Amazing Jesus Rap by Tamara Lowe

Enjoy!

Jesus Loves YOU!

Be blessed,                                   Michelle

There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. We love because he first loved us. (1 John 4:18-19)

A New Day

 

This is the beginning of a new day. God has given me this day to use it as I will. I can waste it or I can use it. I can make it a day, long to be remembered for its job, its beauty and its achievement; or it can be filled with pettiness and ugliness. What I do today is important, for I am exchanging a day in my life for it. When tomorrow comes this day will be gone forever, but I shall hold something which I have traded for it. It may be no more than a memory; but if it is a worthy one I shall not regret the price. I should like it to be gain, not loss; good, not evil; success certainly not failure. So here is a day and here am I. God will not expect more of me than I am capable of giving, but He will expect my best. There will be beauty, and I dare not miss it. There will be cries of people in distress, and I must hear and answer. There will be moments of temptation, but I must not yield or be impulsive. There will be opportunity for good, and I must be ready, and when night comes, may I look back without regret, and forward with a radiant spirit and a thankful heart.

My dear friend Valerie from Life’s Little Garden has had a lot on her heart lately, and her sweet daughter sent her an encouraging email, which is written above. Valerie posted it on her blog to share how her daughter had blessed her with those words. When I read it, I was having a ‘not so good’-Un-Christian day (ashamed) myself, and those same words changed my attitude and blessed me too. Thank you Valerie and Maranda!

Maybe those same words will bless you too!

Michelle

FINALLY!

Remember the big fire of Maquoketa? It happened January 19, 2008.

Yesterday was April 27, 2010. Do the math. That’s 2 YEARS, 3 MONTHS, and 8 days ago! For 2 years, 3 months, and 8 days, THIS is what we have looked at in downtown Maquoketa. Very disheartening. We basically have no downtown business now, then to look at this…                                   Today, the cleanup began. PRAISE THE LORD!  Click on photos to enlarge.                                                       More pictures later, or if you want, click THIS LINK, and read the updates for yourself! 

Miracles DO happen. I just never thought I’d see it in MY lifetime.

Be blessed,                                     Michelle

Checkin’ In

 

I guess my life has not been very exciting lately. I haven’t been quilting, I haven’t been de-cluttering, I haven’t been doing much of anything I guess, except working, but it seems I have been busy, and always on the go.

I was sick on Thursday, and missed work. I still didn’t feel the best on Friday, but Louie and I managed to get to the courthouse to apply for our passport cards so we could go on vacation this summer, and cross the line into Canada. Our plans are to go to Michigan to see Mackinac Island, and then to see Niagara Falls. Louie wants to go the the Falls on the Canadian side, so we need a passport.

Today, we spent the day with my brother and his wife. It was my brother’s **th birthday. I don’t think he liked the number he just became. I’m only a year and a half behind him, then I’ll be that same number. Numbers don’t bother me….it’s the aches and pains that bother me. We spent the day junkin’, and I brought home several vintage sheets.  One place, I bought two sheets, and 4 pillow cases, and it cost me $2.67 for all of it. I think I came home with 6 sheets, total, and 3 curtains panels that were homemade from quality quilt fabric. Those panels will be torn apart and turned into fat quarters for my stash. SCORE!

We let the birthday boy choose where he wanted to eat, and he chose here.    

Louie and I came home, and although I said I was going to take a nap, I watched a DVD that we bought at a pawn shop for $4. I loved it! I know…I’m always about 2 years behind in when the movies come out. What can I say?                                  

Last night Louie and I watched a couple movies too. We watched this movie that we picked up at Goodwill for $3.38. We really enjoyed it.                                                     Then we watched this OLD movie on VHS, which I took out of my movie collection. I had seen this on years ago, but Louie had never seen it, so it was fun to watch again, and Louie enjoyed it     .

See, not much exciting going on here. Tomorrow I plan on spending some time with my Sissypoo while Louie goes to a meeting. I’ll probably come home with more vintage sheets, and maybe, we’ll even go see a movie or something.

Be blessed,                                        Michelle

State Pool Tournament Winners

                                Louie has been gone from home since Wednesday morning about 9am, until this evening (Sunday) about 6pm. He has been playing in the State Pool Tournament which is held each year in Davenport Iowa. He started out by playing in the single’s 9- ball competition, and won 33rd place, which paid him $90. On Thursday, he played in the 8-ball competition, but did not place in that event. On Friday, he pretty much had the day free, except for playing in some mini-tournaments and some Scotch Double’s tournaments, so after I got off work, I ran down to Davenport to have lunch with him, and spend some time junkin’ with him. I spent about 3 1/2 hours with him, and our friend Jeff, then I came home. For some information on the tournament, click on the link below.

http://www.kwqc.com/Global/story.asp?S=12287907                                  The Davenport RiverCenter is the scene of the Iowa State Pool Championships Wednesday April 7, 2020. The tournament will attract 1,600 players for its five-day run through Sunday. A player practices Wednesday in the north side of the RiverCenter.          (Jeff Cook/Quad-City Times)

                                   The Davenport (Iowa) RiverCenter is filled with 180 pool tables Wednesday April 7, 2010 for the Iowa State Pool Championships that will attract 1,600 players. The tournament started Wednesday with 9 ball competition. (Jeff Cook/Quad-City Times)

Saturday was when the team tournaments started. Louie’s team played about 12:30 in the afternoon, and spent the day playing in different brackets (winners and loser brackets). He played pretty late last night, then his team needed to be back at the River Center to play again today at 1:30pm. They ended up with 4th place out of 84 teams in their division, and each member got $140 ($700 for the team), so he was a very happy camper!                                  Members of the team, were Tim Sommers, Craig Bodenhofer, Chad Spain, Sean Sommers, and Louie Bartels. (Click on the photo for a larger view.)                                   

Louie had a very good time, and we would like to say a special thanks to my sissypoo for providing him a place to stay while he attended this event. We love you, Nancy Jo!

Have a wonderful week, and be blessed!

Michelle

 

Happy Easter!

Today Louie and I had the $25,000 Mexican Dish I told you about yesterday,  for lunch. It smelled and tasted every bit as good as I remembered.                     We added the sour cream, lettuce and tomato after it was on our plate, which will make it great for reheating.                                                     I pray you all had a wonderful Easter, celebrating God’s love.

Be blessed, and have a wonderful week.    Michelle

 

Lost and Found!

In my continuing attempt to de-clutter and reorganize, I came up with an empty bookcase. I had been thinking about getting out all my cookbooks (that I never use) and putting them in a bookcase in the kitchen. (Don’t ask my why I have cookbooks, or even pick up more cookbooks. I wish I knew!) So since I had a bookcase, I dug out my cookbooks.

YEARS ago, I was in Wisconsin visiting a friend, and  we went to an Amish store. Probably for lack of anything better to buy there, I bought a cookbook. I don’t think it is an Amish cookbook, but they were selling them there. The name of the cookbook is The Basics and More Cookbook. In that cookbook, I found a recipe that Louie and I really liked. (Is it just me, or do you usually only pick ONE recipe out of any given cookbook?) I have quite a lot of cookbooks, and have given some away, donated some, put some on garage sales, etc, and I feared I had passed on this cookbook, as I had not seen it for quite awhile. I was quite happy tonight when I found it! The recipe in the cookbook that we liked is called $25,000 Mexican Dish. (Don’t ask me why…I have no clue.)

Since I have rambled on about it for so long, I thought I would post it here for you to try, if you would like. I need to say, that although I like Mexican food, it is not my favorite kind of food, and I also want to say that alone, I really don’t care that much for refried beans, but in this recipe….YUM! Maybe, it will be our Easter dinner!

So without further ado…here it is.

$25,000 Mexican Dish

2 C. Bisquick biscuit mix

1 C. water

2-15 oz cans refried beans

2 lbs. hamburger, fried and seasoned

16 oz. jar salsa

3 C. shredded Cheddar Cheese

16 oz. sour cream

Chopped lettuce and tomato

Mix Bisquick, water and beans; spread in greased 9 x 13” pan. Sprinkle fried hamburger on top. Spread salsa and shredded cheese on top. Bake at 350* for 30 minutes. Top with sour cream, lettuce and tomatoes just before serving. 

Submitted by Mary Zook                    Virginia Beach, VA

Let me know if you try it, and especially if you try it and like it!

Be blessed!                                     Michelle