Snow! Snow! Snow! Let it Snow!

This is a view from our cabin that my husband and I have been building from the ground up the last 5 years!  Talk about a journey! ha....I am "almost" a professional carpenter!  Ok...not really, but I have learned ALOT!  And not only about building a home, but about relationships WHILE building a home together - I have gained patience (family of mine - stop laughing - I have).

I have learned to trust myself and others while overcoming fears ( the fear of heights while building the second floor deck- ugh)  And I have learned the joy and pride of finishing such overwhelming tasks!  We decided 5 years ago to purchase some land in one of our favorite areas for our retirement home.  We can actually see the Mississippi River from the deck - but only in the winter when the leaves are down!  We have taken this long to build because we are on the "pay as you go" plan.  As of right now our 2 level, 2 bed, 3 bath, 2 car garage with work shop "cabin" is paid for in full!  We have alot of trim work and custom cabinet work left to do but we are working on that now.  Hubby (will refer to him as Mr. B) and I are only able to go there about every other weekend to work on it.  It is about 3 hrs from our southcentral Wisconsin home.  We tried to build a home that was energy efficient as possible.  I love it there and can not wait to retire!  It is a much simpler place to live. 

Speaking of simple....I started my de-cluttering project.  Went pretty good.  While picking thru the house I picked up a recipe that I had left laying out from Christmas that I thought I would share with everyone.  It is one of my family's favorite.  YUMMO!

Strawberry Bread
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
MIX:
2 cups sugar
1 1/4 cup veg/canola oil
4 eggs

ADD:
3 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp. soda
1 tsp. salt
3 tsp cinnamon

After the above are well blended add about 8-10 ounces of frozen Strawberries with juice
and stir well.  Add a couple drops of red food coloring.  Pour into 2 loaf pans and bake for one hour.

Once cooled you can top with powdered sugar before serving.  Can also put a powdered sugar glaze on the bread as well.

So as I sit here this morning and try to answer my daughter's question from last night,   "Mom, I see you started a blog - why?"  Well, good question - not sure - just felt it was something I was being pulled to do.  Like I said in my first post - I am NOT a person of schedule - would love to be!  But not probably happening.  So maybe this is Gods way of putting me in a schedule of sorts.  So this morning I was visiting one of my favorite facebook sites ( Proverbs 31 Ministries) and found this scripture: "In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps." Proverbs 16:9 (NIV)

I like to plan but I don't always follow thru with the plans I lay out for myself - always thought I was lazy or forgetful if I didn't follow thru.  It seemed that something else always comes up or is more interesting or more fun or more important then what I planned.  Now it seems maybe God has a better plan, a more interesting fun or important one than that of mine.  ummm....something to ponder for the day. 

Day two of de-cluttering - let's see what I can find today to share with you.  I hope you try the Strawberry bread - it's so yummy!