Lamp Project

I'm not a terribly crafty person (I can't make a scrapbook or knit a blanket to save my life), but when I came across these lamp projects in Cottage Living magazine awhile back, I thought, "Hey, even I could do this!"

I started by buying a cheap brushed metal lamp with white shade at Walmart. It looked a lot like this and cost no more than $20:



















To paint the lamp base:
1. Use fine grain sandpaper (I used 400) to gently rough up the surface of the metal so primer will adhere. Tape off any part of the lamp you do not want covered with paint (lightbulb base, cord).
2. Spray on several coats of primer, letting it dry between coats, so metal surface is completely covered. I used a neutral gray spray paint primer you can find at any craft or hardware store.
3. Spray on several coats of paint in the color and sheen you desire. Voila! It takes a bit of time but it's easy. Promise.

To recover the lampshade, this blog has step-by-step photos that demonstrate the process. I was too lazy to take pictures of my work in progress!

I wanted to do my lamp in shabby chic style. This is what I ended up with:

Dinner Rolls

To be perfectly honest, baking my own bread has always terrified me. I never thought I would attempt it. Ever.

"That's what country folk do," I said to myself. "Why bake when you can buy?"

Then I stumbled across these super easy, no kneading required dinner rolls. And I thought to myself, "Self, you need to try this. No more wussing out!"













































Pros: Very few ingredients, cheap, incredibly easy, flavorful, and pleasing texture (not too dense nor airy).

Cons: If you've never made bread before, there is a learning curve to knowing when to add the yeast so as to not kill it, what environment is best for proofing, etc. But it wasn't that bad at all - I found this recipe quite forgiving.

Verdict: Oh. My. There is nothing like the intoxicating smell of fresh bread wafting throughout the kitchen -- and it's even better when the end result is a perfectly golden, large, fluffy roll to sink your teeth into. These rolls were a huge success! I will never be afraid of cooking bread again thanks to the ease and results of this recipe.

(Note: I halved the recipe and had enough dough to make approximately 16 large rolls.)

Lasagna

Growing up, my dad was the 'gourmet' of the family. He prepared our meals and we always ate grandly. I guess you could say I was primed to be a food snob. And I still would be, if it were not for the alarming fact that I married *gasp* a 'meat and potatoes' kind of man. Suffice to say meals are a huge exercise in compromise (mostly on my part, although I do sneak in an onion or a little lemon zest when I think I can get away with it...)!

When I came across this lasagna recipe, I knew I would likely have a winner where my husband was concerned. The question was, would it stand up to my oh-so-discriminating taste buds?














































Pros: Easy to prepare, cheap and basic ingredients, feeds a crowd, looks delish, and tastes so darn good. "This is the best lasagna I've ever had!" my husband said with more excitement than I've witnessed over my meals in the last four years of marriage.

Cons: Assembly process a bit time consuming.

Verdict: I was pleasantly surprised by this lasagna. I switched a few ingredients out to make use of what I had on hand (fresh parsley instead of dried, deer sausage instead of Jimmy Dean) but otherwise I stuck strictly to the recipe. I didn't feel it was missing anything and the flavors blended well together. I would have no problem serving this to company, it is that yummy.

Chocolate Cake

My cakes are normally the boxed variety lovingly pre-mixed by Betty Crocker or that cute little dough boy they call Pillsbury. But when I saw this divine-looking, from-scratch recipe from The Pioneer Woman, I decided it was time to test my skills.
















































































Pros: Moist, easy, looks scrumptious.

Cons: Lacks a deep chocolate flavor, tastes slightly floury.

Verdict: The recipe entitles this cake 'The Best Chocolate Sheet Cake. Ever' -- and it's not bad. But I wouldn't call it the best cake ever, so I will keep looking for other recipes to try.

Also, beware of the homemade frosting that accompanies this recipe. I followed it precisely and it was so oily from the butter that it was unusable. Instead I had to use the store-bought variety.

Oh. Yeah. It also wreaks havoc on your kitchen!

Wickedness

"Abortion a medium for art, political discourse"

Yale art major Aliza Shvarts ’08 wants to make a statement.

Beginning next Tuesday, Shvarts will be displaying her senior art project, a documentation of a nine-month process during which she artificially inseminated herself “as often as possible” while periodically taking abortifacient drugs to induce miscarriages. Her exhibition will feature video recordings of these forced miscarriages as well as preserved collections of the blood from the process...

Response by the Yale Women's Center:

“The Yale Women’s Center stands strongly behind the fact that a woman’s body is her own. Whether it is a question of reproductive rights or of artistic expression, Aliza Shvarts’ body is an instrument over which she should be free to exercise full discretion.”

My heart grieved as I read this today. Oh the depths to which mankind has fallen, that pre-meditated attempts at conception in order to procure an abortion has become a self-described "creative expression!"

My Credo as a Christian Woman

I believe God created me, a woman, in His image.

I believe God has the authority, as my Creator to define my whole person; body, soul, mind, and emotions.

I believe God has chosen to reveal Himself through the world in which I live and through the incarnation of His Son, Jesus Christ. I learn of both these revelations through His Word, the Bible, which becomes clear to me by the power of Jesus Christ, whose Spirit works in my heart and my understanding.

I believe that God exists as one God, in three equal persons and that these persons have Scripturally revealed relationships and functions within the trinity.

I believe that all human fellowship is a reflection of that perfect fellowship defined and experienced from all eternity by God Himself in the trinity.

I believe that God gave the man a representative role in humanity in general (as seen in both Adam and Christ) and that He also gave each man a representative and authoritative role as head of his wife and of his family.

I believe that God appointed marriage and the family as the most fundamental human social building block.

I believe that God created marriage (as He created all human institutions) to reveal His character and the character of His relations with humans.

I believe that God created me to be a helper to my husband and that in serving and submitting to him, I also serve and submit to God.

I believe that my husband is created first to love God, but that in his human relationships he is to reflect God’s nature by filling a role of protector, defender, guide, leader, teacher, provider, and father.

I believe that I am created first to love God, but because I am married I am also created to bear and nourish children, to help my husband and to serve God and His church principally, though not exclusively, in the exercise of these functions.

I believe that I should count my home as the primary focus of my ministry to God and that in so doing, I will bring no slander on the gospel.

I believe that my husband will answer to God for his part in my spiritual development, but that when I stand before the throne of God’s judgment, I will be covered not by my husband’s righteousness, but by Christ’s.

I believe that the Bible teaches me as a woman to uphold the authority of my husband in my marriage and in my home; to respect it, encourage it, desire it, appreciate it, work towards increasing it and encourage my children to do the same.

I believe that the Scriptures ask me to refrain from exercising final spiritual authority in the church. I am to avoid usurping the authoritative roles of men in teaching and in church discipline. Specifically I am to avoid teaching men or judging male leadership.

I believe I am to express myself verbally within my church family to bring encouragement, praise, witness, wisdom, counsel, prayers, hymns, songs, and instruction within the authority structures mentioned above. I am especially responsible for the training and mentoring of younger women, with a view to encouraging them to love their husbands and children, to be busy at home and to bring no slander on the gospel.

I believe that I am also to exercise my particular personal gifts in the church, without neglecting hospitality, humble service, availability in emergencies, and all sorts of good deeds.

I believe that sin affects every area of my life. I am not, therefore, surprised that my sinful nature rebels against some of the very truths I confess. May God mercifully soften my heart and conform me to His perfect will.

By Rebecca Jones (edited to reflect my beliefs)

Need of the Hour

The Need of the Hour
by Ella Wheeler Wilcox

What does our country need? Not armies standing
With sabers gleaming ready for the fight;
Not increased navies, skillful and commanding;
To bound the waters with an iron might;
Not haughty men with glutted purses trying
To purchase souls, and keep the power of the place;
Not jeweled dolls with one another vying
For palms of beauty, elegance, and grace.

But we want women, strong of soul, yet lowly
With that rare meekness, born of gentleness;
Women whose lives are pure and clean and holy,
The women whom all little children bless;
Brave, earnest women, helpful to each other,
With finest scorn for all things low and mean;
Women who hold the names of wife and mother
Far nobler than the title of a queen.

Oh! These are they who mould the men of story,
These mothers, oftime shorn of grace and youth,
Who, worn and weary, ask no greater glory
Than making some young soul the home of truth;
Who sow in hearts all fallow for the sowing
The seeds of virtue and of scorn for sin,
And, patient, watch the beauteous harvest growing
And weed out tares which crafty hands cast in.

Women who do not hold the gift of beauty
As some rare treasure to be bought and sold,
But guard it as a precious aid to duty—
The outer framing of the inner gold;
Women who, low above their cradles bending,
Let flattery's voice go by, and give no heed,
While their pure prayers like incense are ascending
These are our country's pride, our country's need.