered tap water once a day, it would take roughly 10 years before you spent that $1.35. However, if you purchased one bottle of water every day, after 10 years you will have spent $4,927.50.
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It's me again. The $$ alone would cause me to carry a reusable bottle around!!
I read on the msn site that it takes more water to produce the finished bottled water product than the bottle holds. Now isn't that just smart??
I pledge to drink more good ole tap water and stop wasting my money on other people's tap water. What about you? What do you do??
Goodbyes and Dreams
when one of your favorite characters is killed-off on your favorite tv show. You see it coming.......yet can't look away.
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Last night I dreamed I was going to be crowned an Indian Princess. (I AM part Cherokee Indian. Only a little part, but still a part. )I wondered how I had gotten chosen. I didn't have a crown so I was going to use this intricate beaded necklace as a crown. I had to show my escort how to put it on me but I couldn't find him any where. I wandered around the campus (maybe of Bacone college? A local Indian College) looking for my unknown escort. I kept walking into private meetings, and secret rooms. I never found him and never had my coronation.
Welcome........
Welcome to our world sweet baby!
I have a new niece!
...born to my brother in law, Jory and his wife Noriko who live waaaaay over in Japan. We will be seeing the baby and her family some time this summer. I wait with bated breath. I want to hold her, kiss her feet and breathe the sweet baby smell of her head. :o)
I also plan on kissing her big brother Kai all over his little face when I see him.
I wonder what they will name her??
*Isn't her mother beautiful?!
Second Grade Idol
Uncle Joe has been working with Cassidy to learn a song, Summerwind. (Made famous by Frank Sinatra) He has been asking her to sing it for her class. She finally agreed and you can read about what happened over at
Joe's place. I wish I could have been there. It makes me misty every time I hear that angel voice sing. I think it is waaaay cool that UJ has gotten both of our girls interested in music. When Carly was little he would take her to the "music room" (a finished detached garage at our old house) and he would play the electric piano and she would sing with the microphone and sing the funniest songs. She was so little....about 3 yrs old and would sing these serious songs and sing on key to what UJ was playing and made it up as they went! Cassi fills our house with songs all day every day, and this day she filled the classroom too.
Mothers Day
Today was such a great day. I awoke briefly as Uncle Joe hopped out of bed very early and shut the door to our bedroom. I thought (and hoped) something was up. I stayed in bed like a good Mommy and waited.
Soon after I dozed off again I was awakened by my family serving me breakfast in bed! I have never had breakfast in bed so it was a real treat. I had scrambled eggs, toast with peach jam, mangoes and some small pieces of steak that UJ and the girls cooked up. It was great and I loved it! Now that they have set the precedent I look forward to next year! They also got me a very beautiful hanging basket with tiny purple flowers in it that will hang in our front yard. :o)
I have a surprise gift coming this week. I have no idea what it is but CassiJo does and I am thinking she will tell me soon. :o) She can't keep a secret.
Church was great too. Our neighbors had a great day: Two sons and a mom were baptized and their daughter dedicated. What a great gift to the mom and grandmother!
Dinner at Mom and Dad's was wonderful. Not necessarily the food (see previous post) but my father was so different. He sat next to my brother as usual. My brother (and formerly my dad) says something to the effect of "let's get this prayer over with quick I'm hungry". My dad's response was "Praying isn't a chore any more. It is a privilege" and he began the most beautiful prayer. He has always been able to verbalize his feelings well, but this just blew me away! He was praying this eloquent yet simple prayer that brought me (and every other adult female at the table) to tears. Something that struck me was " Thank you for mothers that were, mothers that are the mothers to be." I cannot tell you blog friends how much it thrills my soul to hear my father speak his heart and love his Saviour and not be ashamed. He has taken his God-given place as the leader of our extended family and I know he will be forever changed and I look forward to the changes in our family. My mother is still in a bit of shock over the transformation. (Not that my dad was ever terrible, but you know, when Jesus comes in and cleans house He throws out all the garbage and you get a REALLY clean house!)
We went to G-moms to love on her this afternoon and we got to visit with AndiJo and her daughters while we were there and we got to hear from JorySan from Japan. The baby is due in a week and if she doesn't arrive by 5-18 a c-section will be scheduled. We didn't even get a hint as to a name, but we call her S'Kai (sky) Jorysan and his family will be coming for a visit in July or August and we can't wait!
G-mom was feeling better after a terrible bout of sickness over the last month until she tried my cake then she got a bit of a tummy ache. :o( We had a fun visit, as usual, laughing at all UJ's antics. AndiJo wrote her mother two beautiful poems and a free-form type story. It was very beautiful and made me smile. She should really write more!
Happy Mothers Day to all my bloggie friends far and near. If you were here I would hug your neck and tell you I love you.
Liar Liar Pants on Fire!!
OK so UJ has been a budding "Foodie" for a long time now. He watches the FoodNetwork a lot and has now subscribed to a cooks magazine that I shall not name. In that magazine there are recipes that have been re-vamped by scientific type cooks.
I found a "Fluffy Yellow Cake" recipe in there and decided to give it a try for Mothers Day.
The instructions were not horribly complicated but they did involve three bowls of mixtures then a combination of said mixes, one of which was egg whites beaten to stiff peaks. I followed the directions very closely the
second time. The first ending in a pile of mush that I had to pitch in the trash. (Boy was I mad as some the ingredients were special purchases and I generally hate to see things to to waste.)
I licked the spatula after I poured the batter in the pan. Hmmm that tasted very salty. I reviewed the recipe to verify that I followed the measurements to the "T". No obvious mistakes. I thought it may be the buttermilk in the recipe that made it taste different so I went ahead and baked it.
I pulled the beautifully baked cake out of the oven and cut a small corner off to test it. It was H-O-R-R-I-B-L-E!! I couldn't believe it! I called UJ into the room to taste it too and he agreed: TOO SALTY. (even though it only called for 3/4 t. and I didn't even have that much so it was less than that)
I hoped that the "Fool Proof Frosting" on the next page of the magazine would be sweet enough to lessen the salty taste. They were right, the frosting was foolproof, but not enough to help the doomed salty cake.
I tried to pass the cake off as good at Mom's and everyone ate it, but they all commented on the saltiness and advised not to make it again. The only person that really liked it was my niece ElleJo who loves salty food. I gave her three big pieces to take home. :o)
Next time I am trusting a real Mom-tested, family approved recipe and not something from a test kitchen full of scientists. They lie.
Labels: the worst cake ever
Happy Boobah Kai!
Our nephew Kai turns one!!
Happy Birthday SweetieKai
Don't Be Jealous
We are going to see Iron Man today. :o) We love comic book Super Hero movies!
We will have a full review when we get back!
PM update: Fabulous! Hot! Great movie! RDJ has done some of his best work as Tony Stark/Ironman and Gwenyth is a lovely Pepper Potts . We took CassiJo and had to hide her eyes a few times...good thing she sat by UJ who has Bat-reflexes and could hide her peepers in a flash.
If you go stay for ALL the credits for a nice little surprise.
We had a fun day and are now settling in for a post-movie/shopping rest.
Mothers Day shopping (check)
Ingredients for the bestest fluffiest yellow cake ever (check)
Ingredients for the bestest chocolate icing (check)
Cool black mixer (check)
Hot hubby to cook with (check)
Beater-lickers (check)
OK now I better get to work on that cake.
Letter from CarlyJo
Dear Mom and Dad,
I am leaving forever. Megan and I are creating a band so we can meet our one true loves. I took dad's cell, but don't bother calling. the flight we're going to take doesn't allow cellular devices, so please pray that all goes well.
*heart* your eldest daughter and her friend,
CarlyJo and Megan
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their one true loves are The Jonas Brothers and their plan is to make a band so they can get to know them and marry them. Good plan huh?
We will be going to see the JB in July. I think we are down to about 68 days or so. woohooo!!
