Priceless ~

I had a meltdown yesterday. And the day before. It was one of the worst ever...

I've been thinking about it and what makes it happen. You know, besides being a little cra-cra in the head... sooo anyway, here are my thoughts about it. I haven't analyzed it THAT much but I think I have a pretty good idea of what is going on.

See, I think I know what is expected of me. On the job, from God, in my marriage, from people in general. And then I try to do it. Because accolades from the world regarding my hard work mean I'm ok. Don't they?? Actually, just being at least as good as other people, doing what other people can do, that is what makes me who I am. And THAT is the problem.

Sometimes I can't do what other people do. Normal things like having babies or getting a great-paying job. Or being the pinnacle of fitness, living up to the Hollywood image. I can't speak in front of people. Ok, I can't even STAND in front of people, let alone speak. I won't list all of my shortcomings because I'm sure you get the picture by now. There are some things that elude me, I'll never be able to do them or have them. The more things that are brought to my attention all at the same time, the more overwhelming it is.

This is what happens when you put value on abilities, looks, money, etc. - instead of putting value on who you are in Christ.

The thing is, our value does not go up and down depending on those things. Christ died for us while we were still sinners, when our value (you would think) should have been the lowest. To Him, our value was not low, we were priceless...

You are not getting this, so let me tell it differently...

This is Tug. Tuglet, Tuggles, Snugglebug - that's him there.

He came to me as a stray. He hid under the bed for a couple of weeks but eventually we became inseparable. Someone told me that he is worth about $500. (That's all?!?!) But TO ME, he is invaluable. No amount of money would make me give him up and I would fight for him if I had to. Funny thing is, he doesn't have a job. He actually costs me money. He has some bad habits. He passes gas and belches out loud. He doesn't guard the house while we're gone. He's even bit me before. Sometimes he stinks and he doesn't do any cute tricks like rolling over or shaking hands. Matter of fact, he hasn't ever fathered any children and he will never be able to.

Guess what? I don't even care about all that. Yes, I train him the best I can and hope he catches on. He makes mistakes sometimes and he has never earned a degree. But I love him and will continue to love him until death do us part. Because he is mine.

Don't let the devil trick you into thinking that you are not valuable because of what you don't possess or can't do. It's a lie. God love you and what He thinks you are worth is what you are worth.

Our Wedding

Sooooo... it has been a long while since I blogged. Back then my name was Jennifer Dean. A lot has happened since then! Well, maybe not a lot... I got married... and that is the biggest thing. And best too.

 

This is a picture of a picture. But it will work here. It isn't the best picture of me but he loved it so we got it. We didn't plan a big fancy wedding, we went to Vegas. I never thought I would be the one to marry in Vegas but I just wanted to marry my man and get on with life. Here are some other things we did while we were there.

 

This is the Paris Hotel. We don't care except it houses a restaurant that is very close to Derone's heart.

 

 

Ramsey Gordon's steak house is in that hotel. He really wanted to eat there but we were on our way to a buffet where we already had dinner tickets. Can you see him way down there at the bottom of the sign??

 

 

So after the buffet when we were walking back we stopped and watched the Volcano show. It would have been even better if my feet had not been hurting so badly...

 



 

We thought we missed this one. The water show is set to music and the water shoots far above the top of the hotel.

 

So guess where we stayed... the New York New York. That is not the real Statue of Liberty but she still brought a tear to my eye. See that roller coaster in the background? That wrapped around our hotel and was about level with our hotel window. We stayed on the 27th floor.

 

 

This is a couple of old school cats who could really sing. And dance. We sat for a while watching and listening. They sang a special song for us since we were getting married the next day. That's sexy May dancing out front - wife of the guy on the right.  Such a cute couple :)

 

 

This is inside our hotel, decorated up to look like a miniature New York.

 

This is me next to the giant bobble head in our hotel. I don't know who it is supposed to be.
 

 

There was a steak restuarant in our hotel, along with many other restaurants. Derone loves steak. 

 

 

This is us in front of the Luxor pyramid.

 

 

 

This is me getting my hair done for the wedding. My hair stylist was really nice but I hated my hair.

 

 

And here are some pictures of us acting silly back in our room after the wedding.

 

 

 

This was waiting for us when we got back to our room. OMG it was sooooo good!!

 

 

And now we're living happily ever after!

Blueberry Waffles with Blueberry Sauce ~ YUM!

I haven't tried anything new in a while. At least not on the breakfast food front. All week long I kept thinking about Saturday breakfast. Is that bad?? I just enjoy getting up and having a cup of coffee and a good breakfast while I lounge around the house for a while. Did I ever tell you how much I love coffee? Ok, just making sure...

So anyways, before I jump the track and start talking about my relationship with coffee, let me tell you about the breakfast. I had an abundance of blueberries because I have a habit of going to the store before I check my inventory. Now I'm not one of these people who goes out and picks fresh blueberries from the bush in my back yard and then blogs about it. So you will be happy to know that this recipe just uses frozen blueberries. Nice, huh?

You won't need this many - only 2 cups.

I got a waffle iron for Christmas and I have used it a few times - I LOVE it! Not as much as coffee but I still have deep feelings for it. So, blueberries + waffle iron = Blueberry Waffles. Of course, again, because I forget to check my grocery inventory before going to the store, I did not have any syrup to go with them. So guess what? I made blueberry sauce to go on top!! I was on a roll. So without further ado, here is the recipe for these glorious waffles.

Blueberry Waffles

1 egg, separated

2 T. sugar

1 c. all-purpose flour

1 1/2 t. baking powder

3 T. melted butter

1 c. blueberries

1/2 t. salt

2/3 c. milk

Mix and sift the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Combine milk and well-beaten egg yolk and add to the dry ingredients.  Add melted butter and mix well. Beat the egg white until it is stiff and fold into the batter. Fold in blueberries.  Bake on a hot waffle iron and serve with Blueberry Sauce.

Blueberry Sauce

1/4 c. sugar

Sprinkle of nutmeg

1/2 t. cornstarch

1 c. blueberries

1 t. lemon juice

1/4 c. water

sprinkle of salt

Mix sugar, nutmeg, cornstarch, and salt in saucepan. Stir in water gradually until smooth. Add blueberries and cook over heat until thickened and clear. Stir in lemon juice and let cool.

I made my sauce first so it could cool and then I could put it on the waffles when they came off the iron all hot and yummy. The waffles were good all by themselves, they fluffed up really well because of the beaten egg white. That is an important step you don't want to leave out if you are making waffles. However, you can also use this recipe for pancakes and leave out the egg white thing. Just add a whole egg. But we are talking waffles here, so focus.  

I tried to make it pretty and drizzle some sauce around the edge. Clearly it didn't work. But that part really doesn't matter. What matters is that this recipe was so yummy that it satisfied my waffle craving for yet another weekend. Definitely will be making these again!

I Am Thankful ~

I was going to say that I am thankful for God. And I truly am. Maybe you are judging me for not putting Him on Day 1. I just feel like I can't spend 10 minutes on a blog about God that does Him justice and I really don't have much brain power left today. So today, will be about DOG instead of GOD. Come to think of it, my dog has taught me so much about God. You can see more about that in this blog. For now, let me show you what makes me so thankful for my little Tuglet. This is going to be cute overload, so get ready!