Zizzie Happenings

Philippians 2 Imitating Christ's Humility 1If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. 3Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. 4Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: 6Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 7but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death— even death on a cross! 9Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, 10that at the name of Jesus ever...

TO BE EDUCATED By Carolyn Caines August 16, 1997 If I learn my ABC's, can read 600 words per minute, and can write with perfect penmanship, but have not been shown how to communicate with the Designer of all language, I HAVE NOT BEEN EDUCATED. If I can deliver an eloquent speech and persuade you with my stunning logic, but have not been instructed in God's wisdom, I HAVE NOT BEEN EDUCATED. If I have read Shakespeare and John Locke and can discuss their writings with keen insight, but have not read the greatest of all books - the Bible - and have knowledge of its personal importance, I HAVE NOT BEEN EDUCATED. If I have memorized addition facts, multiplication tables, and chemical formulas, but have never been disciplined to hide God's Word in my heart, I HAVE NOT BEEN EDUCATED. If I can explain the law of gravity and Einstein's theory of relativity, but have never been instructed in the unchangeable laws of the One Who orders our universe, I HAVE NOT BEEN EDUCATED. If I ...

What an awesome week we had. The week started with me having an outpatient procedure at the hospital which by God's grace went well. I came home and slept the afternoon away. When I woke up I was feeling good so I got some soup and went to sit at the couch. One thing led to another and I somehow ended up dropping Mike's iPhone in my soup. Let me give y'all some friendly advice, don't let your loved ones get an iPhone because if anything ever happens to it the world falls apart. Google search and AT&T both said to put the phone in a bag of rice and the rice will absorb the moisture. We tried that but no luck for us. This was the growing pile of presents and cards on the table. To see more details of everything Mike got for his birthday you can check out this post . Wednesday was Mike's birthday so I made this delicious but very rich chocolate cake. Check out the recipe here . Thursday we went to the Whispering Hope banquet. We have been supporting Whispering Hope...

Today we spent the day driving around, running errands and reminiscing. During our outing today we drove by the first apartment we lived in when we moved to GA. We saw the building we use to work at, our favorite Chinese restaurant and many other places. If you have ever lived in GA you know this famous landmark ~ the big chicken. Whenever we went to Sam's Club on this side of town we tried to make it a point to stop and enjoy a "hot now" donut. So of course we stopped for a morning snack :-) We love looking through the window and watching the donuts frying, flipping and getting their glaze. In case your mouth wasn't watering yet, here is a close up picture :-) After we accomplished everything we needed to accomplish today we went for some lunch. This place may not look like much when you first drive up... and there may not be a sign anywhere that tells you what it's called... but the food is superb! I ordered chopped beef, fried green tomatoes, and Brunswick s...

We had a fabulous day celebrating Mike's birthday. I made his favorite breakfast - Peanut Butter and Jelly stuffed French Toast, his favorite sandwich for lunch - Steak Sandwich , and then I tried a new recipe for dinner - Cauliflower soup Lots of family called and wished Mike a Happy Birthday which only added to the wonderful day! Then it was time for presents. This year Mike didn't tell me what he wanted for his birthday so it was hard deciding what to get for him. Since he has become such a big chicken farmer, I got him an egg incubator. A few months ago Mike was helping with sawing some wood and the person he was helping had this really cool tool that basically left a chalk line when measuring with it. That day Mike mentioned that he had to have one, so now he does :-) Mike always wears an undershirt with his dress shirts but he is always mentioning that the undershirt is not long enough and it comes untucked all the time. I did some research on the internet and ...

Warning: This cake is for true chocolate lovers only. It is delicious but it's really rich! Triple Chocolate Torte 2 eggs, separated 1-1/2 cups sugar, divided 1-1/4 cups all purpose flour 1/2 cup cocoa 3/4 tsp baking soda 1/2 tsp salt 1/2 cup vegetable oil 1 cup buttermilk Chocolate Cream Filling (recipe below) Chocolate Glaze (recipe below) Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour two 9-inch round baking pans. In small mixer bowl, beat egg whites until foamy; gradually beat in 1/2 cup sugar until stiff peaks form. In large mixer bowl, stir together remaining 1 cup sugar, flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt. Add oil, buttermilk and egg yolks; beat until smooth. Gently fold egg whites into batter. Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until cake springs back when touched lightly in center. Cool 5 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely. Split layers in half horizontally. Prepare Chocolate Cream Filling (recipe below). Spread cake layer with 1/3...

Happy Birthday Sweetie! Thank you for being my protector and provider. Thank you for being so kind, loving, gentle and sweet. Thank you for being a hard working, diligent man! Thank you for being in my life! I love you!

After getting all these cole apples from the apple orchard, I ended up with a gnat/fruit fly infestation in the house. I searched and searched online and found this special recipe and it worked wonderfully! All you do is pour some apple cider vinegar in a bowl and add some dish soap and mix it. That's it! I am happy to announce we have no more gnats/fruit flies in the house.

After buying 1-1/2 bushels of apples at the apple orchard it was time to make apple sauce. The great thing about having chickens in our back yard is I don't feel so wasteful anymore. This container of apple cores and peels went to the chickens and they loved it. They got apple scraps for 3 days straight and every time I went outside they all ran to me. We went to this really cute little Ma and Pa (hole in the wall) place to eat. It's not too far from our house and it's right next to a Walmart. The food was good, the prices were good...it doesn't get much better than that. I ended up making tons of apple sauce, apple pie filling, this apple crisp and Caramel Apple Breakfast Casserole . It was all so delicious. I have an entire shelf in the freezer with apple sauce and apple pie filling to use throughout the next year. I received this free magazine in the mail and I saw this picture and right away thought it would be cute to make a pilgrim hat card. Here is how it tur...

I always love this time of year. Besides the wonderful cooler weather and the holidays which allow us to spend time with family, this time of year also brings fairs and festivals. Last night Mike and I got to enjoy the Cumming Fair. It was cold and wet but totally worth it. Today we headed to the Gold Rush Days. It was a rainy day, so the crowd was small but still a bigger turn out than I imagined. Enjoy the pictures! The ski lift is our favorite ride Poor Mike kept getting hit by people's umbrellas... I guess being short is not always a bad thing because I didn't have that problem :-)

I found this delicious recipe over at $5 Dinners . This meal is rated as "do again" by Mike which is the highest rating possible in our house. I don't think this picture does this casserole any justice but I wanted post a picture with the recipe. Caramel Apple Breakfast Casserole 6 eggs 1 cup milk 1 tsp cinnamon 1/4 tsp nutmeg 4 apples, peeled and diced 1/4 cup butter 1/4 cup brown sugar 6 slices of bread, torn Whisk together eggs, milk, cinnamon and nutmeg and set aside. In a separate bowl, combine melted butter, brown sugar and diced apples. Grease an 8X8 inch glass baking dish, tear 3 slices of bread and add to the bottom. Layer apple mixture and tear remaining 3 slices of bread on top. Pour egg mixture over all the bread. Cover with foil and put in fridge overnight. In the morning, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake covered for 30 minutes, then uncover and bake another 15 to 20 minutes or until eggs have cooked through. If you'd like you can serve with syr...

A friend of mine sent this meme to me by email. I know I haven't been blogging much lately so I thought this would be a fun way to get back into it. Outside my window… is a soggy mess I am thinking… I have lots of work to do tomorrow before the weekend starts I am thankful for… a loving Christian husband From the kitchen… I cook bushels of apples I am hearing... the quietness of the night I am wearing… comfy clothes I am reading… through Proverbs I am hoping... to organize my craft room someday soon I am creating… Mike's birthday card tomorrow I am praying… for a beautiful sunny weekend Around the house… I see lots of organization projects to complete One of my favorite things… is family time Just being... myself A few plans for the rest of the week… if it doesn't rain we are going to the Fair Friday night, Saturday we'll go to a neighborhood garage sale across the street and Gold Rush Days Festival and of course Sunday is church and a day of rest for us A...