Crock pot dip

Today I made some dip in the crock pot. I usually make it with jalapeno peppers, but every store I looked at were either out or only had the expensive brand left. So I made it a little different, and after trying it, I think I like this version better. 

Ingredients:
2 blocks of cream cheese1 cup grated parmesan (real cheese not the stuff in the shaker can for on spaghetti)1/2 of a roasted red pepper diced1/2 of a green pepper diced1 small onion minced1 tsp. of granulated garlicBlack pepper sprinkled in to taste
Place all ingredients in a crock pot and cook on low until all cheese is melted and peppers & onions are tender. Serve with tortilla chips or crackers. 

Daily OM-The Purpose of an Altar

The Purpose of an Altar 

If you didn’t grow up with an altar in your home, having an altar now may seem like an exotic and unattainable idea. Yet having an altar does not have to be complicated or difficult, nor does it need to be based on a religion or a set of ideas that don’t seem to relate to you. An altar can be a simple, personal expression of what you want to focus on right now. You do not have to build anything or take up a lot of space. You do not have to buy anything new or follow a complex set of instructions to create your altar. All you have to do is have a general understanding of what an altar is and the willingness to allow yourself access to this wonderful, ancient tool of transformation. 

At its most essential, an altar is simply a raised structure that serves as a resting place for meaningful objects. It focuses the eye and provides a place for contemplation and, if so desired, ritual. All of these elements can be quite simple. One idea for a simple altar is a pot with a bulb planted in it, set on a box. This altar to growth can act as a reminder to you that all living things bloom in their time. A simple ritual might be to write down dreams you would like to see come to fruition on scraps of paper. You might place these scraps of paper in the box, or under the flowerpot, or in an envelope you prop against the pot. As the flower grows, so will your dreams. 

If you look around your home, you may find that you have already created altarlike arrangements without even really thinking about it; this is something we humans do quite naturally. A candle, a decorative box, and a vase of flowers are just a few of the common household objects that lend themselves naturally to the creation of an altar. Simply add intention and intuition, and you have created your first altar. Remember that it isn’t necessarily about the objects you place at your altar—it is the time you spend with it daily, taking the time to be with it for your sacred time. 

The Daily OM

http://www.dailyom.com/articles/2009/21286.html

Bad weather this morning....

Daily OM-A Warm Refuge

Thank you, Steve, for being my best friend!! I love you!!! &hearts



A Warm Refuge

By the time we reach adulthood, many of us have had the good fortune to have at least one best friend. If we have moved around or changed our life situation repeatedly, we may be lucky enough to have had several. The best friend relationship is often our earliest intimate peer relationship, and it can be a source of great warmth and connection throughout our lives. The details of best friendship change as we grow up and grow older, but the heart of it remains the same. Our best friends are a warm refuge in which we feel free to be fully ourselves, to share our deepest secrets, to rest when we are tired, to celebrate when we are happy—a place in which we feel utterly welcome to give and receive that most precious of all gifts, love.

Most intimate relationships hit bumps from time to time, and one of the hallmarks of an enduring best friendship is its ability to ride out the turbulence and remain intact even as it faces changes. Our best friends are those who manage to love us through all of our transitions, as we do the same for them. We find ways to embrace and appreciate the differences that set us apart and offer love and support no matter what. We allow each other to be exactly as we are at a given moment, even as we allow each other to change over time. In this way, best friends sometimes feel like family. We know we will stick together regardless of where our individual paths lead.

We may be on the phone with our best friends every day, or we may not have spoken for a year, yet we know that our bond will be strong and immediate when we do connect. This bond ties us together even when we are apart and draws us blissfully back into the warm refuge of each other’s company when our paths bring us together again.

The Daily OM

Snow from the parking lot is still piled on r street. One small trail on the street 2 drive on.

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Positive thoughts spell

A friend of mine is having a really hard time right now and is doing his best to think positive. I sat down and wrote out a positive thoughts spell for him to help keep his thoughts positive. Thought I'd share it here too...



Get yourself four jars with screw top lids and set one somewhere that you will pass by it every day, and the others set aside to use later. Small, wide mouth canning jars work good for this.

Add to the jar (you can also say out loud what they are for when adding)-
Lavender and violet to bring peace and harmony
Allspice and nutmeg to bring good luck
Anise and basil to bring protection
Bay and carnation to bring strength
Cinnamon and ginger to bring success
Ginseng and sage to manifest wishes
Catnip and marjoram to bring happiness

Put enough of each in the jar to make a layer on the bottom.

Next to the jar put some paper and a pencil.

Every time you walk by the jar, stop and write something positive...
"I am happy"
"I live in a beautiful home"
"I love my spouse"
"Good things come to me"
"I am lucky"
....you get the idea, what ever feels right. Just make sure it is written in the present tense.

Every time you add a positive thought to the jar, close the lid and shake it while thinking of what you just wrote.

When the jar is full take it to a room in your home where you feel the happiest and most comfortable to store it until needed.

Take another jar and do the same with it as the first. You will fill each jar one at a time with herbs and positive thoughts then place them in the "happy room".

Once you have all the jars full, take them to the property you are purchasing and bury them, one in each corner of the property. Once they are all buried visualize a dome of positive energy coming up and surrounding your property.

This spell can be adapted for your own needs.

Dust? Orbs? Something else?

I was looking through my blog tonight and something caught my eye. I never noticed it before, but there are some weird things on one of my Birthday party pics. The pic of me holding up my new t-shirt with the skull and cross bones on it. They look kind of odd at the normal size, but when I went to put the circles around them I enlarged it to triple it's size and they REALLY looked odd. The one on the left side of the pic looks like a face looking straight on. The two in the middle, one above the skull and one below it kind of vertical from each other, look almost identical and look like a face looking to the right. The two on the lower right side are the weirdest, especially when enlarged, look like a face with a hand reaching out under it.

The only changes I made to the pic were the circles around the "orbs" and the speech bubble. You check it out and tell me what you think..

Happy Holidays!!!

Getting myself in the holiday spirit and changing the pumpkin signature to a Yuletide one....

Hercules

This is one of our cats, Hercules. He was sitting like a human on the snuggler. He's our oldest cat- about 10 years old. I wanted to test the pic messaging on here so I sent this pic.

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SAVE EASTWICK!!!

There's a new show on ABC called Eastwick. It's a series made from the book and movie 'The Witches of Eastwick'. It's a great show, really fun and a nice break from all the police, hospital and "reality" shows on TV.



Unfortunately, ABC has cancelled the show. They didn't even give it a chance. They'll be showing the episodes they have made and then it's done, they're just pulling the plug. It's really sad that they finally have something new and fresh and before it can even build a fan base they dump it.



There's an online petition that is trying to save Eastwick. If anyone out there reads my blogs, please take the time to check out Eastwick and sign the petition to hopefully save the show. It really is a fun show. Here's the link to the petition..

http://www.petitiononline.com/saveeas1/petition.html

And here is the link to ABC's website for the show...

http://www.abc.go.com/shows/eastwick

A day off....

Not feeling well at all this weekend. I'm taking the day off from everything and just resting my body. I'm glad it hit this weekend instead of next. It's a short work week and long weekend coming up next week so I want to be healthy and energized for that.

I made some of that boxed chicken soup. It's not my mom's homemade but it'll have to do. I have the whole day to myself and I'm too sick to even enjoy it...lol!! Hubby and Zak are at work and Ty is hunting. He got a 6 pointer this morning. I'm guessing he went back out with the rest of the crew. Haven't heard anything more out of him all day.

My son went on a ghost hunt Friday night. He was teamed up with a girl who, like him, is an attractor of the paranormal. They were told they can no longer be paired up. The last ghost hunt they went on was to a cemetery and they were together then too. Batteries die, weird things happen and equipment doesn't work right when they get together. I wish I could go with them sometime. Maybe I should let them come here for a night. But it would have to be on a night that Steve worked all night and Ty can go to Grandpa's or something. Neither of them really care for the weird stuff so it would be better if they weren't in the house.

We haven't had too much going on in our house lately. It comes and goes. I think it's over at the neighbors again. Whatever it is, it goes back and forth between our house and the neighbors. The neighbors house used to be the parsonage for the church across the street. The Pastor that used to live there had all the same weird stuff going on there that we do here. She actually asked me to help her bless her house to try to get rid of it. Whatever this thing is, it thrives on negativity. The more negative energy is in the house, the more active it is. Things have been pretty calm and positive at our house so it doesn't have much to feed off of.

A friend at work has been having problems dealing with the bank he's getting a mortgage loan through. Once again, as I did in an earlier post, I don't want to write the name out because I don't want them to be advertised in the Google Ads to the side of the page. I'll just say falling into WELLS means you'll have FAR to GO ;-) but anyhoo.... I made him a doll to help release some stress. At first I was going to make something that represented the loan officer that is causing him so much trouble. But that just didn't feel right. So, after thinking/meditating on it for a while I realized what he really needed to do was focus on positive thoughts and energy to send out to the Universe. I made a doll that represented him and created a positive energy spell with the help of this book...



Here's the doll...





I also gave him a St. Jude candle to light up and ask for assistance.

Best of luck to you, Greg!!









pffftttt.... and people in this town think I'm the evil spawn of Satan...lol.

Catching up...

I haven't been here for a while so I thought I'd get caught up on a couple things.

Steve and I celebrated our 21st anniversary this year. Steve had to work on the 29th so we had to celebrate the next night. We went out to eat at The River's Edge. It's a really nice restaurant in the Dells. We had the Friday night fish buffet. I was all planned to have the grilled mahi mahi (no, it isn't dolphin!!) because I love their grilled mahi mahi, but I decided to go with the buffet after I got there. We had a great time!!

Halloween was fun again this year. Even though we didn't decorate the yard, we still had a fun time handing out candy. It was sooooooo nice having Steve home this year. He usually ends up having to work. My mom came over again this year to help hand out candy. She gets such a kick out of seeing the kids in their costumes!! She put on my witch hat and and a cape for her costume. I was a devil, Steve was a scary old man and Zak made his own costume, not sure what you'd call it, but it was creepy. Ty was an actor in the school's haunted trail. He was a werewolf and did such a good job he made a kid cry.... good job Tyrone!!! Steve really creeped out the kids with his costume. He sat on our front steps and most kids wouldn't come near the steps.

Here are a few pics...

Zombie videos

Here are some videos of the zombie walk and dance.

Awesome time at the Zombie Walk!

This past weekend my son and I were in a zombie walk to help raise money for the food pantry. Following the walk we did the "Thrill the World" Zombie Dance. The dance was a world wide event that might be shown on the Oprah Winfrey show this Wednesday!!

We had an awesome time! It was so much fun getting dressed up and walking around. I was really nervous about doing the dance because I'm not a dancer, never have been. Zak and I took a class the night before the event to help us learn the moves. I had been trying to teach myself using the tutorial videos they had online, but I just wasn't getting it. So we went to the class and after just a few times going through the routine, I was much better at it. Zak was REALLY good at it, but he's young and able to move better than his old mom...lol. There were some really nice and helpful people there giving lots of encouragement through the class.

There were over 100 people dressed up like zombies to do the dance. It was a bit crowded, but it was soooo fun!! I hope they do it again next year. Hopefully we can get a group of friends to dress up and join us!!

So, on to some pics and vids of the fun event...

Here we are before being zombified..



And here are some after..





Zak in the basement...






On the way there...






At the bookstore where all the zombies met...



This lady was cool... but also one of the scariest looking zombies there..



This lady was in our dance class. I loved her costume!!



This is Professor Auld, one of my sons teachers. She was the one to get the zombie walk going. She also was the makeup artist for anyone who needed zombifying..



Some pics in the bookstore/makeup room...lol...











Here is Dr. Seals. Zak talks about him alot and enjoys having him for a teacher. He was an awesome zombie!! The guy in the background is Seth..



When the walk was about to begin all the zombies gathered in front of the bookstore...





Here are some pics during the dance...











After the dance Professor Auld sat down and took a break...



These girls had them start up the music again after the dance was over so they could do the dance again..