Banana Bread

My sister gave me the greatest and easiest recipe for Banana bread, thought I'd pass it along. It's also a nice recipe if you have little "helpers" around. Mashing the bananas and stirring all the ingredients makes for great fun!!

3 bananas

1 egg

1 cup sugar

3 Tbsp. melted butter

2 cups flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 cup chocolate chips, (or you can add flax seed, nuts or all three!!)

mash, mix & pour into three mini loaf pans. Bake @ 350* for 45 minutes.

These loaves can be frozen as well. Makes a really great gift, tie a little bow around it, stick a flower or two in there or some meadow tea leaves and there you have it...so special! ENJOY!!

8 things you may not know about me!

Thanks to Kara Stoltzfus, I've been "tagged", which means I'm to post 8 things you may not know about me already. This will be fun. I leave for North Carolina tomorrow so I should be packing, but I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed so I thought I'd sit here on my butt while my boys are taking a nap, doesn't make any sense, I know!!! So, here goes:

1.) I use to be a MAJOR tom-boy, I practically lived in tree houses until I was 12.

2.) When I was younger I use to pretend that I was a prisoner in a terrible orphanage and I would "escape" by tying my bed sheets together and climbing out my bedroom window, from the 2nd floor I might add!!! I do believe I even took a friend with me a time or two when they were over for a visit. Now, as a Mom, I would totally FREAK if my child did that! Oh well, I've survived just fine...

3.) I eat a bowl of cereal almost every night before bed.

4.) I am crazy about clean sheets, I change ours every week or at the least, every 2 weeks.

5.) I am also crazy about flossing my teeth. Must do it every night!

6.) One of my dreams is to do short term mission work as a family, preferably overseas.

7.) I use to be a wedding coordinator, I work very well under pressure and enjoy the challenge of getting it right the first time, because when it comes to the wedding day, there are no second chances.

8.) I really enjoy writing letters and notes. There is just nothing like sending or receiving a hand-written note.

So, there you have it, some little tid bits about me! Okay, to continue the fun, I tag SHAR next! Have fun! Okay, now I really need to get packing, literally!!

392 miles

"Home is any four walls that enclose the right person." Congrats to our dear Friends Carter and Lynda on their new home purchase!! It's just too bad it's NOT IN PA!!! Boo-hoo-boo-hoo! They moved to Raleigh, NC and have finally found their perfect home! I'm so looking forward to visiting her NEXT WEEKEND!!!! Luke and I will be flying to Raleigh for 6 days to be with Carter and Lynda for a few days and also attending a Rita Springer Conference called Fragrant Oil. Then I'll be going to Monroe to visit the YWAM base where I did my DTS! I'll be visiting with Vickie, she and her husband are the directors of the base and she has become a great friend since my DTS in 2000. It will be so refreshing to be with these ladies. And a HUGE THANK YOU to my hubby for holding down the fort while I'm off to visit with these great friends. I really do appreciate him making a way for me to go. See you soon Lynda and Vickie!! CAN HARDLY WAIT!!!

Making Memories is easy...it just takes time. 6th Annual Campout

For the past five years we have been having all our nieces and nephews over for our annual camp out. It started the summer we got married, and we just had our 5th Anniversary a few weeks ago. Needless to say, it's a blast!! We are so into this camp out thing, that even when we were looking for homes, Jake would say, "I don't think this yard would work for the camp out." I was like, "honey, the camp out is ONCE a year, we can MAKE it work!" He tends to be a bit more compassionate then I am!


Speaking of compassion, he spent many late nights working to finish the fence before the camp out. It runs along our property line separating us from the busy road! It was paramount that we got this finished before all these children came over.

Some of the fun included a GIANT movie screen, this year it was bigger and better then ever, it was literally the size of our house! Jake rigged a screen and hung it from our bedroom window on the second floor...our very own drive-in! We watched "Cars", "Thomas the Tank Engine" and of course, our yearly tradition, "The Parent Trap~~the OLD version, (and the best version I might add).
We ate so much candy, it hurt! And then to top it off, we made smores by the campfire!Jake set up the hot tub in time for the kids to take a dip, (we're still in the midst of getting everything up and running at our new home). We had five air mattresses on a tarp and we all slept out under the moon and stars, falling asleep to the sound of crickets and Mr. Owl. It was the cutest thing, when they all woke up at the crack of dawn, (not the cute part), they were talking about how it must have rained while they were sleeping. I explained to them that it was dew. So, maybe they even learned a thing or two!

"Time is the most valuable gift we can give our kids~~~or anyone. Money and things are soon gone. But memories and feelings of love can last a lifetime. Care about kids enough to spend time with them." Glen C. Griffin

I've given in...

Thanks to my dear friend Kara and her constant words of encouragement to have my "very own blog", I've finally given in and joined the blogging world!! I've had a really fun and inspiring time the past few weeks looking at a lot of other people's blogs. I've found that the ones I am most fond of are the ones that have lots of pictures, just about everyday life kinda stuff! I have a feeling that it will be the same with my blog. So, without further ado: here's my most recent "found-it-by-the-side-of-the-road" find. As most of my family and friends know, I like to spot treasures in other peoples trash pile. And no, I don't go driving around town the night the trash goes out, (although I have thought about it a time or two!!). So, I find this great bike just a mile down the road with a "free" sign. Of course, my dear husband hefts it into the pickup truck and away we go. I found an old basket and chained it to the front handle bars, planted a flower and voila!! Charm with a capital "C"!! A few weeks later during my kick-butt garage sale, (more on that later) a lady walks up to me, "I think you're my cousin and that's my bike!!" So, yeah, I now own my first cousins bike!! What a hoot! Another side note: I am the youngest of over 65 cousins on ONE side, so for me to not know or recognize a first cousin is not strange in the least!