kyrajoy's Xanga

It's finally SPRING!!!!!!

Fri, 20 Mar 2009 22:56:41 GMT

Hi... welcome back...

Today is the first day of spring. My favorite season. I can say that now... because it really is. I love the Brilliance of Fall, but I get giddy when Spring comes.

I have been under massive amounts of blankets to conserve energy all winter. did it work? not according to my heating bill! oh well.

I said " Hi" to my hyacinths this morning. They are popping up in my front garden.

Remember back to last year. I was planning and saving for my 30th birthday trip to Europe. I turn 30 in 90 days!!!! I think I am going to faint!!!

Christy and I are leaving June 1st for London, Paris and the Loire Valley of France. sans tour! Are we nuts! I hope I can read a train schedule in French.

We are staying at a little chateau B&B just out side of Amboise!

Isn't it delightful!!!! I CAN'T WAIT!

Behold the Chateau Amboise! Da Vinci's resting place!

September's over!

Tue, 30 Sep 2008 20:38:30 GMT

Wow! I started my Backyard project in April and it's still not done yet. I'm shooting for 2010.

Here is what I have so far. A pretty good start!

Planting day!

Today!

I have Beebalm, Speedwell and snapdragons in there.

My Black- eyed Susan vines! I only got a few flowers as you can see.

We cleaned up and mulched around the rose bushes.

September's Charm. ( this is in the front)

One of my favorite things! Raindrops on Roses!

90210 memories and writing in the morning

Wed, 17 Sep 2008 10:05:23 GMT

I loved 90210 as a teenager. I always wanted Andrea and Brandon to get together. I loved David the latter years when he had that kid give Donna that note when her family was on the boat. I think she was on a date with another guy. He signed it "D." I loved how the show ended with Kelly and Dylan kissing at David and Donna's Wedding.

Every Wednesday night for a while, my mom had evening office hours and my dad would take my sisters to gymnastics -- leaving me home alone. I love it. I would make dinner for myself. Frozen bagged pasta with beans in it from Sam's Club and a Lemon Chicken. It was peaceful and quiet. I enjoyed dinner and Jeopardy! at 7PM then 90210 at 8.

I don't get this new show. The story lines are not interesting at all. a guy needing a job to pay for a car part. a teenage daughter who has guy issues in light of her dad's affair. IS THIS THE BEST YOU CAN COME UP WITH?

---

I love this time of year. The sun just came up and the sky is just turning blue from gray. It's like the Wizard of Oz.Waking up to a new world. I know sunrise happens daily, but now it happens when I have to get up. I feel most productive when I think the day hasn't started without me.

Another person told me that I should write a book this week. I wish I could wake up like this every morning and just write and not have to rush around and take a shower and get out of the house.

A book worth reading

Mon, 08 Sep 2008 02:02:11 GMT

I don't normally read fiction -- I tend to stick to history, biography, and theology. I do not read Christian fiction. However, Redeeming Love is worth reading.

It is the biblical story of Hosea and Gomer retold in Gold Rush California. If you do not know the story, Hosea was a prophet who was told by God to marry a prostitute, Gomer. It was a picture of God and Israel. God set Israel apart for Himself, but Israel chose to worship other gods. This was Israel's adultery. God made Hosea live out what was going on with his people. The book of Hosea is only a few chapters long and the real story is only found in the first three chapters. You get the facts, but not the back story or the anguish felt by Hosea when his wife left him to go back to the business that she knew. Hosea had to buy back his bride. It reminds us the lengths that Jesus took to redeem the Church.

Redeeming Love is heartbreaking. We meet this little girl whose mother is in love with a man who she can never have because he is already married. She is a prostitute, but she has this dream of a quiet life in a cottage with rose bushes. The mother dies at a young age and leaves her little girl behind. Having no real family, she is sold into prostitution at the age of eight! EIGHT!

It blows my mind that anyone could look at an EIGHT year old as a sexual object. Angel finds herself linked to this man named Duke who likes little girls. Angel believes wholeheartedly that she was a mistake and ought not to have been born. She believes that it is all her fault. As she grows up she turns the abuse she endured into the using of the same men. Instead of her being abused she would use them to get what she wanted. She was good at what she did.

We meet Angel in what appears to be a truck stop for gold rushers. A town named Pair-A-Dice. a saloon and a brothel are the only places of interests in this town. whiskey, gambling, and women. We also meet a christian man named Michael Hosea ( Christian fiction is cheesy, I know.) He sees her on the street, and God tells him to marry her. He pays to see her and talk to her numerous times. Every time he offers to take her away from the brothel and offers her a great life as his wife. Every time she declines. She is used to her life. It's familiar. She knows what to expect. After all, she had been doing it since she was eight.

At this point, I questioned Michael. He kept saying her loved her and offered marriage. But did her really know her or was he just obeying God. I guess those meetings with her was their "courtship", but it was all him. She wanted NOTHING to do with him. She even passed him off to another girl at one point.

I don't want this to be me retelling the story, you will have to read it to find out what happens. I do, however, want to say that I had to put this book down and scream more than once.

I screamed at Angel for not letting Michael steal her away and give her the cottage and the rose bushes on the very first night he came to talk with her. I screamed at her when she left him and the cottage and the rose bushes.

I screamed at her mother for making her feel that it was her fault her father didn't stay. keeping the baby costs her her dream relationship.

I screamed at Angel's pimps and bodyguards who treated her like a slave. Promised her the hope of her share, but charged her more than she would ever earn as room and board.

The people who I screamed most at were the men in her life. Her absentee father who didn't even know his own daughter when she was offered to him as a play thing. and Duke who damaged her more than anyone else.

The name changes in this book are significant.

She was born Sarah - which means Princess in Hebrew.

Then she was called Angel by those who abused her the most. she was dead inside. vacant.

Michael quickly named her Mara which means bitter.

She was taught to pleasure men at the sake of her own happiness, so when Michael called her Tirzah which means delight. It drove her crazy. It just pushed her away from him even more.

Michael changed her name to Amanda which means loved or lovable. ( I had to look this one up because I just thought it was just a normal everyday name that Michael could introduced her as. Angel was a common name for prositiutes.) Calling her lovable was significant because no one ever loved her -- they just used her.

Angel returned as she became a Christian and helped to rescue other young girls that were sex slaves as well.

Finally, at the end of the story Angel was buried Sarah - the mother of many.

This book could be written in present day and still have the same impact. It's a story of the horrors of sin and the death and decay it brings. It is also a story of how the power of God's love can restore and heal. Redeeming a broken and shattered life and making it whole again. It's not about Michael going into a brothel and taking Angel and giving her a "normal life" of home and family. It's about God one by one healing every hurt in Angel's life so that she could learn that it's okay to accept love. It is a story of how God worked.

Cooking with Kyra - Ode to the Farmer's Market

Sat, 06 Sep 2008 10:57:09 GMT

I live in a farming community so we get lots of great veggies at the farmer's market and little stands along the road.

Yum!

·1 9" or so zucchini - Dark Green

·1 9" or so yellow squash

·1 4-5" Lima squash - Lighter Green and fatter.

·1 skinny Italian eggplant. - This is shaped more like a zucchini (long and skinny) and not think and round like traditional eggplants.

·Either a couple handfuls of grape tomatoes or a few sliced plum tomatoes. -- If you want this to be more of a tomato sauce just add more and let them reduce longer.

·1 small onion

·A few tablespoons Garlic - I cheat and use the jarred minced stuff because I can't chop very well.

·15 or 20 chopped leaves of garden grown fresh Basil. - I have basil growing in a pot on my front walk way. And I have a mini prep chopper. It's a lifesaver in the kitchen.

·Extra Virgin Olive Oil.

Chop veggies up into thin slices.

In a large frying pan (or two) add a few tablespoons of oil*, the onion, garlic. Let it simmer for a few minutes. Then add the squash, tomato and eggplant. Move around with wooden flipper. Pick, wash and chop the basil and put it in towards the end.

These should simmer for about 20 minutes.

Raisin Walnut French Toast with Peach Bourbon Syrup

So my farmer's market has a guy who sells raisin walnut baguettes -- it is a little hard so i thought it would be a great french toast.

TA DA!

I made my milk and egg mixture with a splash of vanilla extract and bourbon. ( I just cook with it. It is nasty to drink.) Then I baked it in pyrex. I soaked each piece then dumped the extra over it. so good.

I also bought doughnut peaches at the farmer's market!

The syrup contained:

Ten or so halved doughnut peaches in a medium pot covered with mango juice. Then I added a shot of bourbon and maybe two tablespoons of maple syrup. about 10 minutes on low heat.

It was so good.

The last dish is just peaches, blackberries and some orange juice.

Voila!

I'm going to miss the farmer's market.

Dot Freeman - What really matters

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 23:55:29 GMT

http://wordle.net/

WinterSong!

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 02:00:16 GMT

Last year, I was introduced to this book.

Christmas is just around the corner!

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 01:56:51 GMT

Two things winter related happened today.

1) I changed the nickname to my savings account from " JUNE of 2009" to "Winter Fuel Fund." Don't worry, I have CDs for June. higher interest rate!

2) Two Advent/Christmas devotional books arrived. Come thou long expected Jesus and Wintersong. You know how you always get christmas PJs or an Advent devotional book on christmas. This year, I am going to be prepared. The December Issue of the Examiner will be ready. The holiday season is so busy and overwhelming. I just want to hide out in a monastary. Work parties, church parties, shopping, decorating, family. ack! This year, I will stop and reflect! I like the idea of Advent and Lent. Preparation is always good. We do it for everthing else. Shoot, I am planning 20 months in advance for a week's vacation. Traditions are good and they cause us to remember, but what are we remembering?

Things to look forward to

Thu, 14 Aug 2008 15:50:36 GMT

1) A day in Hyde Park and New Paltz. Tour the mansions and eat Indian food.

2) Labor Day weekend castle hopping in the Thousland Islands. Singer Castle, here I come. This trip it will happen.

These two are just excuses to wear a skirt.

3) A relaxing day at the spa. AHHHH! This is actually saving me money by buying a package!

4) SUGARLAND! and SEEING FRIENDS!

5) Sandra McCracken's Red Balloon and David M Bailey's Notes. I'm a junkie. I can't help it. Music is my drug of choice!

6) Joyfully saving for Europe. I think I might exchange some $ for CHF now just for inspiration.

7) Fall and Winter full of homeade soup, sauce and bread. I have to give that apple butter a shot again.

David did it again

Mon, 11 Aug 2008 20:33:57 GMT

David M. Bailey put out another great record. no words. just notes.

http://cdbaby.com/cd/dmbailey11