Archive for Personal
June 4, 2008 at 1:33 pm Filed under Personal
…is starting to look the same around here. 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED TORNADO WATCH 447 IN EFFECT UNTIL 8 PM EDT THIS EVENING FOR THE FOLLOWING AREAS
THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
IN MARYLAND THIS WATCH INCLUDES 13 COUNTIES
THE ATMOSPHERE IS FAVORABLE FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS TODAY. DAMAGING STRAIGHT LINE WINDS AND LARGE HAIL ARE THE GREATEST THREATS…BUT THERE IS ALSO A RISK FOR ISOLATED TORNADOES. HEAVY RAINFALL AND CONTINUOUS CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING WILL BE COMMON WITH THESE STORMS.
June 2, 2008 at 5:44 pm Filed under Personal
The next category for Laura’s cooking class was to cook a meat. She selected Sweet and Sour Pork.
Ingredients:
To Serve 4
1 lb lean boneless pork
2 T. Dry Sherry
salt and pepper
1 egg
3 T. Flour
3 T. oil
2 Carrots
2 Onions
1 Cucumber
1 Garlic Clove
¼ c. ketchup
2 t. Soy Sauce
2 T. Vinegar
1 T. Brown Sugar
1 T. Cornstarch
1 ¼ c. Water
Cut meat into ½ inch cubes. Put into a bowl with sherry and seasoning and marinate for 30 minutes.
Lightly beat egg. Dip pork cubes in egg, then coat with flour. Heat oil in large skillet. Fry pork for 8 minutes till golden brown on all sides. Remove from pan.
Peel and chop carrots, onions, and cucumber. Peel and crush garlic. Add all to skillet and stir-fry for 5 minutes over fairly hight heat. Reduce heat to moderate. Add ketchup, soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, conrstarch dissoved in water and reserved marinade to the pan, Bring to a boil and cook for 3 minutes, stirring.
Return pork to pan and cook for 3 minutes more till heated through. Serve with plain boiled rice.
May 14, 2008 at 9:57 pm Filed under Personal
Some time ago, I blogged about robins making a nest in our front porch light.
I thought would be good to sneak a peak inside the nest, as I figured eggs were there by now, and I’ve seen the robins sitting on it, (although, I don’t know how, with the little space they allowed for themselves!)
Here is what I saw:
May 13, 2008 at 8:36 pm Filed under Personal
Laura’s soccer came to an end today with the final tournament game. They won 4-3!
For more photos of the two years Laura has been playing with this fine team, look HERE.
May 10, 2008 at 8:53 pm Filed under Personal
And I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not; I will lead them in paths that they have not known: I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto them, and not forsake them. ~Isaiah 42:16
My son graduated from Northland Baptist Bible College today. He has worked hard for this moment. I was indeed blessed to go to Wisconsin and see him graduate.
May 3, 2008 at 8:44 pm Filed under Personal
Some of my regular visitors noticed that my blog was having issues, it was posting double. So once people would click on the comment link, they would go to a page where the blog post appeared twice, and there were two comment forms as well.
After searching forums and Wordpress expert pages, turning off all plug-ins, and changing the template with no results, I finally took the plunge and upgraded my Wordpress Blog.
Now to some, that doesn’t sound like something hard to do, but this was my first time trying it. I was afraid I would make a mistake and lose everything, so after practicing (with John’s OK) on Boz and Oz, my first step was to download all the contents of my blog folder. Next I looked for a way to download my database files, (a tad harder to understand how to do), and finally, following the short version of how to upgrade your wordpress blog, it was done.
The newest version of Wordpress sure has a different looking dashboard. It has taken some getting used to, but only around a short week since updating it, I love it.
So if you have a Wordpress blog, and you are having issues with posts showing up twice, try upgrading your Wordpress.
May 1, 2008 at 2:02 pm Filed under Personal
My grandmom used to feed the squirrels peanuts straight from her hand. I remember as a child watching with wonder as she would reach out and they would just come up to her and reach for the peanut.
I used to fuss at the squirrels always eating my bird food. I have decided not to fight them anymore.
Now, I have a few squirrels that come to my ledge of my bedroom window to get peanuts and eat on the bird food. These squirrels have been great fun to watch and “play” with. They especially make me laugh when I am not expecting to see them, peeking in, ever curious, or asking for food.
April 25, 2008 at 2:09 pm Filed under Personal
Today is my mom’s birthday, so we filled the house with flowers…
Happy Birthday Mom!
April 21, 2008 at 1:58 pm Filed under Personal
I thought I would share a few of my views of the new SimCity Societies.
Where the graphics and detail are amazing, there have been a few setbacks in my new Sim Journey.
But first the graphics. Here are a few screen shots: (you can click on the images for a larger view)
As you can see, it has day and night like SimCity 4 Deluxe, but also clouds…and rain!
Your rolling hills can even have morning fog. It’s adorable.
Some of the issues has been the announcement “Your Sim City has stopped working.”
There is an option to debug the issue, but that never works.
Also, there is a pop up on start up, which makes mention that I need to go to Microsofts webpage to update for the Video, and when I actually went through the few dozen steps to find the download, and figure which kind of computer I had (32bit), I downloaded it, and upon installation, I was told this was not for my computer.
I finally went to SimCity’s webpage, logged into the forum, and saw people had a thousand issues and I am actually one of the lucky ones who get a few minutes play before it crashes.
The good side of this program is that it does a regular save of the game every 5 minutes or so. So when the crashes do occur, you usually haven’t lost a whole lot.
One other item comparing it with the last version of SimCity, so far, it doesn’t seem as challenging. The actual attempts to earn money for your city doesn’t seem as difficult.
I am glad I have the game, but I am glad I didn’t have to pay the full price for it.
One more image before I go.
A skatepark at night.
Ok, many aggravations, but a lot of fun!
April 14, 2008 at 10:07 am Filed under Personal
Today is my mom and dad’s wedding anniversary.
Since I love looking at their old courtship and early marriage photos, I thought to make a slide show for this occasion.
I miss seeing them together now that dad is gone, but he sure is in our hearts in a big way. I know he is in mom’s.
Click here to see the movie, “Julian and Juanita”
April 13, 2008 at 5:35 pm Filed under Personal
My desktop PC is 5 years old. It’s not running 100%, but it has been very good to me and I still love it.
However, since a lot of what I do with running my sites, web & graphic design, homeschooling, photography, communications involves my computer, I felt it was time to get a new one before the old one potentially dies on me.
Since these days they make laptops as powerful as desktops, I decided to get a laptop.
So, here is my new toy:
HP Pavilion Laptop with AMD Turion 64 X2 Dual-Core Mobile Technology TL-60
Product Features
- AMD Turion™ 64 X2 mobile technology TL-60* for AMD dual-core technology in a thin-and-light design; HyperTransport™ and AMD PowerNow!™ technologies and improved security with Enhanced Virus Protection**
- 3GB DDR2 memory for multitasking power, expandable to 4GB
- Multiformat DVD±RW/CD-RW drive with double-layer support records up to 8.5GB of data or 4 hours of video using compatible media; supports DVD-RAM; also supports LightScribe direct-disc labels using compatible LightScribe media
- AMD dual-core technology enables you to work or play with multiple programs without impacting performance; AMD64 technology provides simultaneous support for 32-bit and 64-bit computing; 512KB + 512KB L2 cache memory for efficient processing
- 17″ WXGA+ high-definition widescreen display with BrightView technology and 1440 x 900 resolution
- 250GB SATA hard drive (5400 rpm)
- NVIDIA GeForce Go 7150M (UMA) graphics with up to 1071MB shared video memory; S-video TV-out
- QuickPlay touch-sensitive music and DVD controls; HP mobile remote and ear bud headphones included
- Built-in HP Pavilion Web cam and integrated microphone make it easy to chat with family and friends
- 5-in-1 digital media reader supports Secure Digital, MultiMediaCard, Memory Stick, Memory Stick PRO and xD-Picture Card
- IEEE 1394 (FireWire) interface and 4 high-speed USB 2.0 ports for fast digital video, audio and data transfer
- Built-in high-speed wireless LAN (802.11b/g); 10/100Base-T Ethernet LAN with RJ-45 connector; 56 Kbps high-speed modem
- Weighs 7.7 lbs. and measures just 1.7″ thin for portable power; lithium-ion battery and AC adapter
- Long-lasting, high-gloss HP Imprint Radiance wave finish
- Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium Edition operating system with Service Pack 1 (SP1) preinstalled; software package included with HP Photosmart Essentials, muvee autoProducer, Cyberlink DVD Suite and more
Another reason to buy a new computer?
To play my new game, Sim City Societies!
April 11, 2008 at 12:56 pm Filed under Personal
It was brought to my attention that posts and comment boxes are appearing twice on my WordPress blog.
I have made no changes personally that I know of that would have caused this. However, my host did make some upgrades to my MySQL that might explain it, at the moment there doesn’t seem to be a fix for the issue of the duplicate posts. I have tried deactivating all the plug-ins (as per Wordpress Forums) as well as changing the theme, but so far none have worked.
However, the blog IS working and so are the comment forms.
If you have an understanding of why this would happen and how to fix it, please let me know!
April 7, 2008 at 7:18 pm Filed under General, Personal
Having friends all around the world, it’s often interesting to hear how they view things about what goes on here.
Namely, the topic of some discussion has been our elections.
I had to chuckle when Petra (from Holland) sat down at the dinner table recently and stated, “If Hillary or Obama wins to be president, this country is in deep trouble.”
Well she got a lot of nods of agreement.
But we all agreed, Petra included, that the funniest statement came from John (in Australia).
We were talking about these primary elections, and John was finding it hard to understand this long and drawn out process. “Why not just have one day for these primary elections?”
I didn’t quite know the answer, but listed a few reasons why it was likely done in the past and is carried on today.
He came back with, “It’s like….Presidential Idol!”
Oh, if we could only have Simon set them all straight!
April 7, 2008 at 6:57 pm Filed under Personal
Miranda is so thoughtful…and clever!
She thought of a cute way to show how Silas is growing by taking his photo each month next to a pillow in their green living room chair.
Has it been a half of a year already?
Here is our little Silas, now 6 months old and 20 pounds!
For larger image Click HERE
April 5, 2008 at 5:42 pm Filed under Personal
Laura’s soccer is back in full force, this past week with a game each day!
She is having a great time!
Full size HERE
Now if we could only do something about these games in the cold and the rain!
March 31, 2008 at 11:28 am Filed under General, Personal
I never thought that the name Barbara was any kind of popular, but it seems in the 30’s, 40’s, and 50’s it was.
Check the popularity of your name HERE
March 29, 2008 at 7:27 pm Filed under Personal
“Every father should remember that one day his son will follow his example instead of his advice”
I couldn’t resist sharing this photo Miranda took.
Silas is getting so big. I just love how he is looking up to Enric in this picture. It would be great if he played guitar and piano like his dad.
March 26, 2008 at 6:31 pm Filed under Personal
As I mentioned in my Easter blog, Laura made Spice Cake for the occasion of our family holiday dinner.
Here is the recipe for the Spice cake recipe I have been using for years.
2 1/2 c Sifted cake flour
2 1/3 c Sifted all-purpose flour
1 c Sugar
1 ts Baking soda
1 1/2 ts Cinnamon
3/4 ts Nutmeg
3/4 ts Cloves
1 ts Salt
1 c Brown sugar
1 c Buttermilk
3 Eggs
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Grease and flour 2-9″ layer cake pans or one 13×9″ oblong pan.
Sift flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and salt together.
Add the brown sugar, shortening and buttermilk.
Beat 2 minutes. Add eggs. . Bake layer pans for 30 to 35 minutes, oblong pan 45 minutes until cake tests done. Cool.
Frosting
Beat together
3 cups Confectioners Sugar
1/2 cup presoftended butter (1 stick)
3 t. vanilla
2 Tablespoons Milk (or as needed)
Laura’s cake was delicious and almost gone by the next day!
March 24, 2008 at 12:19 pm Filed under Personal
Well Easter at our house is ever changing of late. We’re getting kind of used to Linda and George not being here, and we have come to realize that Stacey could show up with just about anyone, but for me, this year, Miquel was truly a missing piece. However after a nice morning in church, and spending part of the early afternoon relaxing, watching Across the Universe, my neices and nephew arrived with Aiden and Conner. We had a great dinner, mom did another outstanding job, and it was a good family time.
Laura baked her very first cake ever. Spice Cake with frosting from scratch.
Conner has grown so much since we last saw him at Christmas!
Aiden kept us ALL busy. He remained a blur to my camera all day!
The ham was perfection!
But the mashed potatoes just seemed to cry out….Where is Miquel?
Hope you all had a blessed day!
March 24, 2008 at 11:56 am Filed under General, Personal
Did you make it to church this Easter?
If not, can I invite you to take a listen to my Pastor from Anchor Baptist Church in Millersville, Maryland? Listen HERE
“…He became sin for us, He was the only One who could do it.
Have you ever thought to yourself, I am a pretty good person, I keep the law…
I think I’ll make it [to heaven]. No. ‘By the deeds of the law shall no deeds be justified.’ the Bible says. That’s the truth. You can’t keep the Ten Commandments, I can’t keep the Ten Commandments. We all have a common disease, it’s called sin. Christ had to come to make a payment for that sin debt.
Now folks, I am not pointing anyone out, we’re all in the same boat with this one. We got the disease. And the disease is going to take us to death. And if we die without Christ, we are in a terrible place because we’ll pay for the sin debt ourself. Now if you’re here today, and you think, I should pay for it myself, I deserve that, the result is a separation from God in a place called Hell-and it’s fire and brimstone. Oh, there you go, fire and brimstone preaching.
Ok. Your house is on fire. I am walking down the street and I know you’re asleep. I see the flames coming out of your roof. I don’t want to be fire and brimstone caller, I’ll just let ‘em cook. You’d say, what kind of person are you? Where is your humanity? What kind of person would we be if we let them face an eternity of fire without saying, ‘turn-turn away…turn to Jesus? He’s paid for your sin.”
Download the entire mp3 here.
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