Living With Purpose

Great News! It's fall! Fall means sweaters, scarves, spicy smells, and soups! I love fall! So to celebrate I'm sharing my first soup of the season!    Crockpot Sweet Potato Basil Soup:  Serves: 8-10 Prep time: 10 minutes Cook time: 3 hours Total time: 3 hours 10 minutes Ingredients: * 4 Large Sweet Potatoes or Yams (diced) * 1 Onion * 1 (10oz) Can of Evaporated Milk * 1 (14oz) Can Cream of Mushroom Soup * 4 Cups Chicken Broth * 1 Tablespoon fresh basil * 3 Cloves of Garlic * Salt and Pepper to taste Instructions: 1. Place all ingredients in the crockpot. 2. Stir. 3. Cook on high for 3 hours. 4. Use a hand blender, blender, or food processor to puree mixture until smooth. 5. Eat up!  We had risotto and Parmesan stuffed banana peppers and garlic bread with this soup! Even Sonya liked it! Sometime I might try it with chicken, to satisfy the meat lovers in my life. Give it a try! Let me know what you think! 

I’ve had a couple people ask me for my ginger tea recipe so I thought I’d post it here, and list some of the possible health benefits. I never feel better physically than when I am drinking this tea on a regular basis. My father-in-law suffers from regular kidney stones, and we have found that this drink really helps to relieve his pain. If you’re looking for something that tastes sweet, this won’t be your cup of tea. (Get it? Cup of tea – and it’s a post about tea… Never mind.) This tastes healthy! So make up your mind to be healthy, plug your nose, and sip. But be healthy! (I Corinthians 6:19-20) Here’s what I do. It’s not a science. Nothing is measured. But it does seem to help with whatever ails you.  Witches Brew: (Bro. Jim O’quinn gets the credit for the name.) Ingredients: Ginger, Lemon, Water, Chamomile, and/or Green Tea -         1.   Cut up about a tablespoon of fresh ginger. (You can use a ginger tea...

What happened August 2014 After the Northeast Summit we decided to spend some time together as a family. Matt used all of his vacation days last year in the NICU with Sonya and me, so we were looking forward to a vacation that was actually a vacation! So we found a free zoo in Cape May, NJ. We had a lot of fun looking at the animals, and although Sonya was still tired from the conference, she perked up when she saw the animals! Oh Yeah! We are excited! Maybe not, so excited... Some animals are just too friendly. People kept stopping to look at Sonya, so we thought about putting her in her very own exhibit... But the goats didn't want to share their pen. "Daddy kept me safe from the animals." This guy one ugliest animal award! This guy won coolest animal award Cutest animal Scariest animal Sonya liked the Zebras. And what's not to like?   After the zoo we went to Wildwood, NJ to walk on the pier and to...

I remember taking Algebra I with Mrs. Holley and thinking, "I will never get this! This doesn't make any sense!" All year I struggled, so needless to say, I was not excited about taking Algebra II the next year with Mrs. Bottom. Not even a little excited. Imagine my surprise when Algebra II seemed to make so much more sense than Algebra I! Having had the foundation built, it was so much easier to build up the next year. (Mind you, I did not say I was good at math - just that it was starting to make more sense.) That's how the tenth month of Sonya's life has been. A week or two after she figured out crawling, pulling herself up clicked! Then she figured out that she could pull herself up on things, and use them to walk. While holding on to people's fingers, forget walking, she runs! What happened in July 2014 - First time watching fireworks! Sonya loved the fireworks. We watched two different shows. One that was far away from us a...

At 9 months Sonya Joy learned to crawl! That is my excuse for not updating the blog. She is a handful, and I am always trying to keep her out of trouble! It is so much fun though! What went on in June 2014? - Benjamin Graduated! Finally finished! Good for you Benjamin! Now on to the real world, so you can see how much easier school was than you thought! The age old story.  - Grandma and Grandpa Hodge came to see us! (Mostly they wanted to see me.) I love this couple! Sonya's still figuring out that Great Grandpa is Great! - Summer came to visit! (Mostly she wanted to see me too...) - Sonya learned to crawl!  She knew she could, but just didn't for months. Than it seemed like one day, she just decided it was time! It's so exciting to watch her learn!  - Sonya said mama for the first time, but only when crying. She makes all sorts of noise, but her only consistent word is Dada. She copies...

Imagine it: You’re all ready to sit down and relax. It’s a beautiful spring day. The sun is just touching the porch. There’s a light breeze. You grab your Bible. But wait! You can’t sit down without a relaxing, refreshing cup of tea! (You’d really like a cup of coffee, but tea is better for you… So you settle for tea.) So you go all the way back inside. You either place a cup of water in the microwave or you put the kettle on. And you wait. FINALLY the water is hot enough. So you grab your favorite bag of tea. And just as you’re about to place it in the water, you hear: “Stop! No! No! It’s too hot! I can't take it!” Obviously you’re imagining things. Tea bags do not talk. So in spite of the little bag's protest, you dip it in the hot water. “Ahhhhhhhhhhh!!!! What are you doing? Why are you doing this ? Help! Help!!!..."   About this time, it's safe to say, you should probably call up the nearest mental institution and ask to be admitted. Here’s t...