Back From Vacation

Ok, we're back. Our trip to Ireland was good in spite of the fact that I woke up with bronchitis the morning we left. I ended up having to see and Irish doctor. Just as I was starting to get better my mom came down with it and then I picked up pink eye. Apparently doctors in Ireland still make house calls (if you pay them enough and we did). Mom was just too weak to go out to see one. Mom and I are still coughing and hacking a bit but we are very thankful that my husband didn't come down with anything. Poor man, he had to put up with 2 sickos on his vacation.

So, on to the pictures. The first one you see is the Contarf Castle Hotel where we stayed. It is an old castle that they turned into a very nice hotel. The next is the St. Patrick's day parade. Then is an outside view of St. Patrick's cathedral. We went there for services the first Sunday we were there. There are no catholic cathedrals in Dublin. This belongs to the church of Ireland which would be like the Episcopal church in America. My great grandfather was a chancellor of the church of Ireland. The next pic is Trinity college where my great grandfather obtained all of his degrees including his doctorate of divinity in the 1800's. Lastly is Dublin Castle. We didn't get to go in this one because it was closed every time we tried.

Tomorrow I will show you my family's past.

Vacation

We will be gone on vacation for the next couple of weeks. I'll be sure to post all about it and show pics when we return. If you think of it, please pray for traveling mercies for us. Enjoy your spring!

Commissary Shopping

My Frugal Friday tip today is for the military family. Commissary shopping is one of our best benefits. The thing is though, that you get there and discover all kinds of "manager specials" that are not advertised. My tip therefore is to take your whole coupon container with you and try to go when you can spend some time there. If you have children that are not in school you might consider trading child care with another mom so each of you can concentrate on the shopping and not the kids. I have gotten so many wonderful deals by having my coupons with me and going when I can spend some time, not when I need to run off quickly to another appointment. We don't get coupons doubled at the commissary so the next best thing is the sales. They often put things on special that they ordered too much of, and remember if you are at a post in Europe you can use coupons up to 6 months beyond their expiration date.

What Flavor Are You?

I found this quiz on one of the blogs I visit on occasion. Looking through the backyard of my life. I don't know how accurate these things are but they are fun. You take the quiz and let me know what you choose. I chose Strawberry Shortcake.
If all of the desserts listed below were sitting in front of you, which would you choose? (Sorry, you can only pick one!)
Pick your dessert, then look to see what psychiatrists think about you.
Here are your choices:
1. Angel Food Cake
2. Brownies
3. Lemon Meringue Pie
4. Vanilla cake with Chocolate Icing
5. Strawberry Short Cake
6. Chocolate and more Chocolate
7. Ice Cream
8. Carrot Cake
No, you can't change your mind once you scroll down, so think carefully what your choice will be...
OK - Now that you've made your choice this is what research says about you...
1. ANGEL FOOD CAKE -- Sweet, loving, cuddly. You love all warm and fuzzy items. A little nutty at times. Sometimes you need an ice cream cone at the end of the day. Others perceive you as being childlike and immature at times.
2. BROWNIES -- You are adventurous, love new ideas, are a champion of underdogs and a slayer of dragons. When tempers flare up you whip out your saber. You are always the oddball with a unique sense of humor and direction. You tend to be very loyal.
3. LEMON MERINGUE --Smooth, sexy, & articulate with your hands, you are an excellent after-dinner speaker and a good teacher. But don't try to walk and chew gum at the same time. A bit of a diva at times, but you have many friends.
4. VANILLA CAKE WITH CHOCOLATE ICING -- Fun-loving, sassy, humorous, not very grounded in life; very indecisive and lack motivation. Everyone enjoys being around you, but you are a practical joker. Others should be cautious in making you mad. However, you are a friend for life.
5. STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE -- Romantic, warm, loving. You care about other people, can be counted on in a pinch and expect the same in return. Intuitively keen. Can be very emotional.
6. CHOCOLATE AND MORE CHOCOLATE -- Sexy; always ready to give and help others. Very creative, adventurous, ambitious, and passionate. You can appear to have a cold exterior but are warm on the inside. Afraid to take chances sometimes. Will not settle for anything average in life. Loves to laugh and be happy
7. ICE CREAM -- You like sports, whether it be baseball, football, basketball, or soccer. If you could, you would like to participate, but you enjoy watching sports. You don't like to give up the remote control. You tend to be self-centered and high maintenance.
8. CARROT CAKE -- You are a very fun loving person, who likes to laugh. You are fun to be with. People like to hang out with you. You are a very warm hearted person and a little quirky at times. You have many loyal friends

General Peter Pace

I just have to comment about the statement that General Pace made yesterday regarding homosexuality. I agree with him. I am thrilled to the gills that a senior officer of his stature has the moral fortitude to stand up for what is right. Homosexuality is immoral. Just like adultery is immoral and sex outside of marriage is immoral etc. It just broke my heart yesterday to hear all the the commentators saying how they don't agree with him and how dare him and there is nothing wrong with it, because they are refusing to acknowledge the Truth and on the day of judgement they will have no excuse. There is something wrong with it. The Bible tells us in Leviticus 20:13 "If a man lies with a male as he lies with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination..." That's pretty clear. My beloved friends, neighbors, visitors to my blog seek the Lord while He may be found! Heed His commands! I truly feel that we live in the end times. Even if we don't you never know when your number is up. Please, Please be ready to meet the Lord! If anyone is reading this and doesn't know the Lord it is so easy. You must acknowledge that you are a sinner and need forgiveness. You must believe that Jesus came from a virgin, lead a sinless life, died on the cross, rose again the third day, and ascended into heaven, and lastly you must confess your sins to Him and just ask Him to be Lord of your life. That's all it takes! You don't have to do anything. Only believe. Salvation is a gift! Once you have invited Him in, begin to read the Bible. I recommend starting with the book of John, but read. It's His instruction manual on how to live and be ready for heaven. Then find a good Bible based church where they preach the whole gospel. Assembly of God, Southern Baptist, (there are lots of Baptist churches but I am not familiar with any but the southern) Four Square, Pentecostal Holiness, . I could go on and on. If you aren't sure talk to that person at work or in your neighborhood who you know to be a believer. Above all you know that whatever anyone including me says about the Lord it must be in the Bible. You can check the words of anyone against it. The Bible is the authority.
Ok, now I don't normally preach like that. It's just that I can't bear for anyone to miss out on heaven for the sake of political correctness and I felt that maybe somewhere, someone needed to hear that. If I didn't mention your church/denomination please don't think it's because I think the ones I mentioned are better. I couldn't possibly list them all. I only listed the ones I am most familiar with. Besides that it's not about what church you go to it's about your relationship with Jesus Christ. I have yet to find a church that I agree with all their doctrine. I follow the Bible and go where they preach what is in there without sugar coating or political correctness.

MIDNIGHT MUSINGS: Unfair Labels#links

MIDNIGHT MUSINGS: Unfair Labels#links

Homeschooling

Pam posted this article on homeschooling. Click here to read the article. I don't have children, however, the more we learn about public schools and the more we see of the behavior of the students and staff, the more we seriously consider homeschooling. It's not for everyone, but it really is the best option for a lot of people.

Nothing Much

We didn't do much in the way of tourism with mom today. Alan worked all day and I did 5 loads of laundry, stripped and remade the bed, unloaded the dishwasher, loaded the dishwasher, ran the dishwasher, cleaned the kitchen, cleaned the bathroom and took out the recycling. I also made chicken casserole for supper. So now I'm bored. Do you ever feel like you can't do the things you normally do when you have company? Even when it's your mother?

Kings and Queens

Yesterday, we took mom to see two castles that are near us. Each of them is a partial ruin but there is enough usable to have a small banquet facility and one has a cafe. Altenburg Castle and Giechburg castle. We got lots of good pictures and had a lot of fun. Then we took her to the Cathedral in Bamberg. After that we went and saw the rose garden and touring around the town. We finished the day by going to a wonderful German restaurant and enjoying traditional cuisine where I proceeded to get very sick. It turned out that they put peanut butter in their salad dressing. I am extremely allergic to any kind of nut. Thank God for Benadryl. Still, all in all we had a great time. The weather was fair and the wind didn't blow too much. Today after church I took mom to an Italian restaurant. Fantastic! Hubby doesn't care for Italian and stayed home to eat leftovers and have a nap. We have spent a restful Lord's day and look forward to a wonderful week. I hope yours was good too.

Saturday

Today I made us breakfast. Scrambled omelet, juice and yogurt. DH had to have toasted English muffins of course because he simply MUST make a sandwich out of everything. LOL I think that is so funny. Last night I made meatloaf, garlic mashed potatoes, and green beans for supper and of course he had to go find the French bread and make a sandwich out of the meat loaf. Oh well, at least he likes my cooking.

So, today we are going to take mom to do some sight seeing. I'll post tomorrow where we went.

Yesterday I had to do some shopping in the German stores. I took mom with me. She found it so interesting to see what the Germans have in their stores and to see that they have many of the brands we have but they are packaged a bit differently. For instance they have Mr. Clean but they call it Meister Proper. Kellogg's Frosted Flakes are titled Frosties etc.
Then we went to the bakery across the street. If any of you have ever been to Germany, you know what a wonderland it is. So we had lunch and mom was able to taste several goodies. After that we went to the great big store, Real. Most of the stores, aside from the neighborhood groceries, are like small super Walmart. They sell TVs, DVD players etc. in addition to a full selection of groceries. At one point we saw Dunkin Hines cake mix. The strange thing was that the box was in English not in German. Then we discovered that it, along with quite a few American items, was in the gourmet section of the store. The cake mix cost over 6 euro which is about 8 dollars per box. The brownie mix was like 5.99 euro. They had Campbell's tomato soup for about 2.5 euro per can. One Euro = $1.26. That was so amazing to me. I wouldn't even consider buying a cake mix for $8. But to them its a specialty item just like in the American stores I used in the States they would have German preserves etc. that were more than the American brands. The cake mix especially stood out since the commissary had just had that very brand on sale for 75 cents/box.

Anyway, I'll post tomorrow about what we did today. Have a great weekend!

POLL

I would like to say hello to all of you who take the time to read my humble musings. I wonder if you would be willing to leave a comment and tell me where you hail from. City, state, country, where ever you are from. You need not give specifics if that suits you better. My curiosity is based on my site meter that tells me some of you are from other countries and are interested enough to translate my blog into your own language. I'll start. My name is Rebecca. I live in Germany where my husband is stationed.

More pics

Us at a wood carving shop in the Black Forrest in December.

Finally! Pics from Paris

To the left are pics of the French Tomb of the unknown soldier.
Below is the Eiffel Tower at night.





Me at the Arc de Triumph below.

To the left is a view of the Eiffel Tower at night from underneath it.

This is the French (prototype i think) version of the Statue of Liberty. It stands in the river that runs through Paris.

Can you tell that I'm still new at putting pics on the blog? If anyone has any advice feel free to share.

Arrival

We picked my mom up from the airport yesterday. She had a good flight and all is well. Last night I fixed Alan's favorite supper. Beef ribs. So for the rest of us I fixed a home made vegetarian pizza. I tried a new idea for the sauce and it turned out so delicious that I intend to use that from now on. Tonight we had fish, veggies, garlic mashed potatoes and fruit. Tomorrow I'll have to go get fresh ground beef and we'll have meatloaf. Mom seems to be adjusting well to the jet lag. We kept her up last night until 8pm. She got up around 0930 this morning and that (hopefully) will do it. She was so tired last night though. I felt bad for her but now everything is alright.

Sore Ears; Good Husband

It started at 0630 this morning. I got up at reveille because I had been asked to help with the health fair at the school today. We would be taking the children's height, weight, and blood pressure. Screening them for hearing, vision, and scoliosis. My role as it turned out was to take blood pressures. My ears hurt. I must have personally taken like 150 pressures. Even with the soft ear tips on my stethoscope, my ears hurt. Well it was fun, and it was good to get out and meet new people even if they are kids. After that I ran errands and then was helping someone out with something which took longer than I intended. As I was coming home, I was thinking of how I really didn't want to cook anything and really wanted to order a pizza. (They have really good pizza here in Germany). As I was thinking this it occurred to me that I was expected at a "coffee" tonight. For those of you who are non military, a coffee (as a rule) is a monthly meeting of the senior spouses of a particular unit. Usually it includes the senior NCO spouses and the officer spouses. The event was being held at one of my favorite Italian restaurants! So I called DH on the way and told him I wouldn't be home for a few more hours. (I keep food prepared for such an event so he doesn't have to starve) Then it was off to fun and girl talk with the ladies. After that home to finish getting ready for my mom's visit. I walked in the door and found hubby faithfully vacuuming the whole house. I only had to mop mom's room, straighten up a bit and then settle down to study tomorrows Bible study lesson for PWOC. Now only to finish this post and then off to bed. Goodnight.

Out of the Mouths of Babes

Now, normally I don't do this but this was such a good story I had to post it for all of you.

A father wanted to read a magazine but was being bothered by His little girl, Shelby. She wanted to know what the United States looked like. Finally, he tore a sheet out of his new magazine on which was Printed the map of the country. Tearing it into small pieces, he gave it To Shelby and said, "Go into the other room and see if you can put this Together. This will show you our whole country today." After a few minutes, Shelby returned and handed him the map, Correctly fitted and taped together The father was surprised and asked How she had finished so quickly. "Oh," she said, "on the other side of the paper is a picture of Jesus. When I got all of Jesus back where He Belonged, then our country just came together."

Isn't that just perfectly right?

Monday

I'm a bit tired today from the weekend. Last night hubby and I went to see "We Are Marshall" at the movie theater here on post. Such a tragic story about a whole football team killed in a plane crash. It was a good movie. I thought it should remind people that you don't know when your number is going to be up. So don't plan on "getting right" with the Lord for your deathbed, because you may not have that opportunity.

This morning I rested and then this afternoon I was to volunteer with the Red Cross at the health clinic. This was to be my first day as the other days have involved the Hippa training and CPR renewal etc. Well, it turns out that the nurse I am supposed to be working with did not come in due to a sick child, and the one taking her place didn't know about me and didn't know what to do with me so I just went home. It's ok. I hope her daughter gets better soon. It did give me some unexpected time to work on other things here at home. My mom is coming to visit on Wednesday, so we have been busy getting ready for that. She will be with us for a whole month. It will be good to see her. I pray her flight goes well.

Well, I suppose I should go and see about starting supper. How did your Monday go?

Today

Today, the Lord's day, has been the most beautiful day we've had all week. It has rained all week as it often does, so to see the sun come out and really shine is glorious. Today I started out making a recipe for strawberry muffins with strawberry butter. I have not made this recipe before but it is pretty straight forward and I have made a lot of muffins in the past so no problem right? Wrong. Somehow, I forgot to add the salt called for. By the time I discovered this mistake the muffins were already in the pan and I had used muffin papers so scraping it out and adding it was out of the question. Then I got a bright idea. I shook a bit of salt from the shaker on to each cup and stirred it in a bit with the handle of a spoon. That ought to do it right? Not really. Of course this is the first time for this recipe and I baked them as long as it called for but not enough as it turns out. So doughy and flat they were. LOL Good thing there was the pot-luck directly after the Service. One of my baked spaghetti dishes turned out great and one the foil stuck to the cheese. Wish I'd thought to put tooth picks in it so that didn't happen. Oh well, they still tasted good. The pot-luck went off without a hitch this time and we had a good turn out for the service. I love having the opportunity to show hospitality to the others and especially to those who are new on post or the single soldiers who come. For some of them this is the only home cooking they get and a lot of them are still in their teens and missing home/mom. I gave a hug this week to a young soldier who had had a rotten day. Everything had been going wrong for him and he looked at me and said, "I need a hug". I hugged him and told him to tell me all about it. He did and ended up by saying that it seemed to him the more he tries to do what is right and follow Jesus the more trouble comes his way. I empathised with this and encouraged him to keep on keepin' on. I also mentioned that in a way it's a good thing. Because, if we aren't a threat to Satan, he doesn't bother us so much. So, when trials come our way, we as Christians, know that we must be doing something right for the glory of God.

Now, this afternoon, Alan has taken both cars to wash and vacuum etc. I have done 2 loads of laundry, emptied the dishwasher, refilled the dishwasher and run it, cleaned the kitchen, run the recycling out, made the bed, straightened the house and updated my blog. The dryers must be done by now so I will go and fold, iron, and put away and I'll be done! I hope you all have had a wonderful Sunday and are ready and refreshed for the week ahead.

Yesterday

Yesterday DH and I went out to breakfast as we often do on a Saturday morning. After that, he came home to rest and work on some projects and I went to do our commissary shopping. That's grocery shopping to the non-military. I haven't been shopping since more than a week before we went to Paris. That's quite a while. Of course I have picked up fresh milk and bread, but other than that no. Well my coupon file has grown to 3 times its normal size due to a recent influx of new coupons and a HUGE envelope of expired coupons sent to me by Crystal. At commissaries in Europe we can use coupons up to 6 months past their expiration date. This then is a recap of the wonderful deals I got. I got a box of microwave popcorn for free. It was 69 cents on sale and I had a coupon for $1 off. So they actually paid me 31 cents to take it home. Then I had several coupons for $3 off of 2 Herbal Essence None of Your Frizziness products. The shampoo and conditioner was on sale for $1.99 each. I ended up getting 10 bottles for 50 cents each. I know that's a lot but I have VERY long hair and use a lot of conditioner. I got a bottle of Olay Ribbons body wash for 39 cents. it was 2.39 and I had a $2 off coupon. I got 3 Dunkin Hines cake mixes and 3 of their cans of frosting for a total of 2.97. The cake mix was on sale for 75 cents and the frosting for 99 cents and I had 3 coupons for 75 cents off if you buy the mix and frosting. I know that seems like a lot of cake, but in the army it seems like there is always a pot luck or a bake sale or an FRG function or something to bring a desert for so we go through a lot of it. 3 4-cup packages of Kraft shredded cheese on sale for $2 each and I had a coupon for $1 off of 3 so I got them for $5. Normally they would be $11.01 for all 3 of them. Scott bathroom tissue 4-packs were on sale for $2 and had a $1 coupon so got if for $1. A bottle of Suave strawberry shampoo was on sale for 95 cents and I had a 50 cent off coupon so I got it for 45 cents. My husband may wash his hair with it but I like it for body wash. Maxwell house coffee the big can marked down from $7.19 to $5.29 and a dollar coupon for that made it 4.29. Coffee is rationed over here and it's very expensive so it's especially nice to get sales and coupons. Also, DH is the coffee drinker in our family and he only likes Maxwell House so buying the cheaper brands is out of the question. In addition to that the commissary only sells name brand goods so generic anything is not an option although you can usually get cheaper brands like Ralston cereal for a lot less than Kellogg's or Post etc. The last two exciting deals I got were 2 quarts of Juicy Juice for 89 cents and 4 boxes of garlic mashed potatoes for 40 cents each both due to combining sales with coupons. I had other coupons and other sale items but not exciting enough to mention. Oh except that I got a Dove deodorant stick for 69 cents and 3 Lady Speed Stick for 50 cents each. All in all I saved $45.08 in coupons and at least $30 in sales. So, we got about $202 worth of groceries for $127. Now I realize that it sounds like a lot for a family of 2. However, except for a small amount of milk, eggs, produce, and fresh bread that is all the groceries I will buy for a month. We eat a lot of canned and frozen fruits and vegetables and we don't eat a lot of bread. So figure another maybe $50 for the fresh stuff and we spend on average $60-$65 per week for groceries. Also the hair care and deodorant will last for some months like the toothpaste has that I stocked up on a couple of months ago so those things will not be bought again unless I find sale/coupon combinations that get me them for free or less than 50 cents. lol and when I'm well stocked up like I am now it must be closer to free depending on what it is.

So that was yesterday. The rest of the day was spent pleasantly putting away groceries, fixing dinner for us, preparing 2 baked spaghetti dishes for the pot-luck at church today, and hanging out with my Alan.

Accomplishments And My Wonderful Husband

Today has been another busy day! Yesterday I did get a lot done here at home. I finished the laundry. Folded, ironed and put away. I dusted the entire apartment, vacuumed, swept and mopped the kitchen floor, completely cleaned the kitchen and bathroom including washing the bathroom windows inside and out and the sill, swept and mopped the bathroom floor, dust mopped all the other floors (we have hard wood floors and only one small area rug), cleaned the desk and straightened it up and did all the prep work for the scholarship committee meeting that was held here today.
Today I cleaned the kitchen and straightened the apt., hosted the 2 hour meeting, typed up 3 award letters, 2 no award letters, the after action report, adjusted the budget to reflect the new awards, and got the letters ready to be mailed. Then I headed out to the commissary to meet the chaplains assistant. I am in charge of the protestant service monthly pot-luck dinners. It is held on the first Sunday of each month. Everyone brings food but the chapel kicks in quite a bit so that there is enough to go around. It's my job to order the food trays and meet the assistant (who pays for them) to pick them up and store them properly at the chapel for Sunday. Well, we live in a stairwell apartment on post, and it has the kind of door that locks when it closes. Yep. You guessed it. I locked my self out. I had to call my husband to come and let me back in. He was so wonderful about it! I know that he was having a busy day, but he didn't betray any annoyance at all and was really quite wonderful about the whole thing. I am so blessed to be his wife! Have a good weekend all!

A Day With Nothing Planned

I tell you what. I had the best day yesterday. Sure it was very busy, but I walked in the joy of the Lord and His victory all day long. I had the meetings mentioned yesterday and then errands to run after them and of course dinner to cook and clean up to do. We had bar-b-que chicken breasts, green beans, garlic mashed potatoes, garlic bread and fruit cocktail. Yes, I used instant potatoes. I'm sorry but real ones just weren't going to happen last night. Still we love this particular kind and I can often get it for about 35 cents a box by combining coupons and sales.
Today I discovered that I have absolutely nothing on my calendar. I'm so excited, I hardly know what to do first. My main plans for the day include finishing up a bit of laundry, vacuuming, cleaning the kitchen, and deep cleaning the bathroom. Then I must go to the commissary as our cupboards are looking a bit empty. I haven't decided about supper yet. We have a bit of chicken left over from last night but since it is covered in bar-b-que sauce, I can't cut it up and throw it in a casserole.
I don't make up a menu for the week like a lot of you do. I have tried that, but by day 2 I decide that I have a taste for something else than what is on the menu and then the whole thing is scrapped. I do shop based on the sales though and then decide what to make from what we have in the kitchen. I can stick with it pretty well by keeping well stocked pantry (hey when I see a sale and have coupons I stock up!) and by the fact that DH and I both hate running to the store for something.
Well, I'm off to start my day! Blessings to all!