Pumpkin-Chocolate Chip Muffins

this works as a loaf or muffins

Preheat oven to 375

Mix all ingredients below and create a "well"

11/2 c. sugar

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. cinnamon

3/4 tsp. salt

1 3/4 c. flour

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

1 tsp. cloves

Mix together and add to well:

2 eggs

1/3 c. water

1/2 c. oil

1 c. canned pumpkin, not pie filling

3/4 c. mini chocolate chips or chopped Hershey bar

Mix until creamy--it will be thick!  Fill greased muffin tins 2/3 of the way full or use cupcake liners.  Bake about 15-20 minutes, or until toothpick come out clean.  If making loaf, grease or line loaf pan with parchment paper then pour in batter.  Bake about 50-60 minutes.  Remove from loaf pan to cool, then add glaze if desired.

Spiced Glaze

1 cup powdered sugar2-3 tbsp.  milk

1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg

pinch ginger

pinch ground cloves

mix all powdered ingredients together, then add milk, 1 tbsp at a time.  It will be very thick.  Pour or drizzle over muffins or loaf cake when still slightly warm.  

The Name of a Friend

~I love some of the names I am called by some of my friends.  I have one friend, that every time she texts me, she starts it off with, "Hi Friend, How are you?" and ends with "I miss you and love you".  Another dear friend (one with whom I've shared fun and heartbreaks over many years) starts all conversations with, "Hey Nancy Girl"~~love it!!  One calls me "Sweetie", one "Sister", "Nanc" and only one, "Wingie" (long story~~that will have to be another time).  All of these cause my soul to swell with delight!!  They are my friends!  They love me, they care about me and my life, and they desire to hear (just as I do about them) of my triumphs and trials, battles and bliss.  The name friend carries with it a connotation of "knowing" a person.  There is intimacy involved; shared experiences.  I don't call a person I just met a friend because, although we could have shared events, we haven't built a relationship~~yet.  
This past week I was blessed to spend HOURS with two of my best friends from junior high and high school.  I met my friend, Pam the first day she attended my Jr. High.  I don't know if it was the first day of school for the year, but she had moved here from another state and was new.  We met in P.E. class.  We were partnered for square dancing lessons.  Do they still do that??? Anyway, we became fast friends.  We hung out, had sleep-overs, cooked together, and more.  She was one of my bridesmaids.  Pam is my "longest" friend.  We lost track of each other about  twenty something years ago.  She had moved out of state and since there wasn't internet in the 80s, we just lost track.  
I am SO grateful that we reconnected a year and a half ago when I found her on Face Book.    We have since seen each other two times when she came to visit her family.  This last trip was great!  We had time alone together and sat for four hours in the restaurant talking about out families, the good old days and all the ways God had cared for us both during those years.  We prayed and ate together, and when it was time to say goodbye, it was sad.  It seemed like it had just been a blink of the eye since we were celebrating our 16th birthdays!  Pam and I will always stay in touch now that we've reconnected.  She is a strong christian woman and steadfast and I'm proud to call her friend!  May the Lord bring us 39 more years of friendship!!
Earlier in that same day, I had lunch with my friend, Linda.  Linda and I met at the end of junior high but didn't really become friends until high school.  We haven't seen each other for about a year now, but we try to keep in touch and get together at least every other year.  Linda and I were each other's maid of honors.  She always has a gift for me (no joke, a real present any time I see her!).  Just talking to her makes me happy!  She is a huge encourager.  I don't think she even knows it.  I only here kindness come from her mouth and I LOVE her laugh!  It hasn't changed since she was 15 years old.  Linda and I had our daughters two days apart.  Right after I got into my recovery room after my c-section, i got a call from her that she was in labor!  My only wish would've been that we would've been in the same hospital.  When we get together, we love to talk about our families, including our siblings, since we all went to the same high school and I practically lived between her house and Pam's once I had a car:)  It's amazing to have a history with someone this long.  Between Pam and Linda's friendship I have 76 years of friends~~pretty neat when you consider we are only 50 years old.  
It's amazing to share the passage of time with people.  I look at them, and I remember all the fun times--the beach, flying across "Dana Dips" in cars (you have to be from Dana Point to get that one:), birthdays, weddings, babies, passing of parents and more.  These two ladies, and their families invested on my life and I am grateful for them.
I have another friend.  My confidant, my strong tower; one that listens to me when the world goes away.  My fortress, my strength...my Savior.  I am talking about Jesus.  yes, he is my Lord, but he is also my friend, just like he was Abraham's friend.  When I read of Abraham, I want to be more like him because God called him his "friend" in Isaiah 41:8-
Isaiah 41:8 “But you, O Israel, my servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, you descendants of Abraham my friend.  
God called Abraham his friend!  
James 2:23 And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” {23 Gen. 15:6} and he was called God’s friend.
While I am incredibly grateful for the friends I have on earth, the ones the Lord placed in my life for my good, I am amazed that he would call anyone his friend.  While I cannot completely understand the mind of God, I can know without a doubt that his plans are best, His ways are best, and his friendship is best.  I can trust Him at all times because he is unchanging.  He knows my thoughts and loves me always.  
Charles Surgeon wrote a wonderful book called, Being God's Friend.  If you've never read it I'd like to recommend it and encourage you to learn about the intimacy that comes from knowing the God that created us.  The day will come when this earth passes and it will be like my friendship with Pam and Linda~~FAST!  as described in I Corinthians 15:52:

in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.

Patriotism

As the Fourth Of July approaches, I can't help but add to the book list under the "Books and Such" section.  I've added many movies, most for the whole family.  I hope you enjoy one of our greatest national holidays!!  
Hang up your flag, thank those in uniform, and don't forget to pray for our nation and its leaders. Be proud of our nation, and its heritage!  Take time to learn something new concerning American freedom as it compares to other countries.

My youngest child graduated from home schooling last June.  As we walked out of the commencement ceremony, a friend asked me what I was going to do with all my "free time".  I cannot tell you what answer I gave, if any.  Free time?  That was a new thought for me.  I had been a wife for 28 years, a mom for 24, a part -time employee (even in the home school years), and an educator for 19.  The whole concept of free time literally never entered my mind.  
It took me about six months to even consider the thought of spending time on a hobby- you know, one of those things people do just because they like it.  So I wrote down all the things I'd like to do in the years I have left.  These are a few of them:  read books that are not part of the curriculum, cook more- if that's possible, photograph more,  study my Bible more, write a book, garden, spend time with my friends, encourage other parents in their endeavor to spark the love of learning in the lives of their children, and serve others.  If you notice, most of what I've listed as hobbies are the title of the tabs above.  It's everything I enjoy!
This blog is the beginning of my journal process doing the things I enjoy.  I hope it encourages those who read it.

For 19 years it was my pleasure to train up my children.  During those years I learned many lessons and a lot of them had little to do with "schooling" or "teaching", that is, in the traditional sense.  The "books &such" section will have reading lists, tips on learning, not just for those who choose to school at home, and creative ideas for kids.