Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Pictures to Share

   Today's blog is mostly going to be pictures that I wanted to share with you all.  No rhyme or reason to the order--just things I love and people I love.
quaker parrot, family pet, pet bird
Papi, our Quaker parrot

Siamese cat, senior cat, family pet,
Scat, our cat (he is a senior).

baby sugar glider, new sugar glider, sugar glider as a pet,
Simone', our baby sugar glider

red pom, red pomeranian, pomeranian puppy,
Whitney, my Pomeranian


my Dad, picture of father, aging parents
my Daddy

Phineas, grandchildren, my grandson, proud grandparents
My grandson, Phineas

loving couple, Countrified Hicks, in love,
my hubby & I

sleeping baby, Ronny sleeping,
Ronny sleeping.  I love his lips when he sleeps.  They are so kissable!

Countrified Hicks, my son, 14 year old boy
Brandon.  He has changed so much in the past 4 months since this was taken.

    Thank you for allowing me to share some memories with you!

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Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Product Review: Bunn Coffee Maker

Bunn coffee maker, review of product, product review, blog product review


      Let me begin by saying that I am doing this product review because we believe in the product.  I did not get any kind of compensation.  I am doing the review because I want to!  :-)
      I bought my husband a Bunn Coffee Maker (just like the one pictured) for Father's Day 5 years ago.  I paid just over $100 for it and it was by far the best gift I have ever given him.  Our Bunn coffee pot is in my kitchen right now and if it should ever go out (knock on wood), I guarantee you we would go right out and purchase another one.
     Bunn coffee makers are superb.   What makes them so different is that they have a hot water reservoir so you never have to wait long for a fresh, hot pot of coffee. From the time you pour in the water until you can enjoy a cup of delicious coffee is less than 3 minutes.
       This coffee maker is worth the hype.  It makes even the cheapest brand of coffee taste great.  I truly love this coffee maker and believe that you should consider purchasing it next time you are in the need of a new coffee maker!
 

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Tea Drinkers Rave


Monday, May 28, 2012

Submission & Prayer Report

    God retaught me a lesson this week.  I say "retaught" because, gosh, I am a slow learner.
     Our family has been praying and praying for God to send us a blessing.  We needed to sell our fireworks stand.  See, I have MS (Multiple Sclerosis) and heat affects the disease.  I am the one who usually sits in the fireworks stand every day during the season.  It gets wicked hot there.  I work the stand and my husband sleeps there overnight to make sure no one breaks in.  The arrangement worked for us, that is, until MS reared its ugly head.
      We knew that this year there was no way that I could work the stand.  We also knew that we did not have any money to even purchase fireworks this year.  We decided to sell our stand and use the money to rent a building to sell fireworks out of and to purchase this years fireworks inventory.  We had the plan and now just needed a buyer.  I listed the stand for sale in Dallas, Tulsa, McAlester and Ft. Smith. We received a lot of spam offers and a few people who seemed interested.  But no go.
Praise report, God answers prayer, Christian blog, Submit to the Lord, submissive woman, God's will, Fireworks, fireworks stand
Our Fireworks stand

     We were on a deadline.  Fireworks season begins June 15th and we had less than a month to go.  We prayed and prayed and prayed.  I got so depressed and angry.  I knew God had always helped us.  I also knew that God sometimes says no but we had been praying that if the answer was no or if this was not meant to be, to speak to our hearts and let us know.  My hubby and I were only getting "This is what will happen".
     On one of my worst nights, I was distraught.  On Thursday night, with 3 weeks to go before the season, with only days before I had to put in my fireworks order, I crumbled.  I was angry.  I almost gave up but then something happened.  My eyes and heart opened up and I realized (again) that I was doing it wrong.
     I started out right.  I prayed for God's guidance.  I prayed for His will.  I prayed for Him to help us but along the way, I started (unintentionally) of wanting God to do it on a timeline.  I had a set date in my mind and God needed to meet that deadline.  Boy, I was wrong and at that moment, I realized it.  I prayed to God to forgive me.  I vowed to surrender to Him and He would do it if and when He was ready and I accepted that.  I started writing out verses and feelings into a notebook:  "God's time--not my time.   Be patient.  God's will.  Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not to your own understanding.  My God shall supply all your needs!  Our God is an awesome God!  I have nothing to fear for God is with me.  If God be for me it doesn't matter who is against me!"
     The very NEXT day, I checked emails and a man from Texas wanted to buy our stand.  Hallelujah!  Praise God.  I just had to surrender to the Lord and He answered me in a big way.  On Saturday, we met the gentleman and his father.  Really nice people.  They offered what they could afford and we accepted.  It was less than what we wanted but exactly what we needed!
     Needless to say, we have rented the building.  Electricity gets turned on Tuesday.  Fireworks inventory on the way.  Phone service will be on Thursday with plenty of time before season opening.   Can you say "Praise God"?!
     The gentleman who bought the stand, well his wife is in the hospital and has been since mid-April.  Please pray for her full recovery.  And thank you for allowing me to share my praise report!

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Friday, May 25, 2012

I'm a Prepper, Are you a prepper? Maybe you should be a Prepper too!

 I'm a Pepper.  Are you a prepper?  Maybe you should be a prepper too!


prepper, prepping, survivalist, why we prep, American Trucker Association, when trucks stop,
One of our cabinets.


       Don't you love the today's title?  If you are old enough to remember the old Dr. Pepper commercials, then you will appreciate the humor in it.  If not, sorry.
       Anyway, some of you may be wondering what a prepper is.  Well, a prepper is someone who prepares for the unknown.  I heard there is even a television show out now about preppers.  We do not watch tv at our home.  Well, we do.  We watch DVD's and Blu-rays but have not had a satellite dish or cable in over 5 years.
       Back to the subject at hand.  We have been prepping for about 3 years now.  We are not die hard, hard core or anything like that but the world is getting unstable with the national and global economy, natural disasters, and world conflicts.  I just want to be able to take care of my family if something happens.
       Do not judge me.  I am not crazy.  (Well, I am but that has nothing to do with why I am a prepper.)  Click on this link that was put out by the American Trucker Association (When Turcks stop, America stops)
I do not know what tomorrow holds but I want to be prepared.  I do not want to fight my friends and neighbors for items because no one was ready.  I want to be able to help them out if something happens.  I am not just talking national.  It could be loss of power from a few days to a few weeks due to an ice storm or tornado.  I do not want my children crying for food.  I want to be ready.
       Everything I have saved and purchased can be used if nothing ever happens.  I have one room strictly full of shelves filled with supplies and groceries.  We have flour, sugar, rice, and beans in 5 gallon buckets.  We have quite a bit of water and water purification tablets.  My family knows how to hunt and fish.  We have 2 gardens and I do a lot of canning.  Sometime I will do a full post about all we have done to prepare, along with showing you the contents of our 72 hour kits.    Is that something you all would be interested in seeing/reading about?
       Are you doing anything to prepare for a disaster of some type?  What are you doing?  If not, would you like to share why not?
   

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Thursday, May 24, 2012

Animals can bring Joy

    My 14 year old son's dog died this morning.  Brandon/Bubba is heartbroken.  With Pogo dying just reminds me of how many pets we have lost over the years that we really loved.  Here are a few that we have loved and lost:

chihuahua, deer head chihuahua, tiny chihuahua, Duke, Grand duke of Tulsa
Dukey (The Grand Duke of Tulsa)

Pomeranian, red pomeranian, beloved pets
Tina (another dog of Brandon's).  

Teacup yorkie, tiny yorkie, black and gold yorkie
Angel, my yorkie

Stumpy, male yorkie,
Stumpy (Angel's mate) They died within weeks of each other.

  Please pray for my son.  He is so sad right now and thank you for allowing me to share with you all.

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Tuesday, May 22, 2012

My sons YouTube videos

    My 14 year old son is quite the comedian and did two (family friendly) youtube videos.  Please take a moment to view them, "like" them and share them.  It would mean so much to him.


Reserved for company? Not at my house (not anymore)

    I often hear friends and family talking about their "good china" or "good towels".  Things that they reserve only for company.  Why is this so?  Why not give your family the best you have to offer and offer the guests the ordinary things?
     I caught myself the other day when I was making my family Tater Tot casserole that I made it with the best ingredients but I just threw the tater tots on top.  When I am making it for a pot luck or for guests, I carefully place the tots all uniform on top so it looks pretty.  My reasoning is because my family truly doesn't care what it looks like as long as it tastes good.  They know I love them but it got me to thinking, why shouldn't they get the best.  They are the ones I love the most.
    So, in honor of my family, I made them this chocolate cake.  The cake I usually only make for fancy dinner parties.  It not only looks pretty it is very decadent.
decadent chocolate cake, recipe, recipes, fancy cake, beautiful cake

decadent chocolate cake, recipe, recipes, fancy cake, beautiful cake

decadent chocolate cake, recipe, recipes, fancy cake, beautiful cake

    Why not do something special for your loved ones tonight?  Serve grilled cheese off your fine china perhaps!

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Chili's eGift Card

Monday, May 21, 2012

Happy Birthday Brandy!

    My daughter, my firstborn, well, her birthday is today, May 21st.  She is 22 years old today so I wanted to dedicate today's blog to her.  Hope you don't mind and hope you enjoy the photos.
birthday, happy birthday, Brandy Gravitt, Brandy Wiemer, Budgi, birthday celebrations
birthday, happy birthday, Brandy Gravitt, Brandy Wiemer, Budgi, birthday celebrations
One of my favorite pictures of her.  

birthday, happy birthday, Brandy Gravitt, Brandy Wiemer, Budgi, birthday celebrations
Guess you can tell that she is the one on the far left.  The one withOUT the  "x"ed out face!

birthday, happy birthday, Brandy Gravitt, Brandy Wiemer, Budgi, birthday celebrations

birthday, happy birthday, Brandy Gravitt, Brandy Wiemer, Budgi, birthday celebrations

birthday, happy birthday, Brandy Gravitt, Brandy Wiemer, Budgi, birthday celebrations
I think she looked adorable with glasses but she always hated them.

birthday, happy birthday, Brandy Gravitt, Brandy Wiemer, Budgi, birthday celebrations


birthday, happy birthday, Brandy Gravitt, Brandy Wiemer, Budgi, birthday celebrations

birthday, happy birthday, Brandy Gravitt, Brandy Wiemer, Budgi, birthday celebrations
Her wedding day!

birthday, happy birthday, Brandy Gravitt, Brandy Wiemer, Budgi, birthday celebrations
Got to love the black and white picture.

birthday, happy birthday, Brandy Gravitt, Brandy Wiemer, Budgi, birthday celebrations
Wedding collage.
birthday, happy birthday, Brandy Gravitt, Brandy Wiemer, Budgi, birthday celebrations
Pregnant with her 1st born. (She is currently pregnant with her 2nd baby.)


birthday, happy birthday, Brandy Gravitt, Brandy Wiemer, Budgi, birthday celebrations
Her husband, Seth, Sylvester the cat, Phineas, and Brandy.



   Happy 22nd birthday, Budgi!


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Sunday, May 20, 2012

Name that Flower

    Here's a fun game to play.  These flowers are all on our property.  We are in SE Oklahoma.  Can you identify them all?  Post your guesses as a comment and let's see how many you can get right!

flower identification, wildflowers, what kind of flower is this?  wildflower identification, cactus flower
#1
(Fleabane)

flower identification, wildflowers, what kind of flower is this?  wildflower identification, cactus flower
#2
(Daylily)

flower identification, wildflowers, what kind of flower is this?  wildflower identification, cactus flower
#3
(Native Wild Rose)

flower identification, wildflowers, what kind of flower is this?  wildflower identification, cactus flower
#4

flower identification, wildflowers, what kind of flower is this?  wildflower identification, cactus flower
#5
(Queen Anne's Lace)

flower identification, wildflowers, what kind of flower is this?  wildflower identification, cactus flower
#6 (a bush)
(Blackberry bush)

flower identification, wildflowers, what kind of flower is this?  wildflower identification, cactus flower
#7

flower identification, wildflowers, what kind of flower is this?  wildflower identification, cactus flower
#8
(Prickly Pear Cactus)

flower identification, wildflowers, what kind of flower is this?  wildflower identification, cactus flower
#9
(Gaillardia)




  Good Luck!!!

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Saturday, May 19, 2012

Garden Update


   Finally, our garden is doing okay.  We planted early because it was so warm here but once we had everything in the ground, nothing seemed to be growing.  Take that back, the weeds were doing wonderfully, but not our veggies.   To prepare for the garden, my husband tilled, retilled and tilled some more but those pesky weeds just pop up and flourish.
   Anyway, we have been pulling weeds, fertilizing and watering the best that we can and FINALLY, the garden looks like it is going to produce.  How is your garden doing?  What all have you planted?
Garden, gardening, garden blog, growing tomatoes, growing corn, fresh corn on the cob, growing bell peppers
This is when we first transplanted into the garden area.

Garden, gardening, garden blog, growing tomatoes, growing corn, fresh corn on the cob, growing bell peppers
A green bell pepper.  

Garden, gardening, garden blog, growing tomatoes, growing corn, fresh corn on the cob, growing bell peppers
A clump of tomatoes

Garden, gardening, garden blog, growing tomatoes, growing corn, fresh corn on the cob, growing bell peppers
Walla Walla onions
Garden, gardening, garden blog, growing tomatoes, growing corn, fresh corn on the cob, growing bell peppers
Another tomato plant.   It is HUGE!

Garden, gardening, garden blog, growing tomatoes, growing corn, fresh corn on the cob, growing bell peppers
Some of the corn we have planted.

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How to Make a Classic Christmas Rainbow Poke Cake

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