Book Review: Get Lost Your Guide To Finding True Love by Dannah Gresh

  I chose this book because I work closely in mentoring relationships with some fantastic young ladies. I finished the book wishing that there had been something like this on the shelves back when I was a single young woman.  
Dannah is writing in a way that is relevant to the young women in today's culture.  This may cause a rewrite in 10 years, but for today, it's great.  But let's get this clear, her anecdotes are relevant for today's culture but her message is relevant for all time.  This woman is writing as one who has been there, done that and now she wrote the book! In a good way! 
She is addressing a major issue I have come across in my own interaction with young women which is their skewed perspective on love. 
    Dannah starts out the book by identifying what she labels "the violent craving". Any woman young or old should be able to relate to what she's talking about.  "The craving makes us all insatiably hungry for the attention of a guy..." She helps young women to see how the craving they experience is actually misdirected. Instead of being focused on guys it should be directed to our loving God and Father.
      She then moves into a 10 day love feast challenge where she lays out a daily plan for worship, focusing on God's word, and then she expounds on one specific idea. I love that she even includes the titles and artists to specific worship songs for each day. 
     She wraps up the book with more insight on what a girl who is lost in God looks like, what a guy lost in God looks like and even what a relationship lost in God looks like.  
     I am so very thankful that there is a book like this on the shelves of stores now accessible to young ladies.  I will definitely be utilizing this book in my mentoring relationships and I think it is a great tool for anyone who works with teenagers or single women.  If I was the mother of a teenage daughter, this would be the next gift I would buy for her. If you are a teen or young adult woman, this is the next gift you should buy yourself.
Look for it on April 2 when it is released.

These Pancakes Will Change Your Life - Cinnamon Roll Pancakes

I'm being serious.  These pancakes quite literally changed my life.

I fell in love with the first bite and haven't recovered yet.

I ate them 3 weeks ago.

Just looking at the pictures is causing me to salivate and swoon. 

These pancakes are in no way healthy, or low calorie.  Which is why they taste so good! 

I cannot remember a food that tasted just as decadent, amazing, delicious, and satisfying as these pancakes.  The last bite was every bit as good as the first, except you cried a little because you knew it was over.

I am not exaggerating.

Try them for yourself.

These will be our new Christmas morning tradition.

They are just what I've been waiting for. The perfect blend of flavors and textures.

They are worth every calorie. 

They are also worth every dirty dish and extra step it takes to make them.

Be prepared to have your taste buds changed forever.

Mmmm - mmmm - mmmmm.

I got the recipe off a page on Face Book called Texas Recipe's.


Cinnamon Roll Pancakes: 

* I would cut this recipe in half if you are only making them for your family. 
This recipe makes an extra large batch. 


*for the Pancakes:
4 cups all-purpose flour
8 tsps baking powder
2 tsp. salt
4 cups milk
4 tbsps vegetable oil
4 large eggs, lightly beaten

*for the Cinnamon Filling
1 cup butter, melted
1 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
2 tbsp ground cinnamon

*for the Cream Cheese Glaze
1/2 cup butter
4 oz. cream cheese
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla

Directions:

To make the Cinnamon Filling:
Mix the three ingredients together. Place in a disposable piping bag and snip the end off or put in a Ziploc bag and snip the corner off.


To make the Pancakes:
Mix the dry ingredients in one bowl and the wet ingredients in another bowl. Stir them together until everything is moistened leaving a few lumps.

Heat your griddle to exactly 325 degrees. You don't want these too cook too quickly, and you won't want your cinnamon to burn.

Make desired size pancake on greased griddle and then using the piping bag and starting at the center of the pancake, create a cinnamon swirl. Wait until the pancake has lots of bubble before you try to turn it. You will find that when you turn it the cinnamon swirl will melt. The cinnamon will melt out and create the craters which the cream cheese glaze will fill.

To make the Cream Cheese Glaze:
In a microwave safe bowl melt the butter and cream cheese and then stir together. Whisk in the powdered sugar and vanilla. Add a little milk if needed to make
it a glaze consistency. 
Place pancake on plate, then cover with cream cheese glaze. 

Be prepared to be amazed.
Oh, oh, oh so good! 
Oh, and just to brag on him a little bit, yes Hunky Hubby did make these.  He is the breakfast chef after all! 
I know, I'm spoiled. 
Please don't hate me.

Got Mah Hair Done!

I've got boys. 

3 of them to be exact. 

And no daughters, just to be clear. 

But that doesn't mean it's all dirt and armpit farts around here. Although it is like that around here a lot. 

Sometimes my boys like to show me their soft side and they like to do my hair.

Exhibit A:

Now as their Mommy, I absolutely LOVE when they decide to do this.  Even though it means the loss of some extra hairs for me. I just think it is so sweet.  Plus, I figure it's good training for when they are married one day.  Almost every girl I know likes to have her hair brushed by someone else.

What I think is hilarious is that they have absolutely no idea how to make a pony tail (I had to help with these).  Usually in their attempt to make a pony tail, they end up making a knot. Out of my hair. And lets not even talk about braids. This is not a skill boys are born with people.  I'm not sure when little girls learn this stuff, seeing as I don't have any of my own to watch.  But it is cute how my boys try and make me look 'beautiful'. 

 And just so you know, I dutifully wore my hair like this for at least an hour so their Daddy could see it when he got home. Even though my boys and I have different ideas on what beautiful hair looks like. 

Plus, it absolutely melts my heart when they look at me and say "You look pretty Mommy". Especially when I'm still in my yoga pants and wearing yesterdays makeup.  I don't care one whit then that we have different opinions of whats 'beautiful'! 

I love my precious sons. 

Oh and by the way, I made this headband out of a t-shirt sleeve and some felt.  What do you think?  I usually wear it a little differently, but it is a great way to re-purpose the sleeves of old t-shirts.  Especially if you used the bodies already to make a t-shirt scarf! It's a win/win. I bet you could even make the flowers out of t-shirt material.  Oh man, stop me now! I'm getting giddy with the thought!

Enjoy your life,

Jana

Tear Mender

Here's an amazing product that I just have to tell you about. 

Tear Mender. 

It mends tears. Not to be confused with tears. 

Oh don't you love the English language?

Any way, it mends things without having to sew them!  Which means it can mend those holes that are in the hard to reach places! 

With 3 boys and a husband who works construction, I have ample opportunity to use this product.  It has helped save my sanity when trying to eek a little more life out of H.H.'s work jeans.  I mean really, how do they get holes in some of those places anyhow?  It isn't very easy to get a sewing machine in a pant leg and we all know that those iron on patches are basically worthless. 

The other day I had the perfect opportunity to use Tear Mender once again!  Whilst visiting a friend, one of my sons managed to snag his jeans on something in the house and created a big ole tear. Don't worry, there were no tears. (hee, hee)

Did you ever notice how kids only seem to wreck their good clothes? Anyway, I didn't want to toss the jeans because they are relatively new and I have one more son who should be able to wear them. I knew that sewing a patch on wouldn't look right, so I got out the Tear Mender! 

I used it to glue two pieces of old denim on the back side of the jeans. 

Like this:

Once it dried, I turned the pant leg right side out 

and it looked like this:

Nice and tidy. However, because they're my sons good jeans and I was hoping to get some more use out of them for that purpose, I decided to dress them up a little bit.  Now it did cross my mind to put a Monster patch on these.  I know he probably would have liked it, but I decided on something a little more subtle, yet hopefully stylish enough to make it look like it was done on purpose. 

I broke out the embroidery floss and needle to do a little bit of a hand stitched accent. I decided to make it look a little monster-esque by using x stitches like a monster scar or something like that.

Then, to pull it all together I added some stitches on places that didn't really need it on the back and front of his jeans.  

I'm happy with the final result.  He has worn them now that they have been patched and they look cute.  You almost don't notice the place where the jeans were torn and the stitching looks intentional. We've even gotten a compliment or two on the 'look'.

  What I like about the Tear Mender is that it stays supple through many washes. It also doesn't seep through the denim, so as long as you are careful when applying it, you never see it. It is supple enough not to be scratchy either. I actually haven't had a pair of pants I've repaired outlast the Tear Mender yet. It just keeps hanging in there. It's amazing stuff that will change your life.  And it'll save you some $$ since you won't have to buy new clothes so frequently.

I also just used it to repair the boys snow pants. Now I need to figure out how to use it to mend H.H's socks.  He pokes holes through all the toes! 

I bought my bottle of Tear Mender at Fleet Farm in the 'work pants' section. Go figure.

 My bottle is about empty so I better hurry up and get a new one before you all rush out and buy one for yourselves.  

You're going to want to! 

(*disclosure: I was not paid or compensated in any way for the review on this product.  I just really happen to like it and wanted to share it with you.)

Red Velvet Cupcakes

Valentine's Day wouldn't be complete without a delicious dessert.  

In memory of my beloved Grandmother who made me a Red Velvet cake for all of my Birthdays, except the year I made her tint it blue instead, we made Red Velvet.

Also, because Red Velvet goes along with the red and white Valentine's color scheme.

I did not use Grandma's recipe, instead I turned to Pinterest to find something a little bit easier.

Pinterest never disappoints.

I picked these zebra striped Wilton baking cups at our 

local Wal-Mart.

I thought they added just the right amount of wildness to our cupcakes. 

Then we got to the task of mixing up our batter.  The best part of Red Velvet is it's beautiful red color. 

 My friend Mikayla lent me a hand with the baking.  Actually she lent me two, buts that's not how the phrase goes.

Wyat is always around to help with the baking as well.  

You can see what part he likes to 'help' with the most.

Oooh, there's our pretty batter!  

Looks like a bowl of blood.

Well it does! 

Come on, give me a break, I live with boys!

Our cupcakes took exactly 18 minutes to bake.  I over filled most of the cups, I guess they really only need to be half full. Fortunately they still turned out okay.

Aren't they pretty? We topped them off with some really yummy cream cheese frosting.  I used a zip-loc bag and just cut off the corner.  That worked so much better than trying to spread it on. Plus it looks prettier too. 

These cupcakes get a 5 star rating in my book. 

I'd share the link with you.  But I can't find it! Good thing I wrote down the recipe.  I'll keep looking for it and when I find it, I'll come back and post the link. 

Otherwise just search around pinterest yourself! You'll find lots of delicious options to choose from.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! 

 We like to celebrate this holiday in our house.  Well, I like to celebrate it. But it isn't hard to get the boys involved. 

So this week I made plans for us to have  a little Valentine celebration.

For just a few dollars you can pick up a few decorations to make a festive and fun table for the family.

The boys also got involved in the decorating by cutting out hearts, and making me some Valentin'e day cards.  

A little crepe paper, some home made heart garland, and it looks like a veritable Valentine extravaganza! 

Don't you just love it?  

I do.  

Especially the home made cards. 

They are so precious.

Let me quote one for you: "P.s. I really, really, really love you.  Thank you for being my teacher, cook, mom, caretaker, adviser  instructor, and thank you for loving me."

Doesn't that make your heart just melt?  

I couldn't share the main message of the card, but trust me, that boy was being real and letting out his raw, true feelings in a sweet and loving way.  

I can just imagine the love letters he'll write to his wife one day.  He's starting out good! 

My personal favorite decoration I picked up at Wal-mart:

Mustache straws!!!

Isn't it crazy that one day my little boy might be able to grow one of these bushy, fuzzy things on his very own lip?  I hope not. I like the fake ones a lot, but the real ones.  Well, let's just say, it takes a special man to pull it off.  And he's usually wearing cowboy boots and dirty dungarees.

My middle son made me a flower vase. I'm sure when it's all done it will be painted up in a glorious fashion! I kinda got it in it's raw undone form.  But it's the thought that counts! 

A jar full of candy makes a festive table centerpiece.  Plus the boys were excited about all they would get to eat.  They are currently rattling the walls upstairs.  They are supposed to be working quietly.

We made Red Velvet Pancakes for breakfast this morning.  To get them in a heart shape, because that's the only shape that would have been acceptable this morning, I used a ziploc bag and a frosting tip.

You may accidentally have pancake batter pooling on your counter top if you are a messy cook like me.  But it all washes up.

Aren't they pretty?

Here's the recipe.  I got it off of Pinterest.  But I don't think it is pinned and now it's lost in cyber space somewhere.  You could probably Google it.

So, I mustache you a question . . . 

How does your family celebrate Valentine's Day?

Lego Bombs

Lego Bomb: a small piece of plastic that is sharpened to a point, usually by small blunt teeth, left inconspicuously on the floor in a common walk way, waiting for an adult to step on it.  

Results in immediate loss of limb use, excruciating pain, and causes voices to reach octaves not hit since puberty. 

I'm sure I'm not the only person that has suspected but never had proof, that our kids leave Lego bombs on the floor with the express intention of causing their loving parents pain.

I now have proof.

Exhibit A:

3 Lego men with their pointy little hands sticking up in the air, placed strategically in front of the basement stairs, waiting patiently for their first unsuspecting victim.

Exhibit B: 

My hidden camera caught an unidentified child filing those plastic hands into super pointy spears of death.

The child who shall not be named will pay for this dastardly deed.  But now I have it:  

Proof that Lego's really are left on the floor for the express purpose of crippling poor unsuspecting parents.  

Who invented these things anyway? 

Fortunately, I was able to avoid a most certain intense and crippling pain in my foot because I saw these guys laying here.  

The children's plan was foiled. 

This time.

But it has happened to me before.  It has happened to all of us before. The worst happens to be when the Lego blends in with the carpet.  You have no chance against that horrible pointy piece of plastic that somehow manages to find the most sensitive spot on the bottom of your foot. Then what happens when you step on it is that instead of taking a full step like you had planned, the sudden searing pain combined with your body's inertia, forces you to crumble to the ground in a floppy garbled mess, shrieking like a banshee or a stuck pig. 

Meanwhile your children try very hard to suppress their grins and laughter at the greatest victory they can achieve when it comes to inflicting pain on their parents.  

I'd consider fighting back, Lego with Lego, but for some reason children seem to be immune to the horrendous, biting, fierce, sharp, intense, horrible, crippling pain that is caused by stepping on a Lego.

I bet they were invented by a kid. 

And to think, I have actually paid money to bring those things into my home. 

No worries, I've got my own ammunition.

I guess they'll be having liver and onions with a sauerkraut and a squash side dish for dinner next time we get a babysitter. 

Hee, hee, hee.