Gleanings of Wheat

This is a very insightful personality quiz that consists of only one question. I am sure that you will be as amazed as I was! In the middle of the table is a round food tray with five kinds of fruits on it. They are: A. Apple B. Banana C. Strawberry D. Peach E. Orange Which fruit will you choose? Please think VERY carefully and don't rush into it. Your choice reveals a lot about you! Test results: Please SCROLL DOWN If you chose: A. Apple: That means you are a person who loves to eat apples B. Banana: That means you are a person who loves to eat bananas C. Strawberry: That means you are a person who loves to eat strawberries D. Peach: That means you are a person who loves to eat peaches E. Orange: That means you are a person who loves to eat oranges I hope you find fulfillment in this new insight about yourself. May it bring you peace and understanding, tranquility and all that other profound stuff.

This semester I am taking, among other things, a marketing class. I'm working ahead right now and in one of the coming weeks we will be discussing fear tactics and their effectiveness. In order to get some inspiration I went to YouTube. What I found there, was hilarious.

The kids had their first day of school today. This was William's first day in a big boy school, he is in kindergarten now. Julianne is off to her half day preschool, and their moods couldn't be any further apart. She started her day cheering and dancing around the living room: He started his day with a frown. I drove him to school today because he had all those school supplies, but tomorrow we'll walk. On the way there I got a lecture about how school wasn't fun and video games were - the implication is, of course, that he'd be perfectly content if I chose not to send him to school. His teacher seems nice, the class is not too big, and I know he'll be fine once he gets used to the change. But for the next couple of weeks I expect to be seeing lots of frowns. I hope not, but I'm prepared for it. Oh, and I'm surprising them with cake after school!

I haven't posted one of these in so long! I'm still working my way through the Old Testament at a snails pace (usually one long chapter or two short chapters a day) so I'm only in 1 Samuel right now. I did take a break for a couple weeks and hopped around the New Testament before starting Judges, though. Anyway, I read Ruth a couple days ago. Have I mentioned that I love Ruth? She's my favorite woman in the whole Bible, and besides Christ and Paul she's my favorite person in the Bible. I read her story at least twice a year, and am reminded of it even more than that. My familiarity with her story, however, does not keep me from learning new things in it. I'm grateful that even after digging into her story so many times God is still showing me new things, still teaching me. Here are a few things that struck me this time around: When Naomi decides she is going to return from Moab to Bethleheme she tells her daughters in law to "return each to her mother's...

I found this yesterday. Interesting stuff, I never would have figured that instant oatmeal doesn't have as much fiber as regular oatmeal. I'm only giving you five here, click here for the full article. 1. Start your day with oatmeal: Oatmeal has a high amount of fiber that suppresses your food craving for a long time during the day. Real oatmeal is better than instant oatmeal because its fiber content is higher. You can also add some flaxseed oil into the oatmeal for more appetite suppression. quaker oatmeal 2. Put some flaxseed into your diet: Flaxseed oil is an excellent source of omega-3, that reduces your risk of coronary heart disease. Flaxseed also contains about eight grams of fiber that can help curb your hunger. Sprinkle flaxseed oil on your veggies and salads to effectively suppress your appetite. drinking water 3. Drink a glass of water: Water is a powerful appetite suppressant. Every time you start to feel hungry, immediately drink an eight-ounce glass of water. No...

Chocolate Bytes has a post with a recipe detailing how to make your own Oreos. This could potentially save my family TONS of money. Very exciting...and yummy. Cookie 1 cup + 2 tablespoons (7 and 7/8 oz) granulated sugar, plus 2 to 3 tablespoons for coating cookies 3/4 cup (1and one half sticks; 6 ounces) unsalted butter 1 tsp salt 1 tspn espresso powder 1 large egg 1 Tb water 1 tsp vanilla extract 1-1/2 cups all purpose flour 3/4 cup black cocoa (Hershey’s dark cocoa, plus 2 to 3 tablespoons for coating cookies) Filling 1 tsp + heaping 1/4 tsp unflavored gelatin 2 Tb (1 oz) cold water 1/2 cup vegetable shortening 1 tsp vanilla extract 2-1/2 cups confectioners sugar Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Lightly grease or line with parchment two or more baking sheets. Place 2 to 3 tablespoons black cocoa and 2 to 3 table-spoons sugar in an 8- or 9-inch cake pan, shaking to distribute across bottom of pan. To make cookies: In a medium-sized mixing bowl, beat together sugar, butter, salt and espre...

Yes please! I found about a zillion recipes I want to try over at Smitten Kitten today. The first of which will be the Chocolate Hazelnut Biscotti . Seriously, if you haven't checked this blog out and need some inspiration I suggest you do. 1 cup whole hazelnuts, preferably blanched 2 1/2 cups flour, plus flour for work surface 1/2 cup Dutch-style cocoa powder 1 tablespoon espresso powder Pinch of salt 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 3/4 teaspoon baking powder 4 large eggs 1 1/3 cups sugar. 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spread hazelnuts on baking sheet and toast about 10 minutes, until lightly browned. If hazelnuts are not blanched, toast them until the skins begin to crack, then remove them from oven and wrap them in clean linen or cotton towel (not terrycloth). Rub hot nuts to remove most of the skin. Set toasted nuts aside. 2. Sift the flour, cocoa, espresso powder, salt, baking soda and baking powder together and set aside. 3. Beat eggs lightly, just until blended, in mixing bowl w...

I'm going to tell you a story. There will be pictures taken by various people involved in the story. Sit back and relax as I recount "The Crazy Adventures of Kristina." Once there was a girl who lived in Illinois. She had friends who were all going to be congregating in Pittsburgh and decided two weeks before the big meet up to take a Greyhound out to Cleveland and road trip in with her friend Liz. So she took a train to Chicago and then spent three hours late Thursday night people watching in the Chicago Greyhound station. She had lots of fun considering the floor was sticky, the bathrooms were dirty, and it was super crowded. On the ride from Chicago to Cleveland she got trapped by a man who had really bad gas. Never did a city look more inviting than Cleveland did after that seven hours! Kristina was very excited when she saw what the Cleveland Greyhound station looked like, you see it was far smaller than the Chicago station. It also was laid out much better, had clea...