P52 Week 20, In the kitchen

This week our theme is “in the kitchen”.  I thought I’d share a helpful tip for everyone like me who is either to busy or to tired to cook breakfast.  I friend told me how to do this and I resort to it quite often.

Scrambled eggs in a minute. (one minute for one egg, 1:40 for two)

Step One:  Gather eggs and a clean mug.

 Step Two: whisk eggs together with a little milk and seasonings of choice in the mug.

(I add Cavender’s to everything)

Step Three: Microwave on high for 1 min. for one egg 1:35-40 for two eggs.

Times may vary depending on microwave.

Step four: Remove (caution, very hot)

The eggs take the shape of the mug.

Step five:  Spread them on a plate, sprinkle with cheese, ENJOY!

Once you finish your breakfast, continue our circle by visiting Jackie‘s kitchen!

P52 Week 19, Maternal

Our P52 theme is maternal this week.  Be sure to follow our circle to see other takes on the theme!  Next up is Kathy!

I wish I had something deep and inspiring to say, but I just put the kids down and I am flat worn out!  Maternal… motherhood.  Much harder than I ever expected, but much more rewarding than I ever dreamed.

Here are a couple of pics of one of my good friends and her sweet girls.  I love the connection they have!

May 10 on 10

Thanks for stopping by!  Come on in and see what a day in the life of the Tarplee’s looks like!

Here is a day in 10 pictures.  I used an iphone app called Diptic to make small collages of them.

After you check them out, follow the rest of our group and see what everyone has been up to.  It’s fun to venture into other’s worlds for a change!  Up next is Denean Melcher | Berks County Child and Family Photographer

From Left to Right, Top to Bottom:

1. Early morning Cars Legos.  He loves to switch them all up.

2. Pinwheel, balloon, cool glassess, and a sweet ride.  Does life get any better?

3. My little artist making momma proud.

4. Making mother’s day crafts with friends.

5. Braving a horse ride.

6. In touch with nature, petting a Bearded dragon.

7. My hero off to save the day!

8. Little brother trying on big bro’s boots.

9. A much needed Momma escape to Starbucks.

10.  Another escape to the beach to see the super moon.

P52- Week 18: Opposites

Week 18 brings us to the theme “Opposites” in our 52 week project.  After leaving some love, continue in our circle to see the opposites captured by all of the talent that surrounds me!  Next up is Kathy.  I can’t wait to see what she has in store!

This picture was taken in a friends garden this week.  I found it ironic that something so beautiful could grow from a stem so ugly.  The flower is soft, fragile, colorful, inviting.  The stem has thorns growing from the thorns in a pattern that is quite hideous.  This particular plant had a huge scar further adding to the contrast between the delicate flower and the harsh branches.

 During a  week when much of the ugly, painful parts of my story were in focus, I saw God’s story reflected into my lens.  It’s amazing that, even from the worst chapters,  God grows beauty.  Things usually aren’t what they seem when we think about them from the perspective of Heaven.  We avoid pain, we strive to be beautiful, liked and successful.  So often we miss the point.   If we had no pain, would we know our Healer?  Would we have the joy that comes in finding His comfort?  Do we strive for all of the wrong things that will not last and will never fulfill us?  God’s kingdom has been known as the upside down kingdom, because of the many ways that it is contrary to how we would think things should be.

I’ve always been intrigued by this plant, “The Crown of Thorns.”  I think of Jesus and the crown of thorns that embedded into the flesh on His scalp.  I think of the pain and agony, the blood and tears, the utter darkness that Christ experienced in those lonely hours.  I think of how misunderstood He was by the masses and how lost even His followers were.  And knowing all along what His fate on earth would be, Christ joyfully experienced it all.  During the most unjust execution ever committed, He demonstrated the greatest act of love ever to be performed by willingly giving His life for us.

Our darkness has been made light, His suffering brings us relief, and His death gives us new Life.  Christ rises to raise us up with Him, to bring beauty from the ashes as we learn to walk in His grace daily.

From the New Living Translation of the Bible:

 Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves.  Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.

 You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.

 Though he was God,
he did not think of equality with God
as something to cling to.
Instead, he gave up his divine privileges;
he took the humble position of a slave
and was born as a human being.
When he appeared in human form,
     he humbled himself in obedience to God
and died a criminal’s death on a cross. 

Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor,

and gave him the name above all other names, 

that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,

    in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.”

Philippians 2:3-11

P52 Week 17; Weather

It’s week 17 of our 52 week project!  Our theme this week is weather.  The boys and I love the weather at this time of year.  It’s such a perfect temperature to enjoy being outside and we take every chance we get to do just that!

Here is a typical sunny day in south Florida!

Be sure to stop by Jackie‘s blog to see what the weather is up to near her!

P52- Week 16-Details

This week our theme is details.  I really don’t enjoy the details of life.  I’m more a big picture kind of girl and the details can bog me down at times.  Whether I can’t find my keys, have forgotten to pay a bill, or can’t seem to organize the piles on my desk, I often am left discouraged and lost when it comes to the little things.  From what I can tell, this character trait often comes with those gifted in creativity.

Thankfully things always seem to work out. I take courage that in His creativity He has made me and looks at me and smiles at His work.  The master artist loves His work and I am simply to glorify Him and reflect His image.

He also is in every detail of our lives.  He doesn’t get lost in the seemingly unimportant things.  He knows them all and holds all things together.  This God who knows the number of hairs on my head loves me and takes care of the details of my life.  Even when the details overwhelm us or don’t make sense to us, we can trust Him.

I’m so relieved that I can rely on Him to accomplish His purposes and that I don’t have to carry the burden of holding all things together.

Thanks for joining us this week.  After you leave some love, continue in our circle to see Renee‘s interpretation of “details”.

 ”He says, ‘Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth.”‘ Psalm 46:10

“Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.” Matthew 10:29-31

“For You formed my inward parts;
You wove me in my mother’s womb.

I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Wonderful are Your works,
And my soul knows it very well.

My frame was not hidden from You,
When I was made in secret,
And skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth;

Your eyes have seen my unformed substance;
And in Your book were all written
The days that were ordained for me,
When as yet there was not one of them.

How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!

If I should count them, they would outnumber the sand.
When I awake, I am still with You.”

Psalm 39:13-18

P52-Week 15- Humor

This should be a fun week for our project!  At week 15, our theme is humor and I’m excited to see all of the different interpretations and share a few laughs.

I had a few different ideas and landed on this one…

Humor has always been a way to relieve stress for me.  I love to make others laugh if they are feeling down and if I feel insecure or uncomfortable, I often rely on my sense of humor to ease the tension. Furthermore, if I don’t laugh at life as it goes on around me, many days I may just give up and cry.

Being a mom of two young boys and having a husband with a heavy work load is a challenge.  As a mom, I’d like to be able to hold it all together, to have a nice clean home, clean and quiet well behaved kids, a gourmet dinner in the oven, and a quiet relaxing place to sit and read a book.  Life is far from that.  As I fold mounds of laundry, my 16 month old tosses it on the floor and giggles in glee at the destruction he creates.  My sink overflows with dirty dishes, dinner usually consists of whatever I can put together quickly with screaming kids in the back ground, and toys scattered throughout make my entire house a play room.  There’s no quiet place to be had until bedtime and by then who has the energy to read?

So what do I do when laundry turns into a game of “fetch the sock” between siblings and my four year old plays superman on the couch.  If I don’t laugh, I’ll most likely end up in the complete opposite direction.  Laughing with my boys over all the silliness helps me enjoy the days when there is little to show for all of my hard work.  It helps me to love them with joy, knowing that in seemingly no time my life will be all to quiet.  Until then, may I learn to laugh with every opportunity that comes my way.

“When people are laughing, they’re generally not killing each other.”  ~Alan Alda

“Laughter is the corrective force which prevents us from becoming cranks.”  ~Henri Bergson

“She is clothed in strength and dignity, and she laughs at the days to come.” -Proverbs 31: 25

For more comic relief, be sure to check out Renee’s post!