Cause there aren't enough...

giveaways that I'm already trying to win. MMM is doing another giveaway with Shelf Reliance, this time with their Thrive line. The winner gets 6 #10 cans! But don't go enter cause I really want this.

another awesome giveaway

I figure if I enter enough giveaways, eventually I'll win something, right? There's an amazing one going on over at The Meanest Mom. I know there's probably no chance I will get anything but I can dream...

A theology paper and a few must reads

This week I had to write a theology paper for my Hebrew Scripture Study class and I was originally going to write it on either the temple (Solomon's, not our current ones) or the sacrificial system. Luckily, I was also visiting my fabulous SIL while the kids were one spring break and finally got to start reading "Eve and the Choice made in Eden," by Beverly Campbell. I was quickly inspired to change my topic and here is the result. I also got to start an oh-my-gosh-you-have-to-read-this- series called "Standing in Holy Places," by Chad Daybell. Here is the publisher's description because I can't do any better:

'Verily this is the word of the Lord, that the city New Jerusalem shall be built by the gathering of the saints . . .' (D&C 84:4)

In the near future, Tad and Emma North and their children live in a United States that is growing increasingly wicked. The Norths and their extended family notice that many Latter-day Saints are being deceived by alluring temptations, and they wonder how much longer the Lord will allow American society to continue its downward spiral.

Then comes an invitation from Church leaders for the Saints to gather together. This invitation isn't well-accepted--and even openly mocked--but those faithful Church members who trust in the Lord soon find themselves accomplishing monumental tasks. Join these humble yet heroic Saints as they embark on an unprecedented journey to build New Jerusalem.

The Great Gathering, the first novel in the Standing in Holy Places series, paints a vivid picture of exciting prophesied events that still must occur before the Second Coming. If you have an interest in what awaits the members of the LDS Church, this series should definitely be on your reading list!

So far only two books are out and there are going to be five. The third one comes out this summer. Everyone has to read this! Drop whatever book you are in the middle of and order this one! Jsut to warn you, he doesn't take a whole lot of time for character development which made me a little crazy and it took me longer to get all the characters straight, but the meat of the story is so incredible and extremely inspiring to get those 72-hour kits put together!

Here's my paper. Enjoy!

A Theological study of Eve

To some she is known as Mother Eve and others see her as the one who is to be blamed for all the worlds' problems. Some see her as a divine individual and others see her as weak. I believe that Eve and her story is one of the most misunderstood in all of time and that misunderstanding is the basis of all thought that women are less than men. How is it that a gender that is seen as the Mother of All Living in the Bible is also viewed as shameful in some cultures?

Eve was not an afterthought. "And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. (Ch.1 vs.23) "….but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him." (ch. 2 vs. 20) God knew that the only way for the earth to be inhabited was for there to be male and female and for both of them to be given dominion over the land and all the beasts that dwelt there. Eve was given to Adam as a helpmeet, not as someone for him to reign over. A definition of helpmeet is a partner who helps and a partner is one who is equal to the task at hand. Partners are joint in their goals and ways of reaching those goals. Eve was given to Adam to be his partner and for them to work together in the goals they had in their life.

"And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof. And the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man." (Ch. 2 vs. 22-23) Does this tell us that Eve was a literal creation from a part of Adam? Or is this figurative? The Hebrew word tsela, which is what is translated as rib, actually means "side." Also, every other use of the word in the Hebrew canon is in reference to a sacred object such as the Temple, the Tabernacle or the Ark of the Covenant. By using this same word to refer to Eve, we can learn that she and Adam were created as two equal beings by the master builder. In the book of Jeremiah, he speaks of 'keepers of my tsela', which he means to be bosom friends or inseparable companions. If we then apply this same meaning to Eve, we know that she was not made from the rib or out of the rib but that she was the rib. "And the rib….made he a woman…" (Ch.2 vs. 23) The Lord made Adam's closest and most trusted companion to be a woman, Eve.

Before Adam and Eve were given the commandment to not partake of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, they were first given the commandment to multiply and replenish the earth. They knew what their goal was, but had no knowledge of how to get there. "And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed." (Ch. 2 vs. 25) They were not ashamed because they were like little children, not knowing the physical differences between them and what needed to be done for them to multiply. It wasn't until they had partaken of the fruit that their eyes were opened and they were given the knowledge necessary for them to reach their goal. If Eve, and subsequently Adam, had not eaten the fruit mankind never would have been born. It's not that we would all be living in paradise in the Garden of Eden, we would not be living at all. Adam and Eve were given the freedom to choose just as we all have the same in our lives. Eve inherently knew that if she didn't choose to eat the fruit, she would never be able to fulfill her higher purpose which was to bear children.

The pains of childbirth are not a punishment for the sin that was committed by Eve. We read in the scriptures many times that there is to be opposition in all things, Light and Dark, Good and Evil, Pain and Pleasure, Life and Death. If Adam and Eve had stayed in the Garden they would have continued to exist in immortality, a state of limbo. There had to be the opposition of death for there to be birth. The oppositional process of creating children is no different. While there is pleasure in the creation of them and the raising of them, there is also pain in the process of bringing them in to this world and pain in the sorrow they can rent upon the hearts of their parents.

While many claim that Eve's act in the Garden was one of sin and defiance for which women need to be punished, we can learn that woman's place next to man is a revered one. One that is equal in honor to Adam. Women were not created as a weak sidekick to the burly strength of men, but were created to help, lift, and work alongside during the trials and perils of life.

Giveaway Alert!

Modern Molly Mormon- http://modernmollymormon.blogspot.com/- is doing a giveaway with Shelf Reliance! They are giving a Cansolidator (oh how I wish it was a Harvest system) away. Head on over and check it out!

Insomnia = Blogging?

Is it because my sleep this week has been so erratic that it's now become habit? Is it because I have children that are light sleepers and I *love* seeing how many creaks I can make in the floor before they wake up? Is it because we have an extraordinarily crappy mattress? Is it because there just aren't enough hours in the day? (Maybe!) Or is it because it's the only time in a 24-hour period that I don't have anyone clamoring for a piece of me? Ding, ding, ding!!! We have a winner!

This has been a week from you-know-where. Last weekend Tom came down with crud in his chest and Monday morning woke up gasping for breath and making me think he was dying in general. I took him to the doctor that afternoon, because he insisted on waiting to see if he felt any better by lunchtime, where they ran a flu test (negative), a strep test (negative) and then sent him over to the hospital for x-rays to see if he had pneumonia (also negative). In the mean time, our wonderful elderly neighbor was at home with the kids (who had interrupted their Family Home Evening to come over). While Tom was finishing up I dashed back home to let the neighbor go and be there when the rest of the Primary presidency got to my house for our meeting! They stay with the kids while I go back and pick up Tom.

Tuesday he's still no better and I'm signed up to volunteer at the book fair going on at the twins' school. Wednesday he's worse so I take him back to the doctor while the Tank and the Bug are at Mom's Day Out. There they hook him up to saline, a breathing treatment and a shot of steroids. And oh, yeah he's been having some heart palpitations so they do an EKG on him. I get back from picking up the kids when he tells me that the EKG was abnormal and the hospital was sending an ambulance over to pick him up right away! I scramble to get the kids taken care of, dropping the younger two off at a friends' house and arranging for Tweedledum and Tweedledee to ride the bus home with a friend. Thinking my husband is dying and envisioning what my future beholds as a widowed mother of four young children, I get back over to the hospital where my MIL meets me in the waiting room and tells me it was a false alarm!!! Yeah, no one at the doctor's office thought that administering an EKG after a nebulizer and steroids would have any effect. Finally, someone prescribes him an antibiotic for his BRONCHITIS! So, after MIL thanked Tom for the afternoon off I take Tom home and then begin picking up the kids and realize that oh, yeah! we have soccer practice in 45 minutes. Would other moms have blown off soccer?

Thursday I'm in recovery mode running more trips to the store for clam chowder ("the good kind!") and what?! our bank account is overdrawn?! Get that taken care of and am grateful for once that we have a credit card *for emergencies* so I'm able to go to the store. Tweedledum and Tweedledee tell me when they are home from school that I have misread ALL of the notes sent home from the school and the Easter Egg Hunt is Tomorrow, not next week when we won't be here so now I have to go to the store, again, and get 12 eggs and something that's not candy to put in them. The dollar store in out of eggs but has good fillers so I get those and head over to WallyWorld to get the eggs and run into tons of people, get in the sloooooowest express lane which has given me time to realize I still haven't submitted my homework for the week so now I have that to look forward to when I get back instead of my bed.

Today I'm still in recovery mode because lo and behold, I'm PMS-ing! But I did get the girls' Easter dresses finished and have made way in the novel I'm reading.

Am I complaining? Heck yeah! Do I feel bad about it? Heck no! I don't think I complain about everything that's on my plate very often. BTW, we got Buster back last week and betwixt everything else I've been chasing him down because there are two dogs across the street that he thinks are his best friends and while writing this post I was interrupted by a child with a sore throat in need of medicine.


Can I go back to bed now?

Other yummies

I discovered a quick way to make garlic breadsticks. They are NOT as good as The Olive Garden but my kids devoured them and they looked very pretty next to my spaghetti and meatballs.

Step 1: Buy Pillsbury Pizza Crust dough

Step 2: Unroll dough and cut into strips.















Step 3: Twist strips and after placing on baking sheet, brush with garlic butter. Bake them for a couple of minutes LESS than what the package says.
















Aren't they pretty?

Dee-lish!

I was perusing some of my favorite sites this morning and found these fantastic recipes. Amazingly enough, I actually had everything on hand to make them. Thank you food storage!!! I had just made my own chicken stock yesterday and this was the perfect venue to try it out. Enjoy!

White Chili from http://everydayfoodstorage.net

1 C. Chopped Onion (1/4 C. dehydrated onions)
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 t. ground cumin
1 t. dried oregano, crushed
1/4 t. ground red pepper
3 15 1/2-ounce cans great northern (white) beans, drained and rinsed (1 lb. (2-1/2 C.) dried white beans, cooked and rinsed)
2 4-ounce cans diced green chile peppers
4 C. chicken broth
3 C. chopped cooked chicken (3 10 oz. cans of chicken-you can also use the water from the can as part of your chicken broth)
2 C. shredded Monterey Jack cheese (8ounces)
Sour Cream
1. In a 3 1/2 to 6-quart slow cooker place the onion, garlic, cumin, oregano, red pepper, beans 2 cans chile peppers, broth and cooked chicken. Stir to combine.
2. Cover and cook on low heat setting for 7 to 8 hours or on high-heat setting for 3 1/2 to 4 hours. Stir in the cheese until melted.

Better Than Jiffy Cornbread Recipe (from http://foodstoragemadeeasy.net/):

Grind: ½ cup of popcorn kernels to make ¾ cup cornmeal
Combine: ¾ c. cornmeal, 1 ¼ c. flour (I used whole wheat), ¼ c. sugar, 2 tsp. baking powder, ½ tsp. salt
Add: 1 c. milk, ¼ c. veg. oil, 1 large egg, beaten; stir until dry ingredients are moist
Bake: At 400 degrees F for 20 to 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean