Thanksgiving

                                         
Happy Thanksgiving week! Hopefully you were blessed with mountains of homemade food you could never eat even in a week, and added to your waistline in preparation for the drollness of winter. May you have a new roll of fat at your belly so you can hibernate throughout the whole winter in your cave.

NOT! Go workout, go run, go lift weights, eat barely anything, fast, do something to keep that weight off! Drink gallons of water or spend so much time at the gym it makes you nauseous....just do something.

Oddly good, Pea Pesto with diced tomato on toasted bagettes

And our sweet potato casserole...so yummy.

Full of energy before dinner....not so much afterward. :)

One random thought: Many girls suddenly start starving themself, going on a diet or eating super heatlthy right before they get married so they can fit in their dress or be really skinny for their husband. Nothing wrong with that. But, I want be physically fit and healthy before (and if) I ever get married. I want to be just healthy for healthy's sake and fit into a dress that's my size, not a size I had to starve myself to get into. It's a good thing to want to please your husband, but I'd also like to not have to change too much cause you know you're probably gonna gain it back anyways in the first couple weeks...it happens. Anyways, I just want to be in shape because I love being healthy & fit. Simple as that. Always be ready.

All went well in the Laycock house Thursday morning in preparation for our feast of Thanksgiving. Turkey was dry-brined, roasted and ready with dressing. Potatoes mashed, the orange sweet taters topped with pecans & brown sugar, fruit salad creamed, and garlic rolls risen & baked. We were almost ready to eat. Something was wrong though. A key side was nowhere to be found, and my heart started racing. Where was what I douse everything in? I figured Mom had only forgotten to heat it up, but she had completely forgotten to make gravy from the drippings! No gravy for dressing, mashed taters, or turkey! The horror. Maybe I love my gravy a tad bit too much.

The Passionate Homemaking website/blog has a few recipes for shampoo and conditioner. Tried using just baking soda & water together as a paste for a no-poo recipe, and used a mixture of apple cider vinegar, water, and couple drops lavendar essential oil (to mask ACV smell) as conditioner. It worked! Hair is super soft and conditioned well.

According to Lindsay off PH's website, apple cider vinegar works effectively as a conditioning agent that helps the skin/scalp Ph balance. The baking soda paste does not feel soapy like shampoo, but actually feels like it is cleaning your scalp more thorougly. And baking soda is super cheap! Will have to try the shampoo recipe made with eggs & more stuff to make it feel more like real shampoo.

Most people would write a big long list of things they are grateful for and go on and on and on about it. Go for them, I like to be different. Here's the short and sweet of it: Jesus Christ my Lord, family, friends, church and all that my Savior provides. It would take thousands of years for me to even express a fraction of what my Lord does for me and his indescribably beauty. Instead of telling you all my blessings which number in the thousands, I'd say to you to look to the greatest Blessing: Jesus Christ.

I want to encourage you to get down on your knees, and thank God for everything in your life: good, bad, hardships, blessings, etc. Then think about how much you sin in your life...unless you see how much & bad your sin is, and understand your depravity; you won't see your need of a beautiful perfect Savior in every second of your day. Talk to Him, spend time getting to know Him as you read His-Story (Scripture). Pray boldly, but always ending with "Thy will be done." Pray for those who disapoint you, and that the Lord would keep fellow Christians in his word daily. Spend 3-7 minutes learning to memorize a Bible verse or part of hymn; write it down on paper, look at it every once in a while and repeat it to yourself. You'll amaze yourself how fast you can learn verses and how much you love it having those in times of need. Just give God quality time and not the leftovers of your day. Not being preachy cause I need to do these things more too but I want to encourage others to Christ-likeness.

Kendle

"You make known to me the path of life: in your presence there is fullnes of joy, at your right hand are pleasures forevermore." Psalm 16:11

Let's just write me off as a nut that didn't fall too far from the tree

What do you want? What do you need? Ask and you will get.

Well it seems, according to one anonymous person, that I have not enough "interesting" posts to keep even my small few followers entertained and that I need to update more often. If you want a mish-mash, I'll give it to you every once in a while.

These photos were taken on the day my brother Jesse turned 13...Allison was 17, I was 19. The next day I turned 20, so there were three teenagers in the house for one day. My sister Allison & I were imitating how goofy Jesse smiles when we take photos...I'd say our impressions are spot on!

Remembered something funny after looking through my old diary: Somebody had died in our blood family and members of our church "family" had sent us a bunch of food, including a plastic tub of chili. Mom told me to get it on the phone, so I raced downstairs into our basement to fetch it. Because I had done it a thousand times before, I raced up our wooden stairs 3 steps at a time; I lost my balance, fell and slid backwards down the steps, squashing the chili tub open all over the dirty steps AND me in the process. I lay there laughing for a good five minutes. Proceeded to scoop up the chili on the top of the pile that wasn't contaminated, put it back in the tub and tried to clean myself up before my family came home. Mom sort of thought it was funny, except for the food we lost. I, on the other hand, think of dirty wooden steps every time I see chili now.

                 Allison & I in the craft cabin at Camp Del-Haven...

When I was 14 or so I took a lengthy poetry class in our homeschool Co-op that would meet every Friday, and thoroughly enjoyed it. Here is one of my favorite ones I wrote using Personification:

The Old Tv

She was born in 1950,
She was nifty.
Her mom was Mrs. Sylvania,
And her dad was Mr. RCA.
She cried for Elvis,
Laughed with Bill Cosby.
But her eyesight failed,
Her voice became hoarse.
Finally an old wire snapped,
Then all life aws lost.
Now she rests in her grave,
Under mountains of filthy junk,
In the corner of Dave's Junkyard

                

What is that outfit this girl is wearing? Yes, I know I'm strange, but I love Civil War reenacting. There is something about putting on clothing you would have worn in 1850's-1860's....you transform from a girl to lady, boy to a gentleman, no matter your age. You talk, walk, speak, interact, dress and do everything different. At a Civil War reenactment there is nothing like hearing a cannon firing, the smell of gunpowder, seeing elegant ladies being escorted by gentlemen, cooking over an open fire, and teaching the general public about life during that time. Not to mention all the men, regardless of rank or age or social standing, look very handsome in their attire and the ladies so very put-together in their confined, braided hair, tiny waists, and full skirts with petticoats peeking out from underneath as they glide across the ground.

Ask a lady what she wears underneath her dress on her legs and you will be treated to a shocked look of horror & amazement that you would dare mention her "undergarments," or her "limbs." Say that Gone with the Wind is an accurate portrayal of southern life and how they dressed? The fashion show will show you up. If you happen to say that the War Between the States was started because of slavery, there will be a flock of history nerds disguised as soldiers & washerwomen proving you otherwise with their vast amount of knowledge. Lazy & faint Southern women? How about hard-working, productive farm women who cooked, cleaned, hand-sewed the family's clothing, had to grow all food or go without, and worked from sunup to sundown right alongside their husbands while still looking like a lady. Oh that's right, they were boring, no-fun no-nonsense people. Wrong-o. Attend a ball or dance and you will get a sufficient lively work-out while trying to "catch" the eyes of a prospective mate. It's also a good time. I'll stop ranting about how much I enjoy this hobby...try it yourself the right way and you'll fall in love with the easy-going atmosphere like I did & the people who attend it.

                     
November 21, 2010. The handiwork of our Creator God. He is Awesome!
 
Have a great Thanksgiving everyone...don't gain too many extra pieces of lard around your gut by being extra grateful for your delicious food this year.

In Christ,
Kendle

  
"And he fell to the ground. Then he heard a voice saying to him, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?  And Saul said, Who are You, Lord? And He said, I am Jesus, Whom you are persecuting. It is dangerous and it will turn out badly for you to keep kicking against the goad [to offer vain and perilous resistance]. Trembling and astonished he asked, Lord, what do You desire me to do? The Lord said to him, But arise and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do."- Acts 9:4-6

Come thou fount of every blessing, tune my heart to sing thy Grace...

Come one, come all who seek to delve into the depths of my crazy brain......

First off, my sister Allison got a fork-horned buck Tuesday! We haven't gotten a single deer on our land in about 3 years, so this is a major blessing. Dad & I went hunting yesterday morning, and boy, was it cold! (even with 6 heavy layers!) We're walking in the woods that morning, getting ready to walk up the hill to get to Dad's deer stand he built when suddenly we see this thing. It looked first like a huge log but then we realized it was a deer blind. Somebody was hunting on our private land without permission! After we finished our hunt that day (no deer) we took the blind with us; then Dad visited a couple houses & found one of our neighbors let this man they didn't know hunt on their land.....he just didn't understand the land lines and went on ours accidentally. No dramatic problem, praise the Lord!

I used a friend's recipe & made Creamy Potato Leek soup....it was delicious & my family loved it! Thanks Janna! >>>
                   

                                         Cinnamon Smoothie Recipe:
Blend one banana, 3 tablespoons hemp seeds (or 3 tablespoons unsalted nuts), 1/2 cup water, pinch sea salt, splash vanilla, and 1 tablespoon tahini or peanut butter together until smooth. Add 1 teaspooon cinnamon & honey/dates/your choice sweetener to taste, blend well. Add ice until desired consistency.                         
                      
                                 
For a chocolate smoothie: Leave out tahini & cinnamon, and add 2 tablespoons cacao powder/Hershey's cocoa.

For fruit smoothie: Leave out cinnamon, no ice, and add favorite frozen fruit. Strawberries and blueberries are good combination.

I use this old high-powered blender for everything, Vita-Mix's are the best!

                          
Wednesday night at our church we were praying for our brothers & sisters in Christ in the persecuted countries around the world...like Nigeria, Egypt, Afganistan, Uzbezistan, Korea, China, etc. They need prayer for resources (Bibles, training), strength against the persecution, hope & trust in Christ, and prayers to love their persecutors & that they would come to know Jesus as their Lord & Savior. Through the women's "society" we have at church for young women we had been working on memorizing a favorite hymn and a chapter of Scripture. Really learned to love doing this! Had a dream 2 weeks ago that the government had taken away all hymnals, creeds, Bibles & anything Christian-related: if this did ever happen, I would feel horrible if I couldn't teach the words of foundational hymns to my children or teach them basic Scripture verses. When you memorize a long passage of Scripture you meditate on it/think about it more; you can make your own music & praise God wherever you go without sheet music. "I have set the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices; my flesh also dwells secure." Psalm 16:8-9 ESV

Around our house, when someone starts watching Tim Hawkins on the computer, we all gather round. One of our favorite sketches of his is Short Songs. Driving to church last night my brother Jesse & I sang his short version of The Wreck of the Edmond Fitzgerald: "The story lives on went on how the boat she went down. And the people all died.....bummer." :-) We sang over and over and over again for probably 30 minutes, trying to get the accent and timing right, but it's hard to replicate Tim good. Here's the video: http://www.youtube.com/user/timhawkinscomedy?blend=1&ob=4#p/u/21/39-oy5QKYTI

Have a great Thanksgiving everyone and don't forget what our best Blessing is: Jesus Christ & his gift of love salvation to us sinners in need!

In Christ alone, Kendle

First Post... a little teeny bit about me to get started.

Well hello.

Yes, you, like me that has an extra 30 minutes of your life to waste reading somebody else's thoughts....go on. You've still got more time to kill.

One of my favorite Christian authors, Leslie Ludy, wrote in her November-December 2010 Set-Apart Girl Magazine about one big time-waster we have today: Facebook. http://www.setapartgirl.com/home.html  Apart from being really bored with Facebook anyway recently & not feeling like I am getting to know anybody, I decided I'd start a blog. A.W. Tozer said "The man who would know God must give time to Him." I want to use God's time wisely, and if I can just post once a week or once a month I'll be giving so much time back for God's usage in my life. Been trying really hard every day to get up early, have a devotion "date" with my Saviour Jesus Christ, do exercises and then get on with regular chores, schoolwork, and life.

      Horrible pic of me. Doing what I love: creating raw food               
                                   
I'm a health "nut", and love creating food that is yummy, savory and delicious while still having the most nutrition possible. The green smoothie drinks I make have been called "snot drinks," and am proud to eat "bird seed" cookies. Appreciate all the love.... :-)  For a while I was a raw foodie all the way but now I've got a healthy perspective on it. Lots of fresh fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, superfoods (goji berries, cacao, chia seeds) some cooked meat & juices and a lot of water are my main food consumption. Had a thanksgiving dinner at church today, and totally pigged out on nasty cooked food....mashed potatoes and gravy are this southern girl's weakness. I pay for it dearly. Here's a easy holiday recipe I tried recently from Ani Phyo's book "Ani's Raw Food Kitchen":http://www.aniphyo.com/

Almond Nog
Makes 4 servings

1 cup almonds
1/2 cup pitted dates
1/2 vanilla bean
1 teaspoon grated nutmeg
3 cups water
                        Blend everything together in blender until smooth. Will keep for four days in fridge.
I also added extra nutmeg and some honey. Tastes almost exactly like eggnog except better for you!

Well, maybe you'll stick around longer to hear whatever else pops out of my brain.....hope you have a great November!

In Christ,
Kendle

"The Lord is my portion and my cup; you hold my lot. The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance." Psalm 16:5-6