He Farms...She Blogs.

I've become a terrible blogger- but in the long list of things that are most important, this lovely greasy spot on the great internet highway hasn't been my top priority.

I am, however, going to make an attempt to be better. For me, for friends, for family, and for random people who do a surf by and find this humble little blah blah blahg.

With Facebook changing the way they do everything from day to day, and friends asking for a copy of a soup recipe I instagrammed the other day, I decided to rev the ol' blog engine and post it here. It is one of my favorite soups in the history of ever and I certainly hope you enjoy it. My aunt shared this cook book with my mom years ago and I got a hankering for soup, so we brought it back out for some recipe foraging. This cookbook is one of my favorites. Totally worth having around.



Ingredients:

1 medium onion, chopped
1/4 cup butter or margarine
5 pounds russet potatoes, peeled and cubed
8 cups chicken broth
1 teaspoon comino (cumin)
1/4 to 1/2 cup coarsely chopped pickled jalapeños and juice
Pinch of baking soda to prevent curdling
4 cups evaporated milk
salt and pepper to taste

Garnish: Sour cream, shredded cheese, and chopped green onions

Directions:

1. In a large stock put, sauté onion in butter or margarine until just tender.
2. Add potatoes, chicken broth, and comino. Cover and cook until potatoes are tender, about 20 to 30 minutes.
3. When done, add jalapeños, soda, and evaporated milk. Coarsely mash potatoes with potato masher. (You can skip mashing if you cut the potatoes into small cubes)
4. Stir well and taste for salt and pepper. Simmer for 15 minutes, stirring frequently. Garnish with sour cream, cheese, and chopped onions.

Serves 16-18

ENJOY!

This is great for leftovers as well as for serving guests.

Hopefully I'll be posting more family things, crafts, etc. soon. I've created a post it and a reminder on my phone to blog- maybe I'll remember to do just that!

Happy Soup Sippin',
M

A few of weeks ago we drove to town with my Mother-In-Law to go to the Corn Maze with my BIL, SIL, and the Birdie's cousins. My camera wasn't cooperating (I'm saving for a new one) but we got a few good photos before it totally pooped out.

Last weekend we went to Abilene for my Alma Mater's homecoming. Abilene always feels like my home away from home. It's the place where I learned who I was, found my voice, and above all, where I learned that the most important thing I can do in life is love others- it's the only way to truly change the world.

It just so happens we're wearing purple in this pic... which just so happens to be the color of the day. People around the world are "going purple" in an effort to stand against bullying. I'm more than happy to sport my purple.

I not only abhor the bullying of LGBT children/teens/adults, I abhor bullying of ALL children/teens/adults. I was bullied a LOT as a child and it has left a deep, permanent scar on my heart. I didn't decide to be fat. I didn't decide to have a terrible haircut. I didn't decide to be a motormouth. I didn't decide to have bad teeth, facial hair (Tom Selleck MUST have been my biological father... 'cause WOAH!), or freckles. God made that decision for me. He made me the way He wanted me to be. It has taken years of friends and loved ones (including my husband) to convince me that I'm just fine the way I am. I still have bad days. Horrible ones. Days where all I can think about is how the girl in my Girl Scout thumped and punched me in the back of the head repeatedly until I screamed because I was different. Days where I remember that Girl Scout leader getting on to me for shouting and refusing to believe one of her girls would act that way. Days where I remember seeing that girl years later and not hating her because she was mean to me. Days I remember that God's grace and a red-headed girl named Molly Jones (I miss you, Moll, wherever you are) taught me how to forgive... and how to stand up for myself.

I guess I rambled all of that to say that bullying is a sick, wrong, and horrible thing. It's a disease that is rampant because we ALLOW it to. Educate your children. Different is OK. It's OK. You don't have to agree with someone's lifestyle or their religious preferences, but you also don't have to hate them for it.

Pray for our children. Pray for our teenagers. Pray for our adults. Set a good example. Love. Embrace our differences... for that's what makes us... us. Gay, straight, black or white, brown or green (hey- some people believe in aliens!), he or she, tall or short, religious or not, we're all people. We're all here on the same Earth. Let's try to make life a little better for our neighbors. Who knows? You might make all of the difference in the world.

This week's embrace brought my brain out of a funk and found me with some down time. (Well, 30 minutes of it...)

My sister-in-law or her sister snapped this at my nephew's first birthday party a couple of weeks ago. This is my brother, my nephew M, my baby person, and myself.


It was hotter than hades that day and being the only overweight woman in black and white gave me quite the complex (Shamu, anyone?!) but hey- that's what family does.

The baby person still looks SO MUCH like her daddy. She is crawling, pulling up, tearing into everything, and generally being crazy. She says "Dadadadadada" "Num num" "Dah" and "Momomomomomom." She's been heard saying "No,no" after being told no, too. Sassafrass. She has three teeth and two rapidly on the way. Her hair is growing like crazy, she eats everything she is served, and at our last doctor visit we were told that she is perfect. She also weighs a good chunk... I guess she wants us to have matching thighs.

Life is busy- last month alone I was gone EVERY SATURDAY. I plan not to go ANYWHERE this Saturday. I'm over the traveling to and fro. I love getting out and about... but I could use some rest for a wHile.

Hopefully I'll do better with blogging as life slows down a bit. I enjoy reading all of your witty banter and following your lives!!!!!

hearts,
M

We love LOVE around here. We love it so much that we make it a point to craft t-shirts, put the cousins in them, and then take pictures while trying to keep at least one from bawling or horking or rolling their eyes because the other two aren't cooperating.


We then change their clothes and keep it festive. It's not a holiday around here without a wardrobe change. (That day the baby person only wore 4 different things. Small miracles, I say!) This gives cousin G the opportunity to dress up.






Last but not least, we take a picture of the babies to see how much they've grown. Answer is? A LOT. Holy smokes!


We hope you love LOVE as much as we do!!!!

Hearts,
M

p.s. Aunt T and I are both in the pictures... I made the shirts, Aunt T made the tutus. ;)

I got VERY angry recently when someone lied to someone I love. I was so angry that it took me three days to fully calm down. Let's just say I don't tolerate having a loved one lied to, specifically for your own gain. That person made my heart hurt. That person made be bitter. That person made me a nasty person to be around. That person made me LIE and tell others I was fine.

In the words of Miranda Lambert, "The truth comes out a little at a time."

Yes, we all lie. We all shift the truth at times to protect ourselves or others. We complement when we don't want to, we promise things that won't necessarily happen. We claim to be fine when we're not. We all do it and if you don't, well then by all means, CAST THE FIRST STONE.

I say that to say this: if your lying is only out of selfishness, you are a sad, sick person. If you know that someone needs help but you think your personal agenda is more important, you are in bad shape. If your selfishness is what rules your life, you will spend your life with tunnel vision.

Just remember, GOD is watching. He and Karma are not a pair to be reckoned with. I do not want to be present when they both give you a well-deserved smack on the bottom... or slap in the face.

I'll be over here helping people when they need it and keeping my white lies to a minimum. Thanks for teaching me a lesson, you-who-lies. Thank you for accidentally making me accountable.

In the words of John Mayer, "I believe that my life's going to see the love I gave returned to me."

The truth will set you free.
M

We had cousin pictures done last Thursday in Amarillo. We prepared for the worst, but the kids were AWESOME. The pictures? AWESOMER.

My family doesn't read this blog (I haven't gone "public" with it, per se...) so I can post a couple here without worrying that I will ruin the Christmas surprise for them.














One last precious shot of the baby person:


and it's off to work on her 3 month photos while she squeals and giggles in her play gym thing.

Mother of a Major Award-
M