Recipes

I am up to my ears in recipes around here. I have no more need for cookbooks- I have tons of great ideas from the internet and the blogs I read. My friend Kim Thomas had a fabulous idea and started collecting all of her favorite recipes on her blog page. I've eaten some wonderful things Kim has made, so anything she posts has got to be GOOD! Here are some other new recipes I've tried this month and we loved:

Stuffed Green Peppers (one of Dave's favorites, but I don't like green peppers, so he got a stuffed one and the rest of us just ate the yummy mixture).
Spicy Shrimp with Penne Pasta (again, Dave loved it but a little spicy for the kids)
BBQ Salmon (Dave and I loved it, the kids don't like seasoning on their fish but I'll remember that next time!)
And I'm making this tonight:
Sausage Egg and Cheese Tartlets I'm hoping my kids will be attracted to how cute and bite size these are! UPDATE: The kids attacked these tonight, only a few were left. Definitely a re-run recipe!

So, as you can see, my 2009 resolution to meal plan every week is still going well and we are having lots of fun homecooked meals around here. My biggest problem is organizing all of the recipes I want to try. I'm going to tackle that situation tomorrow (right now it's a big pile of papers, newspaper clippings, tons of Google Reader stars and internet bookmarks). Or maybe that will be one of my 2010 resolutions!

I'm giving in to Google

One last holdout from my corporate working days has been my addiction to Microsoft Outlook. It just "feels" more structured and professional. But it's a little outdated since I use the 2003 edition, and my POP download setup means I can't use it if I switch to a phone with email capabilities (I am still coveting an iphone). I really don't want to have my email address tied to Comcast forever, even though it's really our only choice for reliable high speed internet.

So it's time for a switch to webmail, and the only real choice is Gmail. I've been using it as an extra account for several years to get a feel for it, and I am starting to like the "Label" vs. "Folder" advantages. My last hangup was my thousands of old messages in Outlook personal folders. I must take them with me! So, after several days of research, I have figured out the beauty of IMAP and how to copy everything to Gmail.

I'm sure I'll lose a few things in the move, but I think the benefits will outweigh the losses. Here's my new email:

stewsolutions at gmail (dot) com

(I had to take out the @ and . so I don't get spammed, but you know what to do)

Through Daniel's Eyes

Daniel got a camera for Christmas. Today we downloaded his pictures and he has picked out a few favorites to share with you. There were over 500 pictures so it was fun to pick out some of the ones that actually made sense. Enjoy the world from a 4 year old's point of view!

Playing Catch Up and Honoring Friends

There is a lot going on these days, and I haven't really had time to blog, download pictures, or even catch my thoughts. I hope to work on some of those things soon, so you can see what my cute boys are up to these days. For now there is one thing I wanted to write about. It happened over a week ago, so I am just a little behind!

I have a dear friend Alicia that I met about 8 years ago in BSF leadership. She worked at the same company as I did and we would often have lunch. Since I've been at home, she's become a full time working mother, so we don't have a lot of free time to spend together. But she is a "kindred spirit" so we always are able to pick right back up where we left off. Alicia's sister fought a long and valiant battle against cancer and passed away last year.

A few weeks ago, I got an email from Alicia asking me to "hold the date" for a special event. She decided to do something very special to honor what would have been her sister's 45th birthday. She had a tea party at her home and invited her closest friends. But this wasn't just any tea. She went all out: decorated with her best china, made everything from scratch herself including the food, detailed menus and gift bags. I have no idea when she found the time to do all of this!

I was also shocked when she said she had something to say to each of us. She went around the table (there were 5 of us there) and shared how each of us had taught her more about God. She used a specific name of God and scripture to illustrate her thoughts. Because one of my love languages is words of encouragement, this really spoke to me, but the thought she put into the individuality of each person's impact on her life was amazing. I was truly humbled by the things she said, because I never would have guessed how my little investment in her life had grown her character.

I was so blessed by Alicia's presentation and tea. It was such a beautiful way to honor her sister's life and encourage her friends at the same time. She also acted on her ideas as they came to her - she knew if she waited it might not happen. I'm glad she didn't wait, because I know it was a divine appointment to celebrate a very special birthday.

My one movie review of the year....

I thought since we see about one movie at the theater each year (actually we saw both "Fireproof" and "Bolt" in 2008, so maybe our average will increase), I should probably blog about it.

We were able to go see a movie for my birthday, and I chose "Slumdog Millionaire" because I'd heard a few intriguing reviews and some good feedback about it. I knew I could get Dave to go because he lived in India for a year when he was 18, and I knew I would be happy because there was a love story involved.

But after seeing the movie, which did exceed my expectations, I realized there are so many other layers to the story. There were two other main themes that jumped out at me. One theme/question was- Do we really believe all things can and will work together for our good? Things that are hard or seem inconsequential at the time can really play a huge role in our lives if we let them become a part of us. Every moment of our lives helps us become who we are.

The other theme I saw was: Genius can come in unexpected packages. How many times do I dismiss someone's opinion because I think they are too young, too rich or poor, too inexperienced, or uneducated? Perhaps they really do know what they are talking about (or maybe not). But at least they deserve a chance to be heard. Appearances and background really can be deceiving.

There are other things to discuss here but giving more details would spoil the plot: Salim's relationship with Jamal, the redeeming love of Jamal for Latika and the culture and progression of India as a country over the period of this movie. The scenery was breathtaking- just seeing the pictures of the slums brought back memories of how my dad smelled (stinky) the first time he came home from a trip to India.

Rumor is this movie will win the Oscar for Best Picture in 2008. I hope it does, because I would love to see more movies like this one in the future.