Do you have the gift of eating steak?

My friend, ElizabethT, and I have been on a one year steak adventure and boy, has it been fun!!

Elizabeth needs to eat steak because she has low iron.  I told her that I have the gift of eating steak and so began our adventure. My goal was for us to eat together once a month.  I picked the restaurants, invited folks to join us, and picked up Elizabeth each month- mostly.  One of my favorite parts was when Elizabeth got in my car and then tried to figure out where we were going!  It was truly a highlight of my year.

When I picked up Elizabeth in January she assumed that we were going to eat at Outback Steak House 12 times....little did she know.... I had made me a list, in addition to asking folks where they like to eat steak, so off we went.
January our group included Elizabeth, Marisa, her friend, Kate and me.  We ate at Bonefish.  I know you are thinking Bonefish- fish, but I am here to say that their filet was one of the best we had all year.  Highly recommend it.

February our group to the best of my memory was Elizabeth, Marisa, Kate, Kaitlin, Carl, me and maybe John.  We ate at Bravo.  I can highly recommend the filet.  It was wonderful.

March our group was Elizabeth, Kaitlin, her friend, JenniferF, Marisa, John, Carl and me.  We ate at the Butcher Shop.  I can't recommend it to you.  I was thinking steak place = yummy steak but not so much.

April we didn't find time to eat out even once!  We make up for it so don't be concerned!

May our group was Elizabeth, Carl and me.  We ate at Capers.  It was good and I would recommend it.  The best entertainment we had was a family with twins that sat next to us.  One of the twins wanted a bite of my steak.

June our group was Elizabeth, Kaitlin, Carl, Jill and me.  We took the above picture.  We ate at Does.  Everyone needs to eat at Does.  We loved it.  We let Carl order because it is a little confusing to us or rather me!  We were stuffed. It was wonderful!!

July our group was Elizabeth, Don, Betty, Jill, Carl and me.  We ate at Arthur's. One of the many laughs that night was when we were asked to pick our steak knives.  Pick out my own steak knife?!?  What in the world?!?  Carl asked for the sharpest one, Don asked for one with a good stout handle, me I asked for one to match my shirt and sure enough the server had one!!  Now to the food.  It was hands down, The. Best. Steak! Elizabeth and I had the bone-in filet.  My mouth is watering just writing about it.  Save your money and go eat at Arthur's.

August our group was Elizabeth, Don, Betty, Jill, Kaitlin and me.  We ate at Yiayia's.  It was good and I have been back and eaten the filet again.  Highly recommend it.

September our group was Elizabeth, Kaitlin, Bri, Carl and me.  We ate at Sonny Williams.  YUM.  I hope we an go again.  Elizabeth LOVED couldn't stand the thought of eating the turtle soup and  enjoyed the car with the spinners that parked across the street.  I tried, to no avail, to have Elizabeth get some spinners.  Carl said that the soup was really good!

October the group was Elizabeth and Kaitlin.  Something came up at the last minute and I couldn't join them.  They had a wonderful supper at Outback.

November our group was Elizabeth, Dan, Nancy, Jill, Kaitlin, Carl and me.  We ate at 1620.  It was very good.  Elizabeth and Nancy enjoyed the duck, turkey, chicken pot pie soup!  The whole meal was a laughing good time and the good food just added to it!

December.  The goal was 2 meals this month because we missed April and I wanted to share a meal with her 12 times.  Group for meal one was Elizabeth, Kaitlin, Carl and me.  We took a little jaunt down to Pine Bluff to the Colonial Steak House.  We remembered eating there when we lived there.  The owners had a son that played baseball with Andrew in White Hall.  The steaks were some of the best we had during the year.  Elizabeth also enjoyed the beets that were on the salad bar.  We also went to the Enchanted Land of Lights & Legends at the Regional Park.  AMAZING.  We plan to go every year!
 Meal two! Group was Elizabeth, Carl and me.  I told Elizabeth that I wanted to go on our steak adventure last year on her birthday so it is fitting that our last meal for 2012 was on her birthday.  We went to Vesuvio's.  Elizabeth didn't even know that that restaurant was even there.  If you don't know about Vesuvio's, you need to make a reservation and go, soon!  I can't tell you about the steak at Vesuvio's, I'll have to go back to try it and I plan for us to go back!!  Carl and I got two of the  pasta specials for that night and Elizabeth got Spaghetti Chittara.  It is spaghetti that is made in a huge wheel of parmesan cheese and it is wonderful.

Elizabeth has asked if the steak adventure can continue on in 2013 and could I keep picking out the restaurants.  Indeed I can!!!

Behold the Lamb of God tour- Ryman

 As I have said before, my son, Andrew, introduced us to the music of Andrew Peterson and we have evermore been blessed by it in many ways.  Andrew Peterson is a story teller and his songs really speak to me.  He wrote songs for a Christmas album called Behold the Lamb of God.  Stop right now and buy it.  You won't be sorry for a minute.  We have seen Andrew Peterson in concert when he came to LR but have always wanted to see the Behold the Lamb of God tour.  We've toyed with seeing if we can bring it to LR.  With Kaitlin's encouragement to see the tour at the Ryman in Nashville, Carl got us tickets.  We planned to head out on Saturday and come home on Sunday.  Our weekend got squeezed into one day-well 19 hours.  We left about 9am Sunday and got home about 4am on Monday.  I would do it all again!!

We met my dear, dear, friend, KathyB for supper and then she went to the concert with us.

 Our seats were on the ground floor of the Ryman.  Here is Andrew Peterson.  The concert is broken into two parts.  The first part every musician that is with the tour gets introduced and plays two songs. The second part is the Behold the Lamb music.  Sally Lloyd-Jones introduced the second part of the concert by reading from one of her books.  That was so cool!!

 Here is Jill Phillips.  She sings one of my favorite songs on Behold the Lamb about Mary.

 One of the reason to see TBTLOG concert in Nashville is the lights and special effects and several artists join in the concert that may not be on the tour.  This year Steven Curtis Chapman sang with the group along with his son.  His individual songs that he sang in the first part of the concert made me cry because he talked about the Connecticut shootings and making it through the loss of a child.  He shared how the Gospel that is shared in Christmas story is the healing power of God and that is how you make it.

During the concert The audience was encouraged to sing.  We sang Christmas songs and It Is Well With My Soul.  Can you say very moving??  I am ready to go next year.  I want to take lots of you with me.  You should plan to go too!  You won't be disappointed.

Friends come in all shapes and sizes

I found an old friend today. One I haven't seen in about 36 years. This old friend is a Christmas garland that was tucked in a box of light reflectors. In the olden days, when I was a little girl, my daddy put reflectors on all the large lights on our tree.

I have kept the reflectors because they bring back fond Christmas memories. My friend, Sandy, made a beautiful arrangement for me using the lights and reflectors.

 Kaitlin added some to a small tree we have.

I mentioned the reflectors to my brother, John. He told me he would like some too. I sat down with the shoe box that was labeled reflectors, in my mama's handwriting, to pick some out for John. This is my 16th Christmas without my mama and 36th without my daddy. As I sat with that box on my lap it was like I was in a time machine. I was a little girl helping my daddy with the tree once again. I carefully organized the reflectors picking this one and that one for my brother. And that is when I found this garland. I don't think anyone had gone through the box since before my daddy died. What a precious find. I savored the moment then let Kaitlin put it on our tree. Priceless.

I hope you find a old friend today too!

The garland is the bright colored circles.

arrangement by Sandy of bulbs and reflectors

Reflectors as decorations

A fun give away from a fun blog!

E, Myself, and I  is a fun blog on my blog roll that Taylor introduced me to.  She is having a wonderful give away.  Race over there now and enter!

You will be sad if you don't!

Would you prefer a clown or The Joker?

So I always slather, liberally apply, put on a generous amount -use any term you like- chap stick on before I go to bed. My old tube just ran out so I reached in my drawer and tore the protective paper off a new one and applied in the above stated manner. And then I looked in the mirror. It was colored. IT WAS COLORED! At first I mistook my self for the Joker. I gasped. Carl looked at me. He asked if I knew I looked like a clown!!! I was relived he didn't say the joker!!

That chap stick is no longer in my drawer. Thanks to my tissues, the Joker has left the building.

I may have to boycott the library!

Really! Really!!! I am about ready to turn in my library card. Who had a library card first in our family?-me! Who introduced everyone else to the new Thompson Branch when it opened a few years ago?-me! Who was so excited about the new check out?-me! The list could go on and on.

Why in the world do they send Carl a Christmas card??

What am I? Chopped Liver?!?!

Busy? You need to read this

How busy are you?  Please read one of my favorite blog writers- here is one paragraph...

Years ago I listened to an interview with Richard Swenson, a Christian physician, about the concept of margin. There’s nothing uniquely Christian about the idea itself, but there is something very un-Christian about ignoring it. “Margin,” Swenson says, “is the space between our load and our limits” (69). Planning for margin means planning for the unplannable. It means we understand what’s possible for us as finite creatures and schedule for less than that.

This was profound to me. I need to plan for more 'margin' and not feel guilty when I do.

Anticipation

I decided that this year I would make a list of what I like about this season.  I am trying to pinpoint what makes this season special for me.  As I was making my list, I realized that what makes this season special is lots of little things not just one day.  Here is my list:  listening to Christmas music in our house and in my van, getting our tree, decorating the tree-telling all the stories that the ornaments remind us of, decorating the house, seeing the outside lights lit up, getting up before anyone else and sitting in the den with just the tree lights on, baking, giving away lots of our baking, buying presents, giving presents, reading Christmas books, driving around looking at Christmas lights, the Advent Wreath at church, the Lessons and Carols church service, the Christmas Eve service- especially the part where we light candles and sing Silent Night, being together as a family, being with special friends, having Carl home more than usual, playing games, writing Christmas cards, and getting Christmas cards.  I am sure I have left a few off.

My friend, JillM, pointed out that I usually don't like anticipation.  I very seldom read a book from front to back because I like to know what is going to happen!  I told Jill that I love this anticipation because i know how this story ends!!

I've been listening to the group Glad on my Ipod at the gym.  One song on one of my play lists has a line about how the angels sang when Jesus was born and can you imagine how they will sound when He comes back.  I've been pondering that.

What's on your list?

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

 Thanksgiving was fantastic.  Carl had several days off that week and that is always a treat!  He got up early on Thanksgiving to fire up the grill.  He cooked the turkey on it this year and it was the best ever!

 The sunrise was beautiful.

 We had a feast.  I have a new recipe for sweet potatoes and fresh cranberries.  I also added sausage to the stuffing and that was a big hit!

 We added several tables so we could all fit.

 This guy was the star entertainment!  He loves his Gpapa

 Here is our group.  The fellowship was wonderful and the food wasn't bad either!

I hope your Thanksgiving was a great day too!

AR Civil War 150- Gaze and Graze- last one!!!

Saturday morning we got up and headed down the road to where we used to live.  We lived near Pine Bluff for 10 years.  Andrew wanted to see our old house, the baseball field and the library.  I didn't put up a picture of our house because I don't know who lives there.  He was surprised how short the road to our house was.








Our library has a new front!!

We then went to the Pine Bluff Museum.  We had been there before but neither one of us remembered much that was there.  The building is an old railroad depot.

We remember seeing her swing when she up on a billboard.

I loved this super sized poster and wish I had one! 

 Since we had already been to one Depot we decided to take a picture inside by the poster that I wanted.

 A wonderful Confederate cemetery near Sulfur Springs.  Their tomb to the unknown soldier was very moving.  My pictures don't do it justice.  Look how well kept the grave markers are.  Uncle John- look where this guy died!

 Our last stop!  Here we are getting our last stamp.  She had never seen one completed and asked about our journey.  She was tickled to be a part of it.

These are the remains of a WWII plane that went down near here.

Lots of fun animals here.  An otter for Kaitlin!

 One of the many great thing about doing this trip the way we did it is the things we saw in one place were repeated or more info was added in another.  The above picture is the only place we saw the one star confederate flag that we saw the words for the song for in Prescott, that Andrew told me was the only song that was not allowed to be played after the war.


This is the battle site for this stamp.

Here is our completed passport!

Our last picture!!!!

What a trip of a life time!  Andrew, I am ready for our next trip!

AR Civil War 150 trip- Gaze and Graze 50!

 I realized when I started doing this post that Andrew and I covered some ground on Friday the 19th!  We woke up at our cabin on Lake Chicot.  We didn't take our picture til that morning.  Notice the jackets we had to don because the temps dropped and it was chilly.

We saw many downed trees as we drove that day.

There are 23 sites to be seen and stamps to get in the passport we did, but there are also 39 others sites near those 23 that we did many of.  One that is near Lake Village is the fighting that took place near the Ditch Bayou- who thinks of these names???
In this battle the Union soldiers had had enough of the Confederate troops sniping their ships as they came around the bends in the river at Lake Village.  The Confederate troops would fire at ships from one bend in the river then as the ship went further down the river they were waiting there too.  The Union sent in several thousand troops to stop this problem.  The Confederate forces set up just past a bayou that was hidden in the tall grass.  Many of the Union troops ended up in the bayou.  They lost many that day.



Our first stop of the day was the Japanese American Relocation camp site.  Very well done. You truly get a picture of how it was set up.

cemetery for those who died here

Besides the cemetery the only other thing left from the camp is a tower.  It is located between the break in the trees in the picture above.  It was on the other side of the camp.

a faux guard tower-very well done.

We came to Arkansas Post many times with all the children.  Andrew has very fond memories of what all he learned here.  They have a very informative movie and lots of open spaces.

I love Hudson Bay Blankets.  I have one that was my daddy's and Carl bought me one a few years ago.  It was fun to some here.

Andrew took about 5 shots of us at every stop.  We got into saluting.  I love the smiles on our faces.  Notice the jackets, the wind was whipping off the water.

This next stop was where the deadliest single shot of the entire Civil War took place.  We are in St. Charles, AR.  The museum was well done.  I loved the above diorama so we could see how the river played a part in the town and the war.  We had a very informative lady stamp our passports. She even told us where a Confederate cannon was that had be brought up out of the river.

  The monument above in at the spot where the deadliest shot was fired.  A confederate cannon fired a shot that hit the boiler of a Union tin clad that was sailing down the river.  It blew up and killed the 149 men on board.  The placement of the monument was funny to me because it is in the middle of the road!  Below is the Confederate canon.

Here is a spot that Andrew found to eat. It is on highway 49 in Barton.  It was yummy!!!  Highly recommend.

Andrew and I then went to Helena/ West Helena.  There were two stamping sites here.  The first we visited was the Delta Cultural Center.  Lots of stuff on Jazz and very cleverly displayed.  They have very nice restrooms too!

Andrew and I took a picture on the front porch that is set up inside for musicians to gather and play.

Next we went to the Philips County Museum.  Again another diorama telling of the importance of the water.  This was a very important area for both sides in the Civil War.  Below, Andrew and I are standing in a replica of a fort that stood in the city.  The fort stood, during the Civil War, on the land that the Baptist Church is currently on.

Andrew is getting our passports stamps by the cutest stamper ever.  She told us all about the museum.

After the museum, we drove all around the city looking at other sites.  We then went to the Confederate cemetery.  It was beautiful.  Several of the generals pictured above are buried here.

On our way home, Andrew and I stopped at the Louisiana Purchase State Park.  We were here about 20 years ago and much has been done to improve it.  I didn't know that baseline road in Little Rock was just that, a baseline for the Louisiana Purchase.

Whew!  Andrew and I had a busy Friday and we are just two stamps away from a full passport!  We spent the night at home and slept well!  Last day tomorrow!