Scribbles and Scrambles ~ Scribbling

Sunday's sermon included a simplistic explanation for a very frustrating scenario. The scenario? The attempt to live a Christian life. I say attempt because I mean that so many of us (I've got more fingers pointed at myself) just try to live better, do better, be better. A truly authentic Christian life isn't going to have much of me in it. My attempts at living that life are me. Me trying, me doing, me fixing, me. Me. Me. 

In case you are wondering this book is in my shopping cart.  Not sure how it has not entered my radar field it was printed in 2003. My pastor's copy is well used. 

Little Miss 3 year old's idea of beauty. 

"Most of my life I heard the message loud and clear that Christianity was all about coloring within the lines and coloring well. If I was a good Christian, if I loved Jesus and wanted to please Him, if I read my Bible, prayed, and went to church, then I would get better and better at coloring. And if I lived a long and godly life, I would eventually be able to draw close to the perfect drawing. "

"Christianity is not about learning how to live within the lines. Christianity is about the joy of coloring. The grace of God is preposterous enough to accept as beautiful a coloring that anyone else would reject as ugly. The grace of God sees beyond the scribbling to the heart of the scribbler." Mike Yaconelli - Dangerous Wonder

Scraps and Snippets ~ Pumpkin Pasta Salad

Pumpkin Pasta Salad

16 ounce box of macaroni cooked according to package and rinsed

3 TBSP minced onion

2 TBSP minced celery

1 Cup pureed pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling with the seasonings)

1 Cup mayonnaise

1 ½ teaspoon garlic powder

1 ½ teaspoon salt

1 ½ teaspoon sage

Mix pumpkin, mayo and spices together with chopped veggies. Toss in pasta and stir well. In addition you could add some of the following. pepitas (toasted pumpkin seeds), diced mushrooms, chopped kale, fresh chiffonade sage instead of the dried (use 3 Tablespoons)

Scribbles and Scrambles ~ This is

 what my introverted brain concocted on Picmonkey on a bitterly cold winter night after spending the past few weekends with loads of fabulous people and while listening to the Norah Jones Pandora channel. 

Just sayin....

Scribbles and Scrambles ~ Numbers and Nuggets

 My getting rid of project is clicking right along. My count is at 534. I love the fact that I've got space in most of my drawers and closets. Don't worry. I can still keep going and make my 1,000. I decreased my Christmas decorations even further after Christmas. Why? Because what I didn't put out lots of my stuff. And I needed to assess why that was. Most of it went. I also haven't missed a single thing I've gotten rid of.  Every day I've managed to find a handful of items slated for the get rid of pile. 

And my new additions (just 2 items, except the toys....some of which have already had the squeakers excised so I'm not counting them) winter coats for the girls. Ha. Ha. How cute are those? I need to make some adjustments the neck velcro is a little tight and keeps popping.  

Scribbles and Scrambles ~ Told You There Were Videos....

Scribbles and Scrambles ~ Flirty Pups

I went to Minnesota for the weekend and came home with a handmade toy for the pups. 

Michelle sent me this link and wondered if I wanted to make one while visiting. Since the temperature high was in the low 20's and low was wind-chill-minus-20-something I thought that seemed like a great idea. That and the fact that the little misses at my house always need a few sources of entertainment. Gertie has very sensitive feet and doesn't care for the snow, and neither of them should be bored since they come up with ways to entertain themselves. This thing seemed like a win win. 

Michelle's dog is a Boxer, her grandpup is a Dachshund and Gertie and Gladys are small Beagles so we each made different versions of the stick and I think have play more so in mind than training. But training is actually something I'm going to put on my radar.  We went to Home Depot for the supplies. Twice. And managed to have some fun in both stores. We even got scolded. Ha. Ha. Apparently, me trying to slip a dangle of rope hanging 10 feet over my head into a 1/2 inch round PVC pipe to see if it fit constitutes me trying to hit people with a stick while my partner was filming me. Granted, I was laughing, I'm sure it looked ridiculous (it did, I saw the video) she was filming, and anyone coming down the aisle could've been in danger...but it was all legit. And when we explained what we were doing we even made a "friend" (Kinda. He was a wee bit starchy, if you know what I mean.) 

Of course the rope we got was "wrong" according to her husband. 

But I digress. We went with 1/2" PVC because the 3/4" called for in the recipe was HEAVY. However, if you want an upper body work out,  go for it. Michelle made hers long, slightly less than 6 feet. I cut mine down to 3 1/2 feet because I'm clumsy. Seriously. I have enough trouble just walking sometimes. Arthur's was 2 feet. 

I chose to have double 1/4" nylon (that's the proper one, see above) because I wanted to be able to tie the toy on. And since I'll be watching the entire play time I'm not super concerned about the dangling rope. This also lets me tie it high or low on the end of the rope. And of course we found cute duct tape at Michael's. The toy was clearance at Petsmart, a real bargain if you don't consider that I also bought some other clearance items. 

All told, without the other "deals" factored in and with the rope oops we spent less than $10.00 each. Gertie and Gladys, once they got over the barking at the stick, began enjoying the heck out of it. And it's no longer a Christmas toy since the Santa hat was ripped off the head of the two squeakered muskrat/squirrel/beaver thing.

I'll share a video tomorrow. Consider yourself warned. 

Serials and Scenarios ~ Michelle Griep Strikes Again ~ Brentwood's Ward and Interrogation Skillz

You know all about my relationship with Michelle Griep. She's an influence in so many ways. (I don't know that this is a good thing, just sayin !)

Her spankin brand new book debuted yesterday. (I LOVE that cover.) We cooked up a little video to share. Here's the link to view some parts and pieces of our scary and ridiculous brains when merged together on a project. Go to Writerofftheleash for the definitions to the archaic words, and the details on Brentwood's Ward.  




Brentwood's Ward
by Michelle Griep (Author)
Paperback – January 1, 2015
Paperback: 320 pages
Publisher: Shiloh Run Press; Gld edition (January 1, 2015)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 163058679X

Description:

Place an unpolished lawman named Nicholas Brentwood as guardian over a spoiled, pompous beauty named Emily Payne and what do you get? More trouble than Brentwood bargains for. She is determined to find a husband this season. He just wants the large fee her father will pay him to help his ailing sister. After a series of dire mishaps, both their desires are thwarted, but each discovers that no matter what, God is in charge.

Review:

Michelle Griep is an artist with smells being her forte. Seriously, this woman can paint an olfactory smorgasbord. Unfortunately, she writes gritty historical details that leave the smells...well, more pungent than pleasant. 

But, blessedly, Griep doesn't just stick with smells. The woman can write a scene. Whew. A near kiss, a glance, kidnapping, torture, meals, she offers up rich sensory emotions as well.

Rich prose full of amazing sentences and paragraphs build complex characters. Those bad guys are wicked bad. The heroines are multifaceted and either unfurled rosebuds just waiting for the courage to bloom, or wilted wounded blooms in need of a gentle touch, or thistles requiring the some serious groundwork. Her heroes are good men who've had bad to overcome and are in need of redemption and man enough to be aware of it. 

Brentwood's Ward. All of that and more. Action, check. Love, check. London society, check. Danger, check. Sorrow and loss, check. A happy ending, check. 

If you love a good historical, a touch of escapism or just a fine page-turner, get a copy. 

Reviewed by: Kelly Klepfer