I Promise I'm Not...

   Ignoring you on purpose! 

I know this excuse is as old as the hills, but I honestly mean it when I say, my life has been CUH-RAZY!  

Things of note before I rush out the door this morning:

• Work has been very, very, very busy.  This is a good thing, of course, more business means more revenue, more revenue means more job security... you know.  Anyway, I've been working a lot more than I normally do.  So, that's part of my busyness.
• Also, My parent's kitchen is being re-modeled as we speak.  This adds a whole new level of interest and complication.
• I've been working in my yard, it's that busy time of year when the weather turns warm, the perennials start coming up and I start frantically trying to get a lot of things done all at once.  I've already made one trip to the greenhouse and anticipate several more.  :)
• This weekend my brother and mom are out of town at my brothers speech tournament.  Pray for him if you think of it.  Of course, I think he's amazing and should win every award they've got to give.  But, I suppose every family member feels that way.  
• Due to the ^ above reason I've been helping out with watching the two littlest siblings, Luke and Sarah Beth.  Yesterday they came to work with me for a little while.  Luke organized practically every roll of ribbon in the place.  This is not an easy job, let me tell you, but he rose to the challenge and even gave us all a great motivational speech about "Never giving up" and "What do you do when you're stuck and you don't know what to do?"  Sarah Beth answered easily that of course, you "Call Mom."  Which I thought was a great answer, but turns out the answer he was looking for was "Ask God to help you."  Which is also a good answer.
• I have not been getting much reading done, sadly.  
• Going to visit Grandparents this weekend and plant some flowers for them.  Then home again bright and early Sunday morning to make it in time for church and Luke's spring choir concert.  
• My sister Katie is working on her Senior Violin Recital.  That will be on Tuesday and then...  after that....  
• I think my life will slow down again.  
• May, come soon!!!!!

Sister Pictures

 First, me and Sarah Beth. We both look semi-hammy, but happy.  Right?

   Susie joined us.  We took many pictures.  All of which were variations on the theme above.  Basically, Susie and I sandwiching Sarah, smiling sweetly.  Sarah in the middle looking...  everywhere but at the camera.  

We finally gave up. 

Pickle Pizza

  Pizza Crust for one pizza.  You can find my current favorite pizza crust recipe here.


Now the good part.  :)

Toppings:
1/2 jar of spaghetti sauce
1/2 lb. ground sausage, cooked and drained
Black Olives, sliced
1/2 Onion, sliced
Pepperoni
Baby Dill Pickles, cubed (make sure the cubes are nice and chunky, don't use sliced pickles, they HAVE TO BE CUBES. :)
Shredded cheese.  I like a combination of Mozzarella and Cheddar. 

And that's it.  Layer it all on.  Bake it according to the directions for your crust.  Enjoy.

You've gotta admit... once you've tried pickles on your pizza, you wonder why Pizza Hut hasn't started selling them this way, yet.  If you don't believe me ask Stephanie.   I asked her "Do you think this recipe is good enough to post on my blog?"  She answered "uh huh" immediately, no hesitation.  And she had to say "uh huh" because she had pizza in her mouth and couldn't use real words. :) And then she posed for a picture.  See how she's enjoying it? 

Luke Comes to Visit

    
He kept us very well entertained.  :)

My Jesus, I love Thee

   
My Jesus, I love Thee, I know Thou art mine;
For Thee all the follies of sin I resign;
My gracious Redeemer, my Savior art Thou;
If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, 'tis now.

 

I love Thee because Thou has first loved me,

And purchased my pardon on Calvary's tree;

I love Thee for wearing the thorns on Thy brow;

If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, 'tis now.

March Book List

  

22.  Forest Born by Shannon Hale -(****) Really good. Maybe the best Book of Bayern yet? :)

23.  Poirot Investigates by Agatha Christie- (****) Short stories.  Nice.

24.  Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale - (****)  I'm a stickler for opening lines.  If the first sentence of a book can jump off the page and get my attention... I'm hooked.  This one starts "My lady and I are being shut up in a tower for seven years."  Who wouldn't want to read this book?!!?!?  This one is a re-read for me. I first reviewed it HERE 

25. Fairest by Gail Carson Levine - (****) As fairy tale re-tellings go this one is both really good and really bad.  Bad because it really doesn't follow the plot of Snow White at ALL.  It's what I'd call "very loose-ly based" on the original.  However, on it's own, Fairest is quite charming.  The characters are love-able (or, despise-able depending on the character).  It's the kind of fantasy I can best tolerate.  Fantastical country, Ogres and trolls exist, fairy god-mothers... but not an excess of magic.  I didn't love this one as much as Ella Enchanted... but it's the kind of book I'll probably buy and keep on my bookshelf.  

26.  Do Hard Things by Alex and Brett Harris -(*****)  Excellent.  Must read for EVERYONE.  Full of challenges and encouragement.  The book is geared towards teens but we read through it in my Bible Study (which is made up of mostly 20-somethings) and we enjoyed it and learned a lot. 

27.  The Two Princesses of Bamarre by Gail Carson Levine-(***)  Remember I said that I didn't like an excess of magic?  Ok, maybe this book didn't have an "excess" of it, but there was enough.  Mostly due to a main character being a sorcerer.  He seems to perform mostly the parlor type of magic, and he's a good character, but the term "sorcerer" still makes me uncomfortable.  The story itself was very nice.  I found myself thinking about it even after I was done reading it.  Always a good sign. 

28.  Death in the Air by Agatha Christie -(****)  This ending caught me completely by surprise I have to admit!  And while I do love it when that happens... I also love it when everything works out the way you want it to.  Which didn't happen.  So...  Do I love that I was surprised more than I hate that the ending was disappointing?  That is the question. 

29.  Busman's Honeymoon by Dorothy Sayers -(****)  Pretty much amazing.  Re-read, but better the second time.  :)

30.  When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead- (***) Book Review HERE

31.  This Present Darkness by Frank Peretti - (****) Entertaining.  :)  Good look at spiritual warfare.