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Responding to Criticism!

There is a new app for your phone called “Sarahah”. You can also use it online at Sarahah.com.  Sarahah’s stated purpose is that it helps you in discovering your strengths and areas for improvement by receiving honest feedback from your employees and your friends in a private manner.  You set up an account and people can give you messages anonymously.  Several people I know have done this and I suppose it could be fun in some way and maybe useful too. Below is a message my son Gabriel received. I would like to offer the approach I would like to take should I be the recipient of such a post.

  1. Everyone is entitled to an opinion and since he asked it is fair that the writer shared theirs.
  2. Just because someone has an opinion doesn’t make it true whether it is a good opinion or a bad one.
  3. Sometimes even the most humble people can come across as arrogant. They may truly suffer low self-esteem believe it or not 🙂
  4. Sometimes we all need some constructive criticism to help us evaluate ourselves. So accept the words, think about them and evaluate them for truth.
  5. If you find some truth hidden among the criticism then learn from it and try to be a better person.
  6. If there is no gem of truth then release it and forget it and move on…
  7. Be thankful for the person who can help you to improve yourself regardless of their motives or methods. Think good and not evil of them. You will feel better about yourself if you do!
  8. Sometimes hateful words come from hurting people. Pray for this person and for good to come into their lives. You can learn to love this person.
  9. Criticism can help you become more sensitive to those around you and more aware of how your own words may sound and actions may appear.

 

AND just in case you were wondering, I have no plans to set up an account.

Blessings!

Reda

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Sinkhole Discovery

The other night after work I had a date with my sweetheart! We ate Chinese food which was good but not great. In the photos below you can see our “fortunes”.

 

Then we went for a little drive around Smyrna and a walk at Sharp Springs Park which we discovered by accident. This is a large park with a lot to do and what appears to be an interesting walking trail. We also discovered what looked like an interesting pond but turned out to be a sinkhole. I found this very interesting! I look forward to learning more about this park and the Smyrna area! When I thought to take pictures it was dusk and starting to rain. I wish I had gotten a picture of the sinkhole pond. Below you see a picture to the entrance and an outdoor classroom facing the sinkhole. This looks like a place for future adventures.

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Peanut Butterfinger Bars

Sometimes good things come unexpectedly. Around 2:30 on Sunday afternoon I remembered that I needed to make cookies for the connect time after church. (Church starts at 5!)  I almost sent my kids to the store to get something for me to bake with but decided to use the ingredients I had on hand. This is what I created with what I had on hand. I was really surprised that so many people asked for the recipe. So here it is!

Peanut Butterfinger Bars

Ingredients:

1 cup peanut butter crunchy

6 Tablespoons butter softened

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 eggs

1 cup all-purpose flour

6 oz. Butterfinger Baking Bits

Instructions:

Preheat your oven 350° and spray your 13X9 baking pan with cooking spray.

Cream peanut butter, butter, and sugars, then add extract and stir in eggs until well blended. Stir in the flour. ( IT DOES NOT HAVE BAKING SODA OR POWDER)

Spread batter in pan and sprinkle with the Butterfinger bits. Press them lightly into the batter. Bake 350° for 20-25 minutes. Cool and cut into bars.

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Fresh Organic Veggies

I am so excited to find organic veggies. During our meet and greet at church this morning I met someone I had never met before. I asked John what he did and he said, farmer. After church, I saw some people at his car getting produce! I was so excited so being my nosy self I had to go see if he had any I could buy. I am posting some beautiful pictures! We will be making salsa! I’m also excited to try these mini eggplants.

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Up, Up, and Away!

This year seems to be the year for “adventure birthday gifts”. Gabriel received the gift of hang gliding and Lawrence hot air ballooning. Lawrence’s birthday was in April so it took awhile before we could get set to go Up, Up, and Away!

We had the option of a sunrise or sunset ride. We chose the sunrise and I am so glad we did. For one thing, it is cooler and the peace of morning with mist rising from the hills permeates your being! We arrived just before 5 a.m. at the designated meet up spot in Franklin, TN. to board the van.  We met Tina and Logan the owners of Middle Tennessee Hot Air Adventures. (www.TNBalloon.com) By the way, they are new parents of a sweet little boy! I’m so excited for that adventure for them! There were four couples who were taking this trip together. It was everyone’s first flight!

We could hear cows mooing, see deer racing across fields, and some predators chasing them. We enjoyed the beautiful landscape but also enjoyed seeing some homes from the sky with swimming pools as large as houses! We saw people enjoying their morning walks and stopping to wave at us. Doesn’t everyone just enjoy seeing hot air balloons in flight?

I had anticipated being a bit nervous about the flight because I am usually afraid of heights. I had not a moment of concern. Our flight was an hour in air time. It was a beautiful, smooth, and peaceful ride and landing! I hope to take a future flight. I loved it!

 

Tina and Logan owners of Middle Tennessee Hot Air Adventures. RR
Just before our flight. www.TnBalloon.com
In the basket getting ready for lift off! www.TNBalloon.com
Filling the envelope. The balloons diameter is 75 feet. RR

 

Can you see the gas going in? RR
And we have a lift off! www.TNBalloon.com
Sunrise! www.TNBalloon.com
RR
RR
DCIM100GOPRO www.TNBalloon.com
Our shadow just before landing! RR
And we have landed! www.TNBalloon.com

It was a wonderful experience!

Credit for the photos goes to Middle Tennessee Hot Air Adventures.  A few I took (RR) but the really cool ones came on the thumb drive we purchased at the end of the flight.

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Sanity Garden

Spicy Globe Basil started from seeds.
Sweet Basil!
Sweet mint!

 Have you ever felt stuck? Sometimes I feel stuck. I can’t make any progress (it feels) in any direction. I have some goals and I start working on one and hit a road block for some reason so I head a different direction only to meet with a different obstacle. A lot of life is like that! It reminds me of the little activity we did at library programs where you can’t go around it, you can’t go under it, etc. You have to go through it! Much of my life has been like that and I believe that God wants me right in the middle of that situation. Most of the time for a reason beyond my grasp God wants me to live through certain situations. For the good or bad of it, I am there right where God wants me. It doesn’t mean I just sit there, I can try to learn the lessons I am supposed to learn from the situation. God loves me and is working something out in my life whether it is a situation or just a work in me. Thank you, Lord!

Esther and I built this box.
Oregano

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is how my “sanity garden” came to be. My children laugh when I tell them to come and see my “sanity garden”. A while back May 26th to be exact, I was feeling stuck. I had to do something. So I planted some seeds in a few pots and in a tiny little space we have at the townhouse. And I mean tiny! Esther and I even made a little planter box out of pieces of pallets. And I have been thrilled. Seeing even my tiny little herbs sprout and grow has given me a joy I would not have had. So if you are feeling stuck, plant a few seeds today.

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A Stain Remover that Works!

Recently I was in the kitchen dishing up plates at Emily’s Mystery Menu Dinner when I got bumped and spilled coffee down the backside of Esther’s WHITE pants. She had also dropped blue jello on her pants. I had also worn my white apron and gotten berry stains on it.  I discovered someone had washed them both.  I am thankful I found them before they went in the dryer. I decided to try a combination I had seen on Facebook recently before throwing her pants away.

Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

4 Tablespoons of Dawn dish soap

4 Tablespoons of peroxide

2 teaspoons of baking soda

I mixed up these three ingredients in a small jar and rubbed it on the stains and waited for a while before washing them.  I am happy to report the stains came out! I am very excited to have made this new discovery!

Let me know if you try this out!

 

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Reunion

 Two weeks ago I had the blessing to attend a family reunion. My mom, sister and I drove to Bessemer, Alabama and connected with the Brogdon family.

My parents both came from BIG families. My mom and dad both came from a family with 10 kids! What that means is I have a lot of cousins! I have at least 36 first cousins (possibly 42) on this side of the family alone. (MY CHILDREN have 2 cousins on each side!)

It was so wonderful to visit with the cousins! We shared memories of childhood. Some good, some bad, and many filled with laughter. We had the opportunity to visit with my mom and her brother and learn a bit more about their growing up years. I got to know my grandparents who died so young (in their 50’s) through the eyes of their children and those who were old enough to have memories of our grandparents. I am thrilled to see how many have overcome significant struggles and lead lives of compassion and love! Many people become embittered but they live triumphantly!

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Laundry Detergent

I have made laundry detergent a few times through the years and recently started making it again. I ran out of detergent this week and I had all the ingredients to make up a new batch. So I thought I would share this simple recipe with you. This is a low sudsing detergent. I was really surprised at how soft my towels are. It is my understanding that this is good for HE washers as well as regular.

**Here is the recipe!

1 bar Zote (grated) You can see in the picture that I used the pink bar this time.

2 cups washing soda

2 cups borax

1 cup OxiClean (optional) For extra cleaning power!

I mix these ingredients together and place them in a container. I use 1/3 cup per large load of laundry.

Here is where I found my recipe. You will find other laundry soap recipes on her site as well as this one.

https://wellnessmama.com/462/homemade-laundry-detergent/

 

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Mixed Veggie Casserole

In 1980 when I was a new bride and a college student at Freed-Hardeman College I was part of the Preachers’ Wives’ Club. We had a cookbook and it included a recipe very similar to this one. I have long since lost it but I have tried to re-create the recipe here.

20-24 oz. frozen mixed veggies (steam in the bag) Steamed according to package directions

1 cup mayonnaise

1 cup cheddar cheese

1 cup onion chopped

2 cups crushed crackers (Ritz or Saltines) Ritz crackers probably add more flavor but I use whatever I have on hand.

1/2 cup butter

 

Steam veggies, mix together in a large bowl veggies, mayo, cheese, and onion. Spread in buttered 13X9 pan. Crush crackers mix with melted butter and sprinkle on top. Bake 350° for 30 minutes.

The picture below doesn’t do it justice. It is a creamy colorful dish. I wish I had taken a picture of the inside!