Female Fridays
“…and Lord, please give us safety this morning as we drive downtown. Amen.” I prayed. My family started eating their breakfast as my mom and I headed out the door to drive to church for the Ladies Breakfast. The traffic on a Saturday morning was very light, as we headed to downtown San Antonio. We approached an intersection just a few blocks from the church. The stoplight was red, and there wasn’t another car in sight. Our light turned green and my mother started to drive forward when all of the sudden two men stepped off the curb right in [...]
Miscellaneous
5 Things I Learned From My Mom – 1. How to make a meal out of a few random leftovers. My mom is the queen of saving a tablespoon of this and a ¼ cup of that. She has always had an amazing ability to take those ingredients and make a fabulous meal for our family. I am so blessed to have inherited that talent – living out in the country it has saved me many times! 2. The principle of “5 Loaves and 2 Fishes”. There was always room for one more at our table. Mom could make a [...]
Mommy Mondays
If we are friends on Facebook or Twitter (and I hope we can be), this is what you would think my life looks like: And it does a lot of the time. But the truth is, this is what it looked like till I was able to capture the perfect moment: You see, looks really aren’t what they appear… ESPECIALLY online. And I get it. No one wants to post pics of their dirty dishes, tantruming toddler, unmade bed, too tight jeans, fight with their spouse, mean email from boss, or the gossip texts going with their girlfriend. I don’t care that people [...]
Female Fridays
It’s inevitable. Each friendship has a progression: 1. Step One: Meet friend “Wow! She’s so nice!” 2. Step Two: Get to know each other “And we have so much in common!” 3. Step Three: Hang out often. “We are such great friends and can talk about anything!” 4. Step Four: Really get to know her. “Oh, I didn’t know she had THAT issue…” And then comes Step Five. Or what we can safely call, “decision time.” Decision time comes when we recognize a flaw in our friend, and have to decide what we will do with that information. Will we [...]
Tasty Tuesdays
The best way to increase strength and ability is to set training goals that push you a little beyond your current capabilities. In my practice I see a variety of clients ranging from elite athletes to people debilitated from illness. All of them have one thing in common – each of them can train to be a little stronger tomorrow than they are today. I’ve been seeing a very special lady for about four months who had been diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes and was morbidly obese when she first came to see me. The first time I met her, [...]
Mommy Mondays
Not a May goes by as I see the first tulips start to bloom that my heart isn’t warmed by a memory of a special bouquet of flowers given to me with love from my young daughters. The following is the story I wrote over two decades ago. To me, tulips are more then just flowers. As one of the first plants to bloom in my yard, tulips are God’s promise of spring. They remind me that even after the harshest winter, a new season always arrives, unfolding its breathtaking beauty. After an unusually chilly and rainy spring, [...]
Tasty Tuesdays
Have you ever been too tired to stop at the store at the end of a busy day? When that happens do you have items in your pantry to prepare a healthy quick-to-fix meal? Here are some of my favorites along with a delicious recipe that can be prepared from items you have on hand. 1. Albacore Tuna (or canned white meat chicken). If you have a lean protein in your pantry, you can always make dinner in less than 20 minutes! 2. Smart Balance Peanut Butter. If you haven’t tried it, you’re in for a treat. It is creamy, [...]
Mommy Mondays
***WARNING*** THIS BLOG POST CONTAINS POTTY LANGUAGE!! The hot food had just arrived at the table, and right on cue, my oldest, then 3 years old, announced that she needed to go to the restroom. Sigh, “Okay, honey, let’s go,” I said, hoping it would be a quick trip. No such luck. Fifteen minutes later, we return to the table where she announces loudly, “Daddy, I had the best poop EVER! It was so big, and I feel so much better!” All the tables around us chuckled. My meal was cold, but this was nothing new. It comes with being [...]
Tasty Tuesdays
Simple Substitutions There seems to be a low calorie, reduced fat, fat-free version of everything these days! In all the recipe development we do at JTA, we’ve discovered that some items can be a good substitution and some are a waste of money. Two things you should know: 1. When a manufacturer lowers the fat in a product, they must add something back in to give flavor. Often that ‘something’ is added sugar or sodium. Be a good label reader to determine if you are trading fat for sugar! 2. Many times a reduced calorie food will not perform the [...]
