Garlic Green Beans

Frozen green beans

Water

Cranberries

Butter

Garlic Powder

Salt and Pepper

A skillet

Directions: In your skillet pour in green beans and water. Let simmer covered until beans have de-iced (they are no longer icy on outside and are starting to look bright green). Add butter and cranberries. Cook covered until almost cooked through. Add garlic powder, salt, and pepper to taste. Almonds are optional.



P.S. I didn't have time to make them this way at their house so I just boiled them until they were completely cooked through, added butter and salt and pepper. Still yummy but not as good as when you cook them with the above recipe. 

Mrs. P. you have now have my Garlic green bean recipe! 

Love to all,

Maiden Princess

Today… November 9^th, 2009

Outside my window… is green grass, a cloudless sky, a field of uncombined soybeans, and down the road my Great-Grandma’s farmhouse (which is now abandoned) surrounded by barren trees.

I am thinking… I want a grapefruit for breakfast J

I am thankful for… God’s faithfulness and unceasing mercies

I am wearing…pajamas.  Guy’s black basketball shorts with a white t-shirt

I am reading…Plymouth Pioneers by Coleen L. Reece and the Bible

I am creating…A devotional for young women about inner beauty

One of my favorite things… fall

For education this week… learning about the Pilgrims more in-depth

A keeper at home skill I am using/learning … cooking and learning to submit more fully

A spiritual lesson I’m learning…to take every thought captive to the Lord Most High

A godly character trait I plan to work on… graciousness

Scripture I am memorizing…”But as for me, I will hope continually, and I will praise You yet more and more. My mouth shall tell of Your righteousness and Your salvation all day long; for I do not know the sum of them.” Psalm 71:14-15

I am praying for… many different things but specifically my brother

For the rest of the week… I will be leaning on His strong ever-lasting arms and keeping my gaze locked in to His.

A picture I’d like to share…

What’s Been Up With Me Lately

       Life has been, well, life!  I have had ups and downs this week. Tears and triumphs were also mixed in. The stuff with my brother has been weighing heavily upon my heart, and although I will not pretend it has not been painful (very painful and traumatic) the LORD has been with me, strengthening me, each step of the way. Without Him I would never make it. He is, and always will be, so good to me!

          The book has been coming slowly.  I have actually only written one “day” so far since I told you about the whole thing.  It was very hard for me think about writing without getting nervous. I knew I just needed to let go of the worry and doubt and let God work through me, so that is what I did yesterday afternoon.  I had a really good devotional time with the LORD in the morning, in which I repented of doubting the LORD and His strength, then, that afternoon I was finally able to write something. It is so much easier for me to write when it’s just a blog post, but when it comes to thinking it might be in a book, whew! That scares me. It definitely is moving slower than I had hoped but hey, this is the LORD’s book, not mine! We’re going by His timing, and again, not mine! J  I guess I’ll just have to wait on Him. (It seems like everything in my life right now includes waiting on Him. Although, I guess that is the best place to be! J)

          I just finished the book The Pursuit of God by A.W. Tozer. It was very good and I would recommend it for a challenging, deep, read about God. He covered topics like the presence of God, what is true worship, getting to know the LORD personally and challenging your perception of what pursuing God means.  Suffice it say, it was very good!  I would encourage you to read it. Some parts were a bit deep for me, but I loved it none the less.  Although, I do not agree with all his doctrinal views, it was a very encouraging and deeply challenging book!

          Well, I’d like to write more but cooking and cleaning await me.  Alas, there seems to be so little time in the day!  May you all be blessed today, despite the rain!

Love in Him,
Maiden Princess

Instructions: Put your favorite music player on shuffle and fill in the names of the songs in the order they show up. Sometimes they fit really well, others not so much.


1.) my last words will be: East to West (Casting Crowns)

2.) my first child's full name will be: No Reason to Hide (Hillsong United) WOW! That’s crazy!

3.) what makes me happy: Just One Of Those Days (33 Miles) LOL, not really J

4.) my grandparents...: We the Redeemed (Hillsong United)

5.) next time I'm in front of a crowd I'll yell: Beautiful You (by Jonny Diaz)

6.) at my wedding everyone will shout: Unpredictable (Francesca Batistelli)

7.) my friends call me: When I Get Where I’m Going (33 Miles) LOL

8.) happiness means: I Will Believe (Mainstay)

9.) in bed I yell: One Life To Love (33 Miles)

10.) the theme of my next English paper will be: Priestly Blessing (John Waller)

11.) if I were on a sitcom it'd be called: Solution (Hillsong United) LOL TOO FUNNY

12.) what I'd yell in a car accident: My Beloved (Kari Jobe)

13.) while breaking up with someone, it’s good to say: Love is Here (Tenth Avenue North) Yeah, like that makes a lot of sense!

14.) a good pick up line is: Blue Sky (Francesca Batistelli)

15.) if I saw a ghost I'd scream: Already (Rush of Fools)

16.) in a kung fu movie I'd say: Jesus Hurry (Rush of Fools) LOL Hysterical

17.) when I graduated I yelled: House of God (John Waller) Weird!

18.) while shocked I tend to say: Glory (Casting Crowns)

19.) my first book will be called: His Glory Appears (Hillsong United) Hmmm…I might be able to get into that!

20.) on the side of the White House I'll spray paint: Somewhere in the Middle (by Casting Crowns)

21.) after amnesia the first thing I'll say is: Love Enough (Hillsong United)

22.) upon discovering the meaning of life I'll cry out: What Could Be Better (33 Miles)

23.) a good name for a food product is: Enough (Chris Tomlin) Heehee!

24.) in a birthday card it’s nice to write: First Love (Jeremy Horn) LOL Maybe not!

25.) in a eulogy always say: Made to Love (WOW Mix I think it’s Toby Mac)

26.) when confronted by gypsies just say: You Are For Me (Kari Jobe)

27.) as a cartoon character my catch phrase is: Aware (Salvador)

28.) to call my dog I yell: Perfect People (Natalie Grant)

29.) as I fall down the stairs I cry: The Best Man (33 Miles) WOW! Crazy

30.) as I enter a party I say: Forever (Hillsong United)

31.) on a banner I'd like to write: Hosanna (Hillsong United)

32.) the opening words of my inaugural speech are: Revelation Song (Kari Jobe) LOL

33.) a good name for a game show is: I Will Exalt You (Hillsong United)

34.) as I finish this survey I sigh: Faith is Living (John Waller)

Well, there we go. All finished! Now, I tag whoever wants to do this one. It was funny and also sorta weird!  Comment me and let me know if you do it :D

Because of Grace,

Maiden Princess

    This is one of my favorite desserts! It is so yummy and so simple! It really is! I made one at my Gradma's house while I was there for Tuesday Bible study and from start to finish I think it took maybe an hour!  Personally I really like to make it by hand, with just a wooden spoon, but an electric mixer works fine too. It is so yummy with chocolate chips and nuts, I don't think it even needs frosting. Well, if any of you try it, let me know what you think! 

Because of His Grace,

Maiden Princess          

                       Grandma Bunch Banana Cake

1/2 Cup Shortening or Butter*

                                      1 Banana, Mashed   

                                      1 &1/4 Cup Sugar

                                      ½ cup buttermilk

                                      2 small eggs

                                      1 Teaspoon Baking Soda  

                                      1 &7/8 Cup Flour

                                      1 Teaspoon Baking Powder

                                      3/4 Teaspoon Salt

                                      1/2 Cup chopped nuts

                                      1 Cup Chocolate Chips (Optional)

Directions: Cream butter, banana, and sugar together with wooden spoon or electric mixer. Add eggs and buttermilk, mix well.  Mix together all dry ingredients, except nuts and chocolate chips, in a medium sized bowl.  Slowly add dry ingredients to wet ingredients just until incorporated! Add nuts and chocolate chips and mix. Pour into a greased 9x13 pan and bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Serve plain or frost as desired!

* If you want to make a low-fat version you can substitute 1/4 of plain unsweetened applesauce for half the butter or shortening! Be aware thought that it may alter the flavor and/or texture of the cake slightly!

“Again the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, ‘On the fifteenth of this seventh month is the Feast of Booths for seven days to the LORD. On the first day is a holy convocation; you shall do no laborious work of any kind. For seven days you shall present an offering by fire to the LORD. On the eight day you shall have a holy convocation and present an offering by fire to the LORD; it is an assembly. You shall do no laborious work. These are the appointed times of the LORD which you shall proclaim as holy convocations, to present offerings by fire to the LORD---burnt offerings and grain offerings, sacrifices and drink offerings, each day’s matter on its own day---besides those of the Sabbaths of the LORD, and besides your gifts and besides all your votive and freewill offerings, which you give to the LORD. On exactly the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the crops of the land, you shall celebrate the feast of the LORD for seven days, with a rest on the first day and a rest on the eight day. Now on the first day you shall take for yourselves the foliage of beautiful trees, palm branches and boughs of leafy trees and willows of the brook, and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God for seven days. You shall thus celebrate it as a feast to the LORD for seven days in the year. It shall be a perpetual statute throughout your generations; you shall celebrate it in the seventh month. You shall live in booths for seven days; all the native-born in Israel shall live in booths, so that your generations may know that I had the sons of Israel live in booths when I brought them out from the land of Egypt. I am the LORD your God.’ So Moses declared to the sons of Israel the appointed times of the LORD.” Leviticus 23:34-44

“You shall celebrate the Feast of booths seven days after you have gathered in from your threshing floor and your wine vat; and you shall rejoice in your feast, you and your son and your daughter and your male and female servants and the Levite and the stranger and the orphan and the widow who are in your towns. Seven days you shall celebrate a feast to the LORD your God in the place which the LORD chooses, because the LORD your God will bless you in all your produce and in all the work of your hands, so that you will be altogether joyful.” Deuteronomy 16:13-15

“And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.’ And He who sits on the throne said, ‘Behold, I am making all things new.’ And He said, ‘Write, for these words are faithful and true.’ Then He said to me, ‘It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts form the spring of water of life without cost. He who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be His God and he will be My son.’” Revelation 21:3-7

This is what we look back on and remember, and what we look forward to and anticipate during the Feast of Booths (Sukkot or Tabernacles) each year as we celebrate it. We remember that our sins once held us captive (sins represent Egypt) but because of Yeshua/Jesus we were delivered.  We remember that while the LORD dwelt with His children in the wilderness and the exodus out of Egypt, He dwells with us, in us, daily.  We look forward to the day when He will literally dwell among us and there will no longer be sin (or death) but continual worship in the presence of our LORD.  We rejoice for what the LORD is doing in our lives and the harvest He brought to us in our Spiritual journey in the past year, we also rejoice that one day we will be with Him and we will never be separated by anything. Hallelujah! May He come soon and may we be found faithful while we wait.

Rejoicing In His Goodness,

Maiden Princess

P,S. Our sukkah looks the same as it does in this picture only it has corn stalks on each side of the entrance with pumpkins at the bottom :D

Well, there's the proof!  Four wisdom teeth pulled out!  At first I didn't want to keep them but my Mom thought I'd like to look at them later. They actually are cool!  They have roots...it's so weird cause all you can ever see is the top part.  There is more to most things that meets the eye!

Maiden Princess

I Lost My Wisdom!

Hey Everyone! Thanks so much for praying for me during the surgery and through the recovery time!  It means so much to have great friends like you, who I know not only will pray, but will also be concerned about my well-being.  You’re the best! J

The surgery went very well! PRAISE THE LORD! I am very excited to tell you that the IV (the part I was dreading) was actually very easy. Ok, let me back up and tell you from the beginning.  My appointment was at 8 so I decided since I had nothing to do before leaving for surgery (I couldn’t eat or drink and figured why put on make-up when I’m going to come home and sleep) I would set my alarm for 7:00 and we had to leave at 7:15.  No biggie.  All I had to do was get dressed and pull my bangs out of my face.  I wore comfy clothes, which means torn skirt and stretchy t-shirt.  I didn’t end up getting out of bed till about 7:05 so we didn’t end up leaving until 7:20.  We got to the OMS office (Oral and Maxi Facial Surgeon for you curious ppl LOL) at just about 8 and went right in.  Had to sign a form that said I understood and agreed all the risks and gave my Doctor permission to do what was necessary.  They took me back to my room and Mom came with me.  They hooked me up to oxygen and nitrous oxide.  First thing I thought was that is smelled weird, then as the nitrous oxide began to take effect I felt like I weight a 1,000 pounds.  It was really odd.  Then Dr. Murphy came in and said they were going to put the IV in at which time my Mom had to leave.  He started with my left arm looking for a good vein and I informed him that I don’t really have good veins. He looked for awhile, tapping on the inside of my elbow.  He finally says, ‘You’re right, you do have wimpy veins.” For some reason that comment made me want to laugh.  J  He tells his assistant that they would try my hand.  He found a good vein and put in my IV. It wasn’t bad at all!  (It was the first time I was poked in a vein with a needle) I forget what I said after that, but the next thing I knew I was in the recovery room.  Strange but awesome! 

Doc came in and said I did great!  He didn’t need to prescribe an anti-biotic and something else I can’t remember. They had no cutting and no stitches.  Yahoo!  Recovery has been going well. I’ve been on 600 Motrin instead of the stronger stuff. Yeah! Actually today I think I’m gonna switch to Tylenol. Yesterday I started a salt-water rinse four times a day and other than that I really have nothing to do. I still get tired easily though. I am looking forward to being normal again.

It is boring eating mushy foods.  Because I didn’t get stitches I have open sockets and even though they are clotted now, I still have to be really careful what I eat.  I can talk though! Hallelujah!!!! I do have to be careful how much though and my jaw is still sore.  I have not really had any pain, just sore. Another praise report! Thank you all for praying. I really appreciate you guys, you’re great!  Picture of my wisdom teeth coming later! Yep, we kept ‘em J.

Because of Grace,

Maiden Princess

What In The World Have You Been Doing???

An Update on My Life In The Past Two Weeks………………………………Beware, It’s LONG!

            I finally made it to the computer today.  The sun is well past set and it is just getting dark enough outside to see a few twinkling stars. As some of you may have noticed, I have not been posting much out of my routine weekly categories lately. The reason for that has been the insane business I’ve experienced in the past few weeks. I honestly cannot remember a time when we’ve been so busy in all my life!  My Mom and I have been going somewhere almost every day of the week and on the weekends together as a family.  If we aren’t doing anything on a particular day, it’s spent trying to catch up on the upkeep of the house or getting caught up on energy for the next day! 

          Let’s start a few Wednesdays ago, August 26^th, I think it would have been.  It wasn’t a real busy day but full enough.  That night my Dad was going for sleep apnea testing and it was gonna be a girls night. We tried to get a few other “girls” to come but none could make it for various reasons, so it just ended up being Mom and I!  It was still fun though!  We watched a long movie together and stayed up until like 12.  Mom wanted to stay up later but I almost fell asleep watching the movie so we had to go to bed.  I got to sleep with Mom in Mom and Dad’s Queen size bed.  I don’t normally like sleeping with other people because I like my space and like to be comfy but it wasn’t too bad.  I did however, wake up about 3 and I was SO HOT that I had to switch to my own bed in nice cool covers and sprawled out!  I slept really well.  We got up early the next morning, so we could go shopping (girls day out) with Meme (my Mom’s Mom).  We had fun even though I had to eat breakfast on the road!  We ate lunch out, although I can’t remember where and then about 3ish I had to meet a friend to go babysit for her two little darlings. I stayed at their house through Friday afternoon and then came home and helped Mom get ready for Sabbath.  Then I ate dinner with my parents, helped clean up and it was off again to a Beth Moore simulcast with Meme.  I spent the night at my Grandparent’s house and we went back to the church where the conference was being held for the next session by 9:30 the next morning.  By the time that AMAZING conference about delighting yourself in the LORD was done it was time to head home (my Grandparent’s house) for about 30 minutes before heading off to a birthday party for my cousin about 1 hour and 15 minutes away!  It was a nice time spent with the kids and good food too!  Lots of laughs and pictures, although I forgot my camera J.  Sunday was a family reunion which was not so fun.  There were only a few families who were Christians there and those were all my immediate relatives.  Thank the LORD for them!  After awhile we were bushed from on the crazy insane activities of the week so we came home early and rested some. 

Monday was also spent mostly trying to rest up from the busy week before. Tuesday was our Women’s Bible Study Group.  (We are doing the book, Honoring God With My Life, by Miriam Naddler; it’s excellent!) The morning was spent preparing the house and food, and of course ourselves.  Only one of our gals showed up (we are supposed to have 9 people besides my Mom and I) so I guess it just wasn’t in the LORD’s plans that week. Wednesday was grocery shopping, another early morning, then on the way home picking up one of my cousins to babysit for a while.  We had fun making a home-made water slide, making him make-shift shorts so he could go down the water slide (he didn’t bring swimming trunks), spraying him on the swings, washing my hair outside cause we got so hot, eating dinner together, corn exploring (walking through a corn field taller than you), and just being together.  In the mean time I also had to pack to go to a friend’s house for a fun overnight trip. We met my Aunt and Uncle to drop off my cousin at the same time I met my friend.  So straight away I went to their house and we had lovely time with one of their Aunts and her amazing Jewish Cake for dessert!  Stayed up late talking, getting ready for bed, watching old home-made movies and other funny little you-tube things. Technically we stayed up until 3am and got up at 7 so we could get an early start shopping!  4 hours of sleep and I didn’t do too bad!  Of course I had an iced coffee and a Vault, which, believe it or not, has more caffeine than Mountain Dew!  Yahoo!  Anyways, we went to a ton of resale shops, like all the ones I never get to go to cause they’re too far away, and I got a whole bunch of new summer and fall shirts and a pair of pants to make into a skirt and a necklace.  It was a good day spent with friends, buying good bargains, and eating good food (we went to a Chinese restaurant for a late lunch and my sweet friend treated me for my birthday J) !  When I came home I helped my Mom get ready for camping. I basically unpacked and repacked.  We were leaving the next afternoon for Labor Day Weekend and quite a bit needed to be done even though my Mom got a LOT accomplished while I was gone. That night I was beat!  I slept well.  Didn’t have to get up early the next morning, almost slept until 10!!! Yahoo!  Mom is so sweet, but it did through me way out of wack to  get started so late in my day with so much to do. That was a busy, hair-pulling out day, but by God’s grace we got it all done before we had to leave.  We got to the campground by 7 and set up ready to rest.  We had dinner and just hung around in the camper.  Saturday was nice, nothing to do.  We went for a ride around the little town we were staying in and then decided to back to the camper eat lunch and go visit my Aunt and Uncle and there family at another campground about 45minutes away.  We took our bikes and went for a ride down a bike trail and took some cute pictures!  I must say though that my posterior was quite sore by the end of that trip! LOL J I’m not used to biking so that happens often when I ride for any amount of time.  We ate dinner at their campground. Hobo dinners…yum!  I did have a good time that day but unfortunately somewhere on Friday I got smack dab in the middle of some cold/allergy thing and by Saturday I felt terrible!  Sunday was better but even now I still have a little hanging on. Sunday we also had nothing planned to do really. Being Labor Day Weekend there were Garage Sales everywhere and since we don’t buy or sell on Saturday (the Sabbath) we waited until Sunday to go.  After I got myself ready Sunday morning (have you ever tried taking a shower in one half the size of what you normally use with about a 7 gallon hot water capacity before? Interesting!)  we headed out on a garage sale hunt! Dad too, he had to chauffer us around using the GPS cause we could get lost! LOL Most of the Garage sales were either closed or done with so the few we went to were mostly “Garbage Sales” as one of my friends likes to call them. I did find one good one though and got a few shirts from it!  That night we went on a ride to go see those giant windmills that they use for wind energy.  I have some pictures maybe I can post next week.  They look so small from far away but the closer you get the more humungous they become.  They are literally massive!  It’s so cool to watch the blades turn in succession slicing through the air.  Stopped at a few more garage sales on the way through towns and got a bathing suit top (the top part of a two-piece) for a quarter.  I have been wanting a new one since the straps of my old one keep falling off my shoulders.  It’s not too big of a deal since I wear a t-shirt and long shorts over my swimming suit but it is annoying for me.  I’m not sure yet if it’ll work, it might be too low cut, but for a quarter, I couldn’t pass it up. Then, we went back to the campground and wanted to have a campfire but the people camping sort of behind us were drinking and were very loud and obnoxious so my parents didn’t want to have to listen to them. I wanted smores so bad so I just made them in the microwave, not as good as over the campfire but it worked.  We read two books in a series we were finishing while we were camping by the time we got home.  They were good books. After reading and brushing and flossing my teeth I wrote a letter to a friend and stayed up much later than I had anticipated.  Finally got comfortable and went to sleep.

Woke up on Monday morning! Time to leave L.  Had waffles and broasted potatoes for breakfast with a glass of orange juice. Went for a ride to take some pictures of the town and some scenic things I liked! Yes, a statue of Ronald McDonald is scenic *huffs in astonishment*!  Perhaps I shall post some of those pictures at a later date.  Finally got packed up and had a snack and on our way!  Stopped at Meme and Papa’s house on the way home for a Labor Day get together and had lots of fun with family and good food!  We left sorta early cause we still had to unload the camper and unpack all of our stuff.  We were really tired that night.  I remember telling Mom, “I never knew relaxing could be so much work!”. Tuesday was yesterday and I got up took a bath, read my Bible, got online (since I hadn’t been online since Thursday sometime possibly), in general got ready for my day. Then Mom and I went out to the garden to pick produce.  We got two plastic grocery bags full of green beans (from 3 rows, this late in the season that’s really good), a whole bunch of tomatoes, I think I picked about 20 peppers to be diced and frozen, and a whole bunch of cukes.  It was the tomatoes I was concentrating on yesterday.  I made home-made tomato ketchup and canned it.  I actually find it fun, so while I canned my Mom cleaned the camper, and I mean deep cleaned!  After I finished canning many 12 pints and 3 quarts of ketchup (with some help from Mom for the actual canning process) I made sloppy-joes for dinner and my brother came over to work on his car, which he hit a deer with a few weeks ago. Then it was time to clean everything up and a little later on some friends came over to get the green beans we had picked earlier.  We have already canned and frozen all we want so we keep a meals worth of fresh green beans for us and give the rest away. We had a nice visit with them and then it was time to settle down for the night.  Worked some on ripping out the seams in a pair of pants I want to make into a skirt and watched a movie with my Mom.  Finally was able to go to sleep but woke up about 2:30-3ish sweating and hot so I turned on my fan and pulled my extra blanket off me. I was much more comfortable after that.  Today, well, that’s been a whirlwind in itself!  Woke up at 7 when my phone alarm went off, didn’t want to get up.  Knew I had another one set for 7:30 so I just went back to sleep. Didn’t really want to get up at 7:30 but knew I needed to.  Resolved that I would skip internet time and sleep longer.  Didn’t work L. Stayed in bed though and tried but finally got up about 10 to 8.  Read Bible, picked out clothes, tried to do something with my hair, never got around to making my bed, and just fit breakfast in. We dropped some books off at the Library and some clothes at the local resale shop before starting off to the nearest “big” town which is 30 minutes away to get groceries.  Got a cute shirt at Kohl’s for $0.21 because of a 5.00 coupon I had.  It’s too tight but it was so soft I couldn’t resist, maybe I can find something to wear it under, or maybe it’ll end up being a pj shirt. It’s a pretty cross between deep aqua and sapphire blue. Anyways, got a few other things for myself and of course, groceries and finally about 3 we were home.  Time for me to get dinner going, zucchini casserole!  I worked on giving the doggie a bath, myself a shower, cleaning grapes, talking to a friend, and cleaning up from dinner.  Finally made it to my computer and started typing this but then we had to stop for our nightly family devotions but I am finally here and finishing this up.  Tomorrow is cleaning and cooking day because I think Friday we’ll be going with friends to a bulk food store about 45mintues away to stock up before fall.  So far, this week has been very busy and I’m looking forward to a week where all I can do is stay home and rest, keep up the house, and work in garden and with its bounty, still have tomato juice to can yet! Well, now you’re all caught up on what’s been going on in my life for the past couple of weeks.  I know it was a long entry but hey, it’s been a couple of very long weeks!  Tomorrow, check back for a post on James Chapter 4!

Love to All,
Maiden Princess