Many of you know I am soy intolerant. But I love soy and its hard to cook without it. So, the other day a friend of mine (Danny!) suggested I look for a soy substitute. I found one. It is basically balsalmic vinager along with Dark Molasses.

IT WAS DISGUSTING!!!

I am going to try again, another recipe calls for Beef Boullion, which I do not have on hand, so that will have to wait until tomorrow.

Ugh. I am not looking forward to that.

Welcome to my world of homemade foods with odd substitutes. Of course, Julee, this does not apply to you. I am barely close to your world...and thats just talking kitchen!

My next goal is to make soy free milk free graham crackers. THAT should be much easier!

So a friend of mine got me thinking...what are you going to look back to this year and say "Remember in 2009 when..."

If you are reading this, then finish the thought and let me know. Lets remember these things now!!! Couple rules...must be positive, and must have happened.

Here's a few of mine:

Remember in 2009 when...
...I was living in that adorable little one bedroom over Harold's house!
...I had 5 people over for dinner and I ran out of chairs!
...Tatum and I would make lunches on Tuesdays at church and we would all hang out and visit and eat!
...Elisa was born!
...I played that awesome trick on...oh wait...they don't know yet (haha, just kidding.......or am I?).
...I was cooking sourdough bread nearly every other week and eating almost all the loaf with the Antonucci House Dressing recipe!


Thats all for now...maybe I will follow up in a few months. Now tell me yours!
...

I just hung up with a sales person and, before I forget, I HAD to share what happened:

Me: Calvary Chapel Carson City, this is Briana...
SP: Hello Briana, this call is to inform you that we will be sending some materials for you to look over. You are under no obligation, if you do not want the materials you can just send them back to us.
Me: I'm sorry, we are not interested.
SP: Briana you don't have to be interested, we will just be sending you some stuff
Me: If its something I have to send back I don't want it, I don't have time for that. Thank you.
SP: Thank you.

What? I don't have to be interested? Haha! I loved that one! I could just hear her wanting to say, "You don't have to be interested at all, just give us your credit card number!"

Got me laughing.

Have you ever been in the mood to talk but you don't have anything specific to talk about? That is poignant. Tonight, I am feeling poignant. I am in a quiet sad mood that makes me want to write, yet I have nothing to say. I guess that's the writer in me wanting to process my feelings but not sure quite where to take them.

Wednesday night was one of those nights. I really enjoyed the teaching and worship and afterwards was blessed to spend time in fellowship with many people. However, as I stepped into the office to pick up my purse I just felt I needed a moment in the quiet darkness that the room held. So, for a moment I sat in my chair and just listened to the noises outside of the office. Music floated in from the Sanctuary as worship CDs played through the sound system. Laughter of kids playing in the hallways. I could hear multiple conversations of joyful people. Nothing really clear but all happy sounds. Then the feeling of how blessed I am completely overwhelmed me. I am so surrounded by such wonderful people that all love God and thats when it hit me. Heaven will sound just like that. When we get to heaven it will be like when you are on a retreat and there are pockets of everything happening at once. Some people will be in a corner playing worship music and singing, some children might be running through playing, some people will be laughing and telling stories to each other, but everything will have Christ's love shining through so clearly. I am so very blessed. I do not know if I can bear such joy as the Lord gives.

Eventually I did leave the room, but oh how I wanted to stay and just imagine heaven. It reminds me of a song by Amy Grant:

I'd love to live on a mountaintop, fellowshipping with the Lord
I'd love to stand on that mountaintop, 'cause I love to feel my spirit so
But I've got to come down from that mountaintop, to the people in the valley below
Or they'll never know, that they can go to the mountain, of the Lord.