Late Fall Hiking & My Daughter's Moon Pics

I love how the weather here can be freezing cold literally one day and then another day 65. I keep a watch on the weather and when we get those days above 40, we're off for another hike! Breathing in the fresh air and moving our bodies is not only an exercise, it can be a spiritual experience as well. Jesus and Moses went hiking, as well as many others as we can see in the Bible of how they communed with God on those mountains! (Ex. 24:12; Matt. 17:1) I highly recommend it to keep in shape and if you have the experiences that I do, you will also find a special time with the Lord.


Open Rebellion or Playing Opposities


In today's modern Christian church, many are told they can just ignore the Bible because nobody's perfect. These false teachers and preachers are never short of those that are seeking such lies. We can look back on the Jewish people and see how it wasn't just that they couldn't keep the law in perfection, it was more so that they WALKED CONTRARY to what God said to do! They literally forsook God's law and openly rebelled against it. Such is happening today in the Christian church. We can look around everywhere and see those that claim Christ walking contrary to what the Bible told us to do. They aren't striving to obey God's Word, they willfully REBEL against it by doing the exact opposite!
 
Let me give some concrete examples.

Current Prices for Food in Ohio

I've saved my receipts and decided to post current prices in my area at my Aldi and Kroger.  These are from October 1st - November 9th.  It should be noted that I buy only grass-fed organic red meat, organic milk, soymilk, tortilla chips and some organic produce and other foods.  I haven't made a price book in a long time, so I decided to start keeping track.  Since I was doing a stock-up of sorts, I thought was now a good time and would be beneficial to a lot to compare in your area.  Several things have risen 20 cents each or more as I'm comparing 4 weeks receipts, so I'm putting the current higher price.  It is so tiny that you may not notice it if you didn't pay attention to the actual price.  Also, some items have shrunk in size and amount you get for the same price!  Sneaky sneaky  😋  I may try and do this every month because, not only do I want a list to compare to, but I think it would help others.


1 Pound of Meat Feeds a Family of 4

Whether it be ground beef, chicken breast, ground turkey or kielbasa, you can easily feed your family of 4 with 1 pound of meat!  I've been doing this for years and didn't realize that others didn't understand the concept of meat being part of the meal, not THE meal.  Americans seem to think that meat is what's for breakfast, lunch and dinner.  Instead of only having it a few times a week, they have it 3 times a day every single day.  I think that is where Americans are going to have to change, not only for the wallet, but also for health.

Most of the meals I make use just 1 pound of meat and it not only feeds us all (3 adults and one hungry 8 yr old boy) but we sometimes have leftovers.  Everyone is super healthy except the runt of the family - ME - 😄.  However my health issues have nothing at all to do with diet thankfully, they are birth defects, heart infection from a virus and brain damage from a car accident.  So I suppose it is even of greater importance that I do cook mostly healthy so I won't have any additional issues with my health!


Prayer Can Change God's Mind - Podcast

Prayer is powerful and can even change the mind of God!  You may be only one, but you are one and your prayers are powerful.  Don't let Satan make you think there is no use and your prayers don't help!  Pray anyway and believe, have faith and let your petitions be known unto God.  Don't accept what you can pray against.  Stand in the gap and pray for others, our President and our country - that God will spare us all so that others may be reached for Christ.  


Out With the Old...

In with the new!  I've been replacing a lot the past year seems like because a lot of things are definitely due for a replacement.  My former living room rug doesn't look too bad in photos but in person it was wore down to nothing almost and really impossible to clean because there was no height to it.  I bought the rug when we moved here 5 years ago for $28 at Walmart, so I think I got my money's worth out of it!  To replace it, I wanted something that was black and white and modern looking and better quality and thankfully found a very nice Safavieh Dallas shag rug that is so soft and vacuums well for $74.

My Baby is an Adult, Recipes and Other News

My daughter turned 18 and I'm still having a hard time with that lol.  My baby is an adult!  What a wonderful woman of God she has become and that is my greatest joy.  I found this awesome birthday kit that came with everything to decorate for cheap and she loved it!  I, of course, crowned her an adult!

What's Been Cooking

I made banana walnut cake with a 6 cup Bundt pan in my Instant Pot and it was so delicious!!  Definitely a keeper for us and I put a few semi-sweet chocolate chips in it as well.

Homekeepers Need to be Informed about the Stock Market!

We've had a 401K since we were 26 and didn't know really anything about it except that our money grew very well.  This past year we made an absolutely incredible amount and I didn't understand why my conscience always bothered me about the 401K.  I don't believe it is gambling, so why was I feeling so wrong?

I started understanding more about it all and then realized these "mutual funds" we are invested in, are actually a basket of companies.  I wondered what kind of companies are we involved in?  That, to my horror, was when I realized why all these years I felt my conscience feel so sick towards our 401K.  We were invested in Fakebook (gag me already), Abortion, Pornography... you sick yet?  Even Caesar's Entertainment!  OH MY GOODNESS, forgive us God!  So, I'm thinking how ashamed I am and then I find out that some "Christians" say it's ok to do this and they enjoy the money made off all the evil.  SAY WHAT!?

So, to check on the proposed "ok-ness" of all this, I did some research and spoke with some experts on the phone.  Guess what folks - you are PART OWNER when you invest in these companies

More Fall Hiking

Hard to say it's fall because it has been in the 80's but the leaves don't lie - definitely falling!  





What's Been Cooking

I've really been enjoying these new cookbooks and so far, everything I've made from them has been excellent!



I made their orange chicken, which came from the Next Generation book and it is a keeper for sure!



I know this one doesn't look good necessarily but it was absolutely delicious and the whole family loved it!  It was Chickpea potato stew:



They called for a lot of Instant Pot accessory pans and ramekins that I didn't have but thankfully I found them on Amazon:




I made my first cake in the Instant Pot with the Coconut Bundt Cake recipe and it was good but I wish I had made the strawberry sauce to go on top of it instead of the icing.



I made the World's Easiest Shepherd's Pie made with ground turkey and it was soooo good!  I actually made 2 Instant Pots of this so my husband had leftovers for work.  Everyone was scraping their dish to get every bite, so good!



I made the Broccoli, Sausage and Cheese soup and it tasted good but didn't have enough in it for me, I guess I'm more a stew girl than a soup!



This last recipe, Curried Tuna Casserole, was from the Kroger coupon magazine they send out that has recipes in it.  It was good but needed more salt.



Trusting in What? - Podcast

Just what are you trusting in, in these last days?  Heed the warnings that God gives us and steer away from the love of self, love of money and love of pleasure.  Trust in God and have faith in His Word and His promises that will never fail.  It's time to find out just who you really are and what is really important to you.



Early Fall Hiking

I still can't get over enjoying the four seasons here in Ohio.  I love seeing the changes in each season that I missed out on for so many years living out West.  I guess as a child growing up in the south, I didn't pay much attention lol, because NOW it is a WOW every time I see changes in everything around me.

What I love about fall is the crispness of the air at night and the crunch of the leaves as I walk.  I also love seeing the mosquitoes go bye-bye when it drops below 50!  Here are some pics from our recent hikes:













What's Been Cooking

I made oven baked flounder, which is my son's absolute favorite.  I take frozen wild caught flounder and rub them with olive oil, then I made a homemade fish seasoning and add that and some extra dill, lemon juice and salt and pepper and bake for 20 minutes.  I made some baking powder biscuits, tartar sauce (I add more pickles and even pickle juice) and prince medley with it:





I made chicken enchiladas, cooking the chicken breast in homemade enchilada sauce all together in the instant pot, then shredding the chicken and filling each corn tortilla with chicken, sauce and cheese and baking.



I don't normally cook on Sunday but I was craving soup and baguette bread, so I made some Pasta Fagioli with kale using a new recipe from The Instant Pot Bible - Next Generation and the soup is definitely a keeper!  Baguette bread is always good, can't go wrong and something we like to have with soup meals.




*If you didn't notice, the bolded words above are links to the recipe.

Keep the Right Mindset! - Podcast

Don't let Satan rock you to sleep to commit sin, awake to righteousness God's Word says!  Stay away from the evil influence of women that claim they know God but their works deny they know Him!  Keep your mind right and think on the hope of the hereafter - death has no victory for the Christian!


Using Remember the Milk for Chores

There is an app (also a website version) called "Remember the Milk" that has been a valuable tool for me to keep my to-do's and chores organized and to also have my kids (and even husband) know what it is they need to do in the house on a daily, weekly, monthly, etc. basis.  It has been the BEST tool I've ever used and something a lot of people don't know about unfortunately.

Not only can I put all the house chores and the frequency they need to be done, but I can easily see who has done what through my main account.  Both of my kids have a phone with the app - my son has a phone with no cell service and limited usage availability and monitored!  So they look at their chore list every morning and check off when they've completed their chores as they go throughout the day.

Here are screenshots of our lists and I also included a MISC list I had of random things I want to eventually get done.  I have most chores set to repeat at certain times I have set - some repeat daily, some weekly, etc.  I have the whole house cleaning organized for the year!  We've already done our big deep clean a few months ago, so it won't happen again until spring.





You can make as many different lists as you want for anything really!  Now that we are getting back to school, I plan on making a homeschool list for the kids and for myself of all that I need to remember to do each day/week, etc.  I have everyone's synced through my main account but they all have their own individual accounts that they can create their own private lists on too if they choose.  I can also edit their lists or change when they are due - anything really.  It is very customizable and the best part of all it is FREE!

TRUST ME!


Some of you long-time readers may remember my story I wrote a decade ago (I Know "Her"...) about how I was told I would go to hell if I had a baby.  I told how later I was told from another man of God that no, I wouldn't go to hell for having a baby.  However, I still thought I would until God spoke to me Genesis 18:19.  You can read all about that in the link to that post above.

After that, I tried to conceive but couldn't and then after tests I was told by our doctor that I was sterile and probably impossible to conceive without help.  Having children was my dream and I was crushed but I prayed for God to heal me.  I was struggling to say the least.  Then, a leader in a church we were in, came to Alaska to preach for us.  I've never forgotten that message.  He preached a message called, TRUST ME!  He constantly emphasized those words TRUST ME over and over again.  The Lord spoke to me and said that I needed to trust Him that I was pregnant at that very moment with a baby.  And sure enough - I was pregnant with my daughter.

We received some devastating news recently that shook up my world once again.  This was a big test of my faith and I was failing sadly and crying a lot.  My husband got up to preach the following Sunday and preached - TRUST ME!  I don't know that he remembers the message from 2003 but I sure do lol.  Throughout the preaching, I was so encouraged, it felt like God hand-delivered a message to me to help me build up my faith and trust Him once again.  Then, we set off for our planned vacation that we had saved up for (debt-free by the way), not knowing what the future held for me afterwards.

On our way back home at a stop in Oklahoma, I woke up in the night and felt like I was dying.  My heart was so bad, I had severe vertigo that I was falling all over the place and I knew this was it, this was the end for me, my heart had finally lost the fight.  Upon waking my husband, him and our daughter prayed on me but I felt it was no use, I was fading fast, I couldn't even speak anymore.  My husband left the room, which kind of disturbed me because here I am dying and where is he going!?  My daughter held on to my hand and prayed constantly.  A few minutes later, my husband marches in the room with some super confidence and comes to me and says: "Bev, God spoke to me and told me to tell you TRUST ME!  God said that Satan is doing this to you and it will go away, you won't die!"  It wasn't but a few minutes later I passed out and hours later I woke up with no problems at all!!

In our darkest hours and upon receiving our most devastating news and our spirits being crushed by the harshness of life, we need to remember that there is one thing God is saying to us all: TRUST ME!!

Arizona Vacation

We did a 15-day vacation to Arizona, staying mostly in Tucson for 8 days, which was my favorite part of Arizona!  The low humidity and high heat was heaven to me.  We also saw Phoenix, Sedona and Flagstaff and the Grand Canyon.

We did a lot of hiking in Tucson and our first evening, we didn't realize how soon the sun sets in Arizona lol and we got lost in the desert in the dark.  We saw 4 tarantulas across our path and one, the largest of all, was on my daughter's leg!  Yes, I screamed and she was able to shake it off.  I think the spider was just as afraid as she was and the locals told us tarantulas don't hurt you usually, so no big deal besides they are HUGE!  Thankfully no rattlesnakes, although we did see the skin of one laying in the desert.  There are tons of butterflies in Tucson, so pretty!  Then of course all the saguaro cacti everywhere - they are amazing looking.

We had our own private pool during our stay and we swam day and night every day.  We also met up with some old friends on our trip, good times!  We drove Route 66 from Flagstaff, Arizona all the way to St. Louis, Missouri on our way home.  We went through a total of 11 states on our trip.  We were going to go to San Diego for a night and drive up the coast to Santa Monica and stay in Palm Springs but we nixed the California portion to spend more time in Arizona.  We did a stop in Placitas, New Mexico and hiked a trail there that we missed last time we came there in 2019.