Melissa’s Cozy Teacup

Hello Lovelies. I’m giving away this delicious looking strawberry metal teapot. It is for decorative purposes only. I will be drawing from the names of people who have left me a comment in the month of July. Any comment past or present until 07/31. The drawing will be held the first week of August. You may go back and comment on any posting to qualify.

Good luck to all!

We are having a bit of a heat wave this year. It hit 101 yesterday which is a bit unusual for our city. Last year, we had so much wonderful rain. Not this year.

Here is a picture of what it looks like where Tech Hubby and I spent the 4th of July. It was so very beautiful. I’d love to have a home there some day, maybe. Sometimes the idea of something is better than the reality.

One of the things that makes our trip to the lodge every year so enjoyable is the wonderful people there with whom we get to visit. I get to watch, ‘J’ grow up. Her birthday is two days before mine. This year, I brought my Anne of Green Gables book for her as a gift. She is doing her best to hide herself in a big ball cap and jacket, despite the heat.

Our hosts are delightful as well. You know those kind of people, kind to everyone, generous and loving. Many things are discussed during the few days we visit. Our topics of discussion range from string theory, to ancient ruins to conspiracy theories. We quite enjoy ourselves.

One thing I’ve noticed though that is not enjoyable to hear is the mixing of Christianity with other religions.

Christianity is and always has been different and able to stand on its own without needing to be ‘padded’ with other, false doctrines. Jesus himself said, ‘I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’ John 14:6

There is no other path to eternal salvation. There is no other doctrine, no other ‘truth’ no other anything that will get you into heaven and enjoying eternity with God than through the sacrifice Jesus made on the cross. If you are believing something else, with or in place of the gospel, you are in for a nasty surprise one day. You cannot worship the earth and God. You cannot worship any other deity and God. Only God. It is high time Christians stopped trying to please everyone and focused only on pleasing God. We cannot accommodate every other spiritual belief and still call ourselves Christians. To be a Christian means to be a follower of Christ. That’s it. Christ. Nothing else.

I had such a lovely birthday. I am truely blessed by my family and Tech Hubby. We had dinner with mom and dad last night then went to their house for peanut butter pie with home made chocolate sauce. My gift to you today? -the recipes for both! I apologize in advance for not giving credit where it is due for the recipe source. I asked mom where she got the recipe and she said, ‘from a lady at work years ago’. This recipe has been seen at birthdays for many years now so who knows at which job or through what lady it was discovered.

PEANUT BUTTER PIE (makes 2 pies)

1/2 gallon vanilla ice cream

1 C peanut butter

1/2- 3/4 container of Cool-Whip (c)

Marie Calender’s pie crusts.

Cook and cool pie crusts according to directions on package. Allow the ice cream to melt. Combine ice cream and pb. Add Cool-Whip (c) last gently stirring. Fill pie shells and place in freezer until solid.

HOME MADE CHOCOLATE SAUCE

1 C sugar

1 heaping, and I do mean heaping TBS of Cocoa powder.

1 small container of whipping cream-must be whipping cream, not table cream

dash of salt

2 TBS butter

Combine all ingredients and cook over med. heat whisking constantly. Boil for exactly 2 minutes remove from heat and add 1/2 to 3/4 tsp vanilla.

Try hard not to eat right out of the pan!

I hope you enjoy this recipe. I sure do!

Thank you to all of my dear internet friends for the wonderful emails and comments for a happy birthday!

Sometimes, a gift, wrapped in pretty paper and a bow are just what is needed. A treasure you couldn’t imagine indulging yourself with (for me found at the Antiques Mall) is always a welcomed treat, but this year, I wanted to treat myself to a few luxurious experiences. Now, those of you who have been reading my blog for awhile know I firmly believe in using your ‘good stuff’ as everyday stuff;china, linens, pretty candles, etc. I don’t believe that pleasure, in the proper context, should ever be labeled as a guilty pleasure. That said, here’s what I have done so far for my birthday.

Tech Hubby gave me one dozen long stemmed roses, a creamy white color with pink blushes. I combined them with the status from my garden and made a lovely bouquet. Last night I, with birthday money, picked up a container of caviar and a bottle of ‘pink champagne’. This morning, I enjoyed a champagne breakfast of caviar on toast points. I was going to make blinis, but I wasn’t feeling well enough to stand in the kitchen for so long. I also indulged in a bowl of Rainer cherries. For those of you who live where they are cheap and plentiful may not understand why they would be such a treat, but here in Colorado, they are $8.99 a pound. I found some on sale and snatched them up! The picture above features one of my most favorite candy bars ever. I don’t usually buy them as they are a bit pricey but again, I’m going for an experience this time rather than a trinket. Mozart bars are :Finest pistachio marzipan and hazelnut nougat in a crispy milk chocolate.

Yes, it is just as good as it sounds.

Then, there is this little guy from Whitman’s, filled with fine artist designed chocolates. This one might become a more frequent indulgence, especially when I have a tea party. These cute chocolates would look perfect on a three tiered tray  laden with sandwiches, scones and fruit. Don’t you agree?

So now, I must go and get ready for lunch with mom before the tourists crowd up the place where we are planning to meet.

Have a wonderful day everyone and whether or not it is your birthday, find away of enjoying something today you wouldn’t normally do for yourself, that would be my gift to you!

Did you know that Alaska is about 58 MILLION acres big. 58 Million.  Let that sink in for a minute. Now, in Alaska, there is a huge oil reserve. Yes, it’s huge, but it is ONLY roughly 2 million acres out of 58 million. Two. Our fuel has been held hostage by environmental terrorists. I despise environmental terrorists. Why? Because unless they are growing their own food, clothes and riding horses everywhere or walking, they are hypocrites. It is not just fuel that consumes energy folks. If you wear any items of clothing for which you are not producing the raw materials, you are consuming raw energy and resources in the manufacturing and shipping of those clothes. Unless you grow your own food, you are consuming raw energy in the growing and shipping of everything you eat, and use in America. You simply cannot get away from it. So, while enviro. terrorists wag their fingers at everyone else and try to keep us from using our own natural resources, other countries are stealing our supplies.

So, FINALLY, the Interior Dept. has opened up 2.6 million acres for drilling. Woohoo! Oh, and while our lovely enrivo. terrorists keep us from using our own resources via off shore drilling, China is stealing our oil. See, China doesn’t care if we use our oil or not, it’s just more for them.  So while we’re all lighting candles and singing Kum-bye-ah over spotted owls and sacrificing our fuel because of hysteria over destroying the environment, China positions oil crews just beyond our borders and sucks up our much needed resources. That, my dears, is messed up! If there is going to be drilling for oil off our shores, it should be we who are doing the drilling. America must once again become self sustaining. We are too dependent on other nations for food, fuel and manufacturing.

America is again in a battle for her independence. Independence from foreign dependence.

So, Tuesday is my birthday. By now, you all know I’m a tad eccentric. What would be my ultimate b-day gift? Well, if you happen to have an extra $85,000.00 lying around you don’t know what to do with, you could always buy me THIS. I am gaga for trolleys. Why? I love old stuff. I really, really love old stuff. Trolleys are great for tricking out in the Steampunk style as they already have great wood panels and brass accessories. This particular trolley comes with a potty. Very important for those of us who suffer from IBS.

Even though it’s called the party trolley, you know what I would do with it. That’s right, it becomes the tea trolley. yeah, baby! There I would go, puttering down the road, ding! ding!, stopping to have tea with people.

Heck, it would just even be a blast to drive the thing!

DING! DING!

I love the unique ways that God comes up with to show me things.

This week, especially today, He is talking to me about water. I turned on our oscillating sprinkler in the back yard, trying to get that big brown patch, my peonies, and my rhubarb plant to perk up. Word must have spread through out the song bird community as soon, my yard and trees were filled with their colorful antics as they tried to get the best spot for a free shower. Some, swooped through the falling water drops in great acrobatic maneuvers, others perched on branches or hopped around in the grass. After being splashed with the water, they would shake and flutter to spread the water out over their bodies. It is clear, they were enjoying this rare treat.

Living things need water. Not just water, but clean water, free from contaminates.

Recently, in one of the on-line tea site/yahoo! groups I visit, a lady from England who had just moved to a mountain community in America, was writing about how she was told not to drink the water from the tap. She felt that if she filtered it or boiled it she would be ok to drink it. I wrote to her cautioning her against drinking her tap water. Here in Colorado, there have been several towns with water issues this year. In some cases the water was safe to drink after boiling, while in other instances, you could not even bathe in it without getting sick.

The contaminates in the water of these mountain towns ranged from dead rodents to microscopic, but still deadly, bacteria. Yes, you could filter out the rodents, boil the water and drink it, but why would you want to? Wouldn’t you rather have pure clean water free of contaminates?

People not only need good, clean physical water, but good clean spiritual water.

<< 1 Corinthians 10:23 >>

New American Standard Bible (©1995)
All things are lawful, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful, but not all things edify.

GOD’S WORD® Translation (©1995)
Someone may say, “I’m allowed to do anything,” but not everything is helpful. I’m allowed to do anything, but not everything encourages growth.

Why am I bringing this up? Well, I had a disturbing conversation this morning with a loved one. No, it wasn’t Tech Hubby, we’re good. I was trying to explain to this person a review I had read on a book she had lent to me that she had read and thoroughly enjoyed. I had wanted to have a discussion with her about it, but it was clear to me she felt I was attacking her and her reading choices. One thing she said to me that shocked me was, ‘Everyone has their opinion and is entitled to it.’ Why did this surprise me so? Well, this book we were discussing(trying to discuss) contains biblical untruths and heresy. The person I was talking to enjoyed the book for other reasons without taking into account the inaccuracies. Why would this matter? you might ask. Well, what if someone else is reading this book and is unstable in their relationship with God or is a new Christian or it’s given to someone who isn’t a Christian in a well meaning but misguided attempt to lead them to salvation?

Sentences like this:’

‘On page 110 (of The Shack) Jesus says that He is perhaps not the way, truth, and life, but the BEST way to relate to the Father and Holy Spirit. Papa God, the African-American female, says she has many followers of many religions in different lands. This is not Orthodox Christianity…’

Quote taken from Jan Markell over at The Omega Letter.

A wrong opinion (those who feel sex with children is ok, is an opinion, a wrong opinion but do you see where I’m going? ) can be very damaging. The gospel, isn’t about an opinion, it’s about irrefutable truths. The gospel isn’t about shopping around for a belief and you take some from here and some from over there and you patch together a universal and spiritual truth that fits you. The gospel is about changing yourself to be a reflection of Jesus. What would you think of a mirror that gave you its opinion of how you look or how you should look but never gave you an honest picture of yourself? What if an honest reflect was what it would take to save your life? Would you want your mirror to be subjective then, when your live was on the line? How about when eternity is on the line? How much weight would someone’s opinion hold if you did some serious thinking about where you were going to spend eternity and their opinion took you down a path of destruction? Would you be so eager to hear their opinion then? I wouldn’t.

<< Matthew 23:24 >>

There has been a great deal of camel swallowing going on in churches lately. There has been more discussion of worship music than sin. What the lady in the fifth row is wearing than, what really matters. Perhaps this is why people are getting so riled up when challenged on such things as which is better, worshiping the creation, flowers, or worshiping the creator, God. Btw, the answer is, God should be worshiped, not the flowers. Even the rocks know this and cry out when we get distracted.

Jesus is THE ONLY WAY, the ONLY TRUTH and the ONLY LIFE.

<< John 14:6 >>

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

So, if you are reading anything else and thinking it might be fun or a little bit true (that’s like being a little bit pregnant, you either are or you are not and something is either true or it is not), it is boiled down, contaminated and not fit for consumption by your spirit. Some things should be read to see what the enemy is using now to distract people, but it should never be accepted as a partial truth because something in it made you feel good.

Opinions are like belly buttons, everyone has one, but only God has the Truth.

Well, it’s official, I have put my book on Lulu. Click HERE to see the book cover.

Click ——>

to buy it.

I just read a great piece by Stephanie Finch on Why You Should Never Be a Start Up Girlfriend.

Well, being a start up wife can be quite a challenge too.

You don’t just have one absent minded geek in our life, you have many, and the finance guys, and lawyers and my personal favorite, our friend the loquacious folklorist who once came to our house and monologued for 16 hours straight. At 10:00p.m. my ears hurt, my head was swimming and I went to bed, leaving my husband to fend for himself.

Being around someone 24/7 who is driven, creative, emotional and amazing, changes you. I’m more aware of my surroundings politically. I know more about technology now than I ever did the previous 40 years of my life whether I wanted to learn or not.

I love my husbands merry band of start up guys. These are people who know people. These are people who deal in multiple zeros to the left of the decimal point. These are people who don’t sit around complaining about an issue but discuss how to make it better and in some cases, how to make it better and sell it.

In one instance, Tech Hubby and I were scouring D.C. for an appropriate dress for me to wear to the Metropolitan Club. Oh, how I wished that instead of Girl Scouts, my mom had insisted I take etiquette lessons. I did my level best to study up on what to do before we left for the trip, but in some cases, no amount of reading can make up for experience. This is why I got into etiquette. You just never know what life is going to throw at you and nothing I learned in Girl Scouts prepared me for anything I’m experiencing today. (btw, no, I did not steal the tiny silver teaspoon that came with my tea at the end of dinner but oh, I was sorely tempted!)

Being married to this man, this wonderful creative, accomplished man who loves the Lord and is not afraid to show it, makes me want to utilize my creativity more. I see him grinding out the code bit by bit, not giving up, accomplishing amazing things (he has two Academy awards in the Scientific and Engineering category). I have seen him deliver on his promises which is so refreshing to see in a person given how flaky some people can be.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s not all peaches and cream. Start ups rely on other people’s money, so do we. if they don’t get paid, we don’t get paid. It can be a bit unnerving but I’m learning to rely on God as it should be. He is our source. There are many nights of going to bed alone while he stays up until 3 a.m hammering out a project. Tech guys can be night owls. Keep that in mind if you’re thinking of transitioning from Girlfriend 2.0 to Wife 1.0. We usually only eat dinner together on home group night. Many days, though, we make a point to eat breakfast together and have ‘quiet time’ where we read our bibles, discuss what we’ve read and catch up on what each other is doing and how things are going. There is usually a good deal of laughter and good natured teasing.

There is also the times where he is physically in the room, but his mind is coding. It’s like having a ‘Husband on a Tether’. He’s there, floating way above it all. Would you like to talk to him? I’ll give the line a tug and see if he can come down.

Did you see the movie, ‘The Jane Austen Book Club’? Remember the guy who kept comparing Jane’s books to Star Wars movies, yep, Tech Hubby. Most things in life get compared to technology, code, explosions, liquid oxygen (especially cool for bbq experiments, watched on YouTube) The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Universe (enthusiastically quoted), Monty Python (enthusiastically quoted). He cannot remember a single word of music even if he has just sung the song, but he can sit down, read a coding book in a week and get started on the project as soon as he’s finished reading how to do it. Many of his books are 4-5 inches think, minimum. Yeah, he’s good.

I love my Tech Hubby. He is exactly the man for me and I’m so glad he is in my life. it’s a good thing though, that I can entertain myself and have interests and hobbies that I can do without him. If you’re needy, don’t marry a start up guy, go find a 8-5 guy who is home on the weekends. It takes a different kind of woman to love such a different kind of man. A woman who is independent, understanding, patient, patient, patient, forgiving, creative and patient.

A Teacupful of Turmoil is now on Lulu. You have enjoyed the first 4 chapters, and now the entire book is available for you to purchase and take with you to the beach or pool or park. You are no longer stuck at your computer screen waiting for the next chapter.

You may either buy it as a download or buy a paperback copy to be shipped to you.

Take A Teacupful of Turmoil with you where ever you go this summer!

Please give some feed back here on what you think of the cover art. I took the picture and designed the cover.

Thank you for stopping by and if you purchase a copy of my baby, er, I mean book, an extra special thank you to you!