Happy Random Friday

So let's do a top ten Random Friday List 

of my week shall we?

1).  BUSY!!!  

It seems that pretty much sums up my life right now.

But I am lovin' busy.

It is a reminder to me of truly how Blessed I am.

So BUSY, thank you for your gifts,

many and varied.

2).  Sir Cuteness is rocking my world.

RJ do I have a video for you and Ricky to enjoy.

I'm gonna try to get it up and posted this weekend.

I hope that happens,

because you are gonna LOVE

Sir Cuteness' new love.

Intrigued?

3).  Scrapbook Room.

My Mr. Winslow and I are working on a SB room for me,

and I am SO excited!!  

I've been researching LOTS of organizing tips.

I love to organize,

and I've found LOTS of good tips and tricks and have been

utilizing them.

Fun.

Can't wait to show you pics!!!

4).  Back to Blogging.

I have updated my Scrapbook Blog

with my most recent LO.

Please check that out.

right here

5).  Carolineintexas got married yesterday!!

I have been praying for her

and am just so excited for her.

God.is.Good.

Ok so 5-10 will have to be wrapped up in one:

BUSY!!

I'm off to shower and then off to pick up my mom for 2 docs appts this afternoon.

See, BUSY!!!

I love you so ~~ have a Super Weekend ~~ dawn

Back to my vegan ways.....

So I shared with you in my last post

about my health struggles

as of late.

Thank you so much for the kind words of 

encouragement and concern

in the form of comments,

e-mails,

text messages 

and phone calls.

I am a well loved woman,

and so appreciate your concern.

Well, I started my journey back to vegeterianism

a while back,

but hadn't fully committed,

and seemed easily swayed to eat dairy.

That's not a hard sway for me.

I do love my sour cream and cheese,

but I also LOVE the vegan options of these and other dairy

products, 

it is the price that often slows down the switch back,

but when I get to feeling bad enough,

then the switch is made.

So here I am.

Back to my vegan diet,

and loving it.

I love eating clean and healthy 

and in honor of that,

I wanted to share with you

two recipes that are rocking my vegan world right now:

Crazy-Good Ranch Dressing

&

Chai Tea Latte (the homemade vegan kind)

Now let me start by staying, 

that I cannot ever really eat Ranch Dressing.

It is a haven for all things non-vegan and unhealthy

like.....

MSG.

Yes this highly contagious girl

does not consume said favored dressing

of the American people.

NO.

I do not partake.

Until now.

And let me tell you,

when Katie said she could drink it with a straw,

I thought, "Sure you could."

Me, sceptic.

Oh please give me a straw!

The big slushy kind,

and a HUGE, GINOURMOUS cup

to drink it out of.

It.is.that.good.

I digress.

Without further ado.....

Said Ranch Recipe:

http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/2011/06/02/crazy-good-ranch-dressing/

So go visit the lovely Katie and check out this recipe,

and PLEASE make it this weekend

and revel with me in the goodness that is Homemade Ranch Dressing.

I make this according to her recipe,

except I use fresh dill, 

about a Tablespoon,

and added some fresh chives 

and fresh basil right out of the garden.

Oh, be still my garden loving heart!!!

PLEASE try this.

I'm begging you.

STOP buying the bottle kind!!

This is SO much better for you!!!

Look at the nutritional content while you are over at the beautiful Katie's

and see for yourself.

Okay.....

So I am a Chai Latte loving girl

thanks to my friend Lauren.

I don't drink coffee anymore.

sigh.

But LOVE warm drinks

and HAD to find something healthier for me,

so Chai Latte it was.

Now not all Chai Latte's 

are created equal.

Or even close.

Star Bucks is so strong it burns my throat.

I had one at my local health food store today,

and it as well, was STRONG and burned my throat.

I like a smooth Chai Latte NOT strong.

So while Sir Cuteness and I was at said health food store today,

I got a box of Chai Tea bags.

I looked up several recipes for homemade Chai Latte's

and came up with this one:

Dawn's Smooth and Delicious Chai Latte

1/2 Cup Vanilla Almond Milk

1/2 Cup Original Almond Milk

1 Chai Tea Bag

1 Stevia Packet

Sprinkle of Nutmeg

Heat Almond Milks in pan on stove over medium heat.

Stir with a whisk until heated thoroughly

and frothy, 

but NOT boiling.

Put tea bag in cup,

Add hot (NOT BOILING) Almond Milk

and steep Chai Tea Bag in Almond Milk

until you achieve the desired strength.

For me, about 4 or 5 minutes.

Add Stevia packet 

and sprinkle nutmeg into mug.

Enjoy while writing your next blog

post which is what I am doing with mine =)

I am loving the new recipes I'm finding 

and am so glad I am back to eating so healthy.

It truly rocks this girl's world!!!

*****

You're probably wondering what has happened to my vacation posts?

Don't worry,

they will continue.

I just want to tell these stories well,

and feel like I've been rushing my writing,

so I will be sprinkling them in

and will label them accordingly.

I love you so!!

Have a Blessed weekend ~~

Challenged

So lately,

I have felt challenged.

Interesting.

Why?

Well as most of you know,

I face health challenges,

and most of the time,

I really don't see them that way.

They aren't so much challenges

as much as they are

opportunities.

Opportunities to share.....

God's love.

His heart.

His Son.

But sometimes

I feel

especially 

challenged.

Like.

right.

now.

Challenged.

As you know,

my knees are crap.

I know harsh.

 honest.

I was at Silver Dollar City

with 

Sir Cuteness 

earlier this week,

and couldn't ride 

the kids roller coaster,

because my leg wouldn't

allow me to sit

in the seat,

and they frown upon me standing in the seat,

something about the seat belt bar,

safety,

or some such stuff.

So my friend had to ride it with him.

I was sad.

But.....

it was okay.

We rode other things together

like the elephant,

the tea cups,

the carousel.....

(pictures to come).

But I was also thankful for a friend

who would jump right in there

and ride it with him,

and she also did her best

to not make me feel badly about it.

And Sir Cuteness?

Well of course, he went right on 

with his

cute self.

Kids are resilient  like that.

So that was challenging to me.

But it is not the most challenging thing in front of me right now.

No.

Right now

the most challenging thing in front of me,

is me.

Have you ever felt that way?

I have struggled with health issues for a long time.

Like a really long time,

but in the midst

I have seen the love of my 

Saviour

show up big.

BIG.

Lately, my health issues

have taken on 

deeper issues.

I had to have a special test done

weeks ago 

and it was found that I have an

issue that can be hard to treat.

So I go to see a specialist on Monday.

In the midst of these health issues,

I have had to look at my health 

as a whole, 

and decide if I'm doing all I can do 

to be in good health.

And come to find out,

not so much.

For years,

I have pretty much been the healthiest eater I know.

But this year found me starting the year off

by eating meat again

as part of the Blood Type Diet.

It hasn't worked so well for me.

I have felt sluggish,

tired,

I've gained weight.

Blech.

So last night,

I made the decision 

that I am going back to what I know.

Eating healthy.

I felt so much better.

But since I have been eating more junk

I feel challenged.

So why do I share this?

So you can help me be accountable,

and also to share some challenges of mine,

so hopefully you can be strengthened

by a love that changes

it all.

Everything.

Forever.

The love of my Saviour.

A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!!

Because something else 

the LORD has been talking

to me about is

Redemption.

My verse right now is:

Ephesians 1:7-8

"For in Him,

we have redemption

through His blood,

the forgiveness of sins

in accordance 

to the riches of God's grace

which He lavished

on us

with all

wisdom and understanding."

It's all about grace.

Forever.

For always.

Grace.

God's 

AMAZING

abundant

LAVISH

grace.

~~

He is able to redeem,
so I come before Him,
desiring Him to do a work
in me
for His glory.
I love Him so!!!!!
Redeem those broken places
as I am broken before You.
Do it LORD.
Amen.

~~  

The BWCA Part 3

So when we got up on Sunday ready to head to our outfitters, it was raining.

It rained all the way into the BWCA.

We fought wind and rain the whole way, for the most part.

When we got to the first Lake, we found where we wanted to set up base camp.

Since our outfitter had told us to camp out on the point because the sand flies

had came in.  

Sand flies!!  I'd never even heard of that.

But the point it was.

I am not into sand flies.  

Whatever they are.

So we found this lovely place and staked our ground.

And this was our lake.

No one else camped on this lake the entire time we were here.

So cool.

So on Monday morning we woke up to fog on the lake.

So, so pretty.

Me Mountain Man took this picture.

So beautiful!

And this one.

This is one of my favorite shots.

So beautiful.

The BWCA is stunning.

stunning.

And look at the mirror image the water creates.

Beautiful.

So I'm going to go back to Sunday.

When we arrived it was raining,

but as the day went on,

the rain let up,

and then

stopped.

The sun came out for a bit,

and we were thankful.

So thankful.

So it was time to fish for our supper.

We had seen some guys on the way in that had been camping for 10 days.

10 DAYS!!!  

WOW that's impressive!!

And asked them about the fishing

and they said they caught NOTHING in 10 days!!!!!

NOTHING!

That's not good.

Not good at all.

Then we asked some other guys that were coming out 

and they said the fishing was good.

Real good.

Now your talking.

Now let me just tell you,

as an adult, 

I have never really fished.

My Grandma took me fishing with a cane pole as a little girl,

but as an adult, not so much.

I know, weird right?.

So My Mr. Winslow knew he had his work cut out for him =)

So he baited my hook and taught me to cast and told me to practice

while he went to take care of the canoe.

So I said ok, and took off casting.

Well I cast it several times and then

BOOM BABY!!!

I HAVE A FISH!!

I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO!!!!!

Well, Mr. Winslow thought:

"She is hung up and just thinks she has a fish.  

That's so cute."  haha

But I really had a fish!!

I didn't know what to do and didn't want to lose the fishy

so I did what any former city girl does when she catches a fish

I threw it up on the bank, because it was about to fall off the hook!!!

It did indeed fall off the hook, and I wasn't about to touch that fish,

so I just kept my pole on it as it flopped around,

until Mr. Winslow could get there.  hahaha

And ~~  Ta-Da ~~

Can you tell how excited I am?

Mr. Winslow said I was just like a little kid =)

So fun!!!!!

 So then, of course we had to head out on the water to do some more fishing.

I caught another pike and Mr. Winslow caught a walleye.

Oh my, yes it was such a good supper.

My Mr. Winslow started a fire,

and I cooked the taters while he went over to the other side

of the lake to slay the fishy's.

He brought them back and we put them in the pan.

It was the freshest fish I have ever had.

There really is a difference.

DELISH!!!

And here is the lure I caught my first fishy's on.

We retired it.

You served me well, dear friend.

=)

Oh I have so much more to share with you!!

To be cont'd.....