Incredibly Yummy Recipe...

Someone made this for a cookout I attended last weekend, and it was incredible!!! I haven't figured WW points on it...


Green Bean and Potato Salad
A twist on potato salad. Green beans and potatoes are served in a Dijon mustard and balsamic vinaigrette.
Original recipe yield: 10 servings.
Prep Time: 15 Minutes
Cook Time: 30 Minutes
Ready In: 45 Minutes
Servings: 10

INGREDIENTS:
1 1/2 pounds red potatoes
3/4 pound fresh green beans, trimmed and snapped
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
1 small red onion, chopped
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 clove garlic, minced
1 dash Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

DIRECTIONS:
Place the potatoes in a large pot, and fill with about 1 inch of water. Bring to a boil, and cook for about 15 minutes, or until potatoes are tender. Throw in the green beans to steam after the first 10 minutes. Drain, cool, and cut potatoes into quarters. Transfer to a large bowl, and toss with fresh basil, red onion, salt and pepper. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the balsamic vinegar, mustard, lemon juice, garlic, Worcestershire sauce and olive oil. Pour over the salad, and stir to coat. Taste and season with additional salt and pepper if needed.

Every Women Should...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ...one old love she can imagine going back to... and one who reminds her how far she has come...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ...enough money within her control to move out and rent a place of her own even if she never wants to or needs to...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ..something perfect to wear if the employer or date of her dreams wants to see her in an hour...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ..a youth she's content to leave behind...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE
...a past juicy enough that she's looking forward to retelling it in her old age...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE
...a set of screwdrivers, a cordless drill, and a black lace bra...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE
..one friend who always makes her laugh... and one who lets her cry...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE .
..a good piece of furniture not previously owned by anyone else in her family...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ...
eight matching plates, wine glasses with stems, and a recipe for a meal that will make her guests feel honored..

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE
...a feeling of control over her destiny...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
..how to fall in love without losing herself...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
..how to quit a job, break up with a lover, and confront a friend without ruining the friendship...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
...when to try harder... and when to walk away...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW... .
..that she can't change the length of her calves, the width of her hips, or the nature of her parents...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
...that her childhood may not have been perfect...but its over...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
...what she would and wouldn't do for love or more...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW... ..how to live alone... even if she doesn't like it...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW... .
..whom she can trust, whom she can't, and why she shouldn't take it personally...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
where to go... be it to her best friend's kitchen table... or a charming inn in the woods... when her soul needs soothing...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
..what she can and can't accomplish in a day... a month...and a year...

You Are Blessed...

Well, yet again, these are not my original words. But I simply must share them...

If you woke up this morning with more health than illness, you are more blessed than the million who won't survive the week.

If you have never experienced the danger of battle, the loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture or the pangs of starvation, you are ahead of 20 million people around the world.

If you can attend a church meeting without fear of harassment, arrest, you are more blessed than almost three billion people in the
world.

If you have food in your refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof over your head and a place to sleep, you are richer than 75% of this world.

If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, and spare change in a dish someplace, you are among the top 8% of the world's
wealthy.

If your parents are still married and alive, you are very rare, especially in this World today.

If you hold up your head with a smile on your face and are truly thankful, you are blessed because the majority can, but most do not.

If you can hold someone's hand, hug them or even touch them on the shoulder, you are blessed because you can offer God's healing touch.

If you can read this message, you are more blessed than over two billion people in the world that cannot read anything at all.

You are so blessed in ways you may never even know.

My God bless everyone who reads this!

Are Women Smarter???

No - I don't credit for this one either....


Oil Change instructions for Women:

1) Pull up to Jiffy Lube when the mileage reaches 3000 miles since the last oil change.

2) Drink a cup of coffee.

3) 15 minutes later, write a check and leave with a properly maintained vehicle.

Time spent: 15 minutes

Oil Change instructions for Men:

1) Go to auto parts store and write a check for $50.00 for oil, filter,kitty litter, hand cleaner and a scented tree.

2) Discover that the used oil container is full. Instead of taking it backto O'Reilly to recycle, dump in hole in back yard.

3) Jack car up. Spend 30 minutes looking for jack stands.

4) Find jack stands under kid's pedal car.

5) Place drain pan under engine.

6) Look for 9/16 box end wrench.

7) Give up and use crescent wrench.

8) Unscrew drain plug.

9) Drop drain plug in pan of hot oil: get hot oil on you in process. Say some not-nice words.

10) Clean up mess. Look for oil filter wrench.

11) Give up; poke oil filter with screwdriver and twist off.

12) Buddy shows up. Decide to finish oil change tomorrow.

13) Next day, drag pan full of old oil out from underneath car.

14) Throw kitty litter on oil spilled during previous step.

15) Install new oil filter making sure to apply a thin coat of oil to gasket surface.

16) Dump first quart of fresh oil into engine.

17) Remember drain plug.

18) Hurry to find drain plug in drain pan.

19) Discover that the used oil is buried in a hole in the back yard, alongwith drain plug.

20) Uncover hole and sift for drain plug. Discover that first quart offresh oil is now on the floor.

21) Slip with wrench tightening drain plug and bang knuckles on frame.

22) Bang head on floorboards in reaction to step 21.

23) Have a tantrum.

24) Throw wrench.

25) Clean up hands and forehead and bandage as required to stop blood flow.

27) Lower car from jack stands.

28) Accidentally crush one of the jack stands.

29) Move car back to apply more kitty litter to fresh oil spilled back afew steps before.

30) Brag that there is no sense going to those expensive oil change placesyou can simply change the oil yourself.

Time spent: 1 day, 4 hours and 52 minutes

Knoxville Thang...

No, I don't take credit for coming up with this, but I thought it was cute...

IF YOU LIVE HERE.....YOU WILL UNDERSTAND....
1. Never, and we mean NEVER plan a wedding for a weekend when UT plays football. That is what open dates are for.

2. You must learn to pronounce the city name correctly. It is NOX-VULL.

3. Forget the traffic rules you learned elsewhere. Knoxville has its own version of traffic rules....the Trans-Am with the loudest exhaust goes next at a 4-way stop. The truck with the biggest tires goes after that...

4. All directions start with, "Go down to Kingston Pike"... which is theAlpha and Omega. The beginning and the end.

5. Henley Street turns into Chapman Highway and may also be called Highway 441. Broadway turns into Maynardville Highway and may also be called Highway 33. Cumberland Avenue turns into Kingston Pike and may also be called Highway 70. Magnolia Avenue turns into Asheville Highway and may also be called Highway 11E.

6. The morning rush hour is from 6:00 to 10:00. The evening rush hour is from 3:00 to 7:00. Friday's rush hour starts Thursday morning.

7. If you stop at a yellow light, you will be rear ended, cussed out, and possibly shot.

8. Construction on I-40 / 75 is a permanent fixture of Knoxville life. The barrels are moved around in the middle of the night to make the next days driving a bit more exciting.

9. Do not slow down on I 640 when you get close to the Western Avenue overpass. The Knoxville Police Dept parks empty police cars strategically around town. If you are drinking a beer or eating a donut throw it at the empty police car as you pass.

10. If someone actually has their turn signal on wave them to the shoulder immediately to let them know it has been "accidentally activated".

11. Local traffic reports and Knoxville natives will often refer to the Pellissippi Parkway. You will however, find no road signs marked as such. Pellissippi Parkway is actually Interstate 140, but don't refer to it as that when talking to locals because they will have no idea what you are talking about.

12. The minimum acceptable speed on the Pellisippi Parkway is 85. Anything less is considered downright sissy.

13. If it's 100 degrees, Thanksgiving must be next weekend.

14. If it's 10 degrees and sleeting/snowing, the Dogwood Arts Festival is going on.

15. Any and all shopping should be done in West Knoxville. The Metropolitan Planning commission in conjunction with experts in urban sprawl, have paved every piece of usable property between UT and the Loudon County line. All shopping should be done in the large homogenized, box type structures erected there.

16. Knoxville Center Mall is actually in East Knoxville. West Town Mall is just to the east of Downtown West.

On a day like today...

So what do you write about on a day like today?? What do you say, and how do you say it?

Today is the 5-year anniversary of the terrorist attacks in this country, and to me it is just as unbelievable today as it was then. How could this have happened? Why did it happen?

There’s no point in relating what I was doing when I first heard the news. It isn’t important. My mind can barely fathom what those people in the airplanes, in the World Trade Center, and in the Pentagon must have felt at the exact instant when they knew they were going to die. I suppose that some never even saw it coming and never realized that they were drawing their last breathes. Others had a few moments, even several minutes, to realize what was happening and what it meant. I cannot imagine the absolute terror that must have been felt by the people who desperately tried to escape the carnage, only to lose that brief battle as a building fell down around them.

And the families left behind… What of them? Some were fortunate enough (if you could call it that) to have the body of their loved only to put to rest. Many others were left with nothing. Either way, they must feel a tremendous loss on this day that I will never understand.

I pray for the families left behind. I pray for those who were injured but were fortunate enough to survive. I pray for the world’s leaders to have wisdom to find a way to find peace. And I pray for this country’s continued healing and recovery.

Ho hum.......

Do you ever just feel really ho hum?? I'm there... Nothing particularly interesting to say... I'll do better next time.

Book Tag

I was tagged by Sadie (sadiesadiethemarriedlady.blogspot.com).....

So here are the directions:Grab the book closest to you.
Open to page 123
Scroll down to the 5th sentence.
Post the text of the next 3 sentences on your blog - name of the book and the author.
Then tag 3 people.Here goes.....
"I worked quickly, eager to be away. Oh, how I yearned to talk over what the man of God had told me, but I dared not speak a word of it to Mama. She'd only tell Papa, and then I'd likely spend the rest of my days locked in the woodshed for going against the Kai."
The Sin Eater, Francine Rivers

Oh NO!! I don't have anyone else to tag!! I only know 2 people with a blog - One of them tagged me, and she already tagged the only other person with a blog that I know!!

New Pic, Old Pic...

Here's my little sweetie a few months ago (mohawk) and the other s a couple of hours ago!! And the last one is the first one again because I can't figure out how to delete it without deleting all of them!! I am so computer illiterate!!

No time to write more....

He Worked Through Me!

I just have to share this with everyone...

For several weeks now, I have been reading Stormie O'Martian's book "Power of a Praying Woman" and going through the study guide that goes with it. It has truly been a blessing to me.

Thursday evening I was reading a section on intercessory prayer, and one section of the study guide said to write out a prayer asking God to tell me who I need to be praying for at this time. My friend Lisa immediately popped into my mind, and I wrote her name down with several others and prayed for her.

The next morning during my prayer time, Lisa's name kept coming to my mind. I really felt that God was laying on my heart a need to pray for Lisa. I had no idea what might be wrong - Lisa is my Sunday School teacher, and we sometimes communicate during the week but not often. I immediately sent Lisa an email telling her of my prayers and asking how she was doing. Lisa replied that she was really feeling sick on that day and appreciated the prayers.

I was floored!! I have learned that there are no coincidences - Everything happens by direction from God. Lisa acknowledged today that she was really in need of a spiritual lift that day, and my email helped to provide it! So God was at work through me!! That is so incredibly awesome!!

Listen to God and follow His direction. You never know how He is going to use you!

IT'S FOOTBALL TIME IN TENNESSEE!!!!

(If I were really smart like my friend Whitney, I would have figured out how to make this thing play Rocky Top when this page is opened. However, I’m not a lawyer like her, so I don’t know how to do that…)

Yes, football time is upon us here in Knoxville, and there is orange in the air!! This is really an exciting time around here. I think that everyone should attend at least on game at Neyland Stadium. It is incredibly exciting to be in that stadium with 107,000 of your closest friends watching a glorious UT football game. However, after you see one or two games in the stadium, you realize that it is probably better to watch from the sofa at home.

When you go to a game, you will probably park somewhere around the Strip and tailgate. You are obviously going to have to get there early to find a parking spot, so you are going to have to eat. And the area restaurants will be too packed to get into, so tailgating with your own food is the only answer. This is okay. You will have to sneak into one of the area hospitals (Children’s or Fort Sanders) to use the restroom, because, once again, the area restaurants are too packed to you to get into.

Once you finish tailgating, you will hike the 2-3 miles to get to the stadium. This part is actually quite fun, but it can be hazardous due to having to cross many streets which are being traveled my many cars trying to find a closer parking spot that the one you got. They will not be successful unless they are one of “those people” with a fancy parking pass. You will become angry with them.

Once you hike the 2-3 miles to the stadium, you will then hike the 2-3 miles to your seat inside the stadium. If you have a bleacher seat (which you probably do unless you are one of those snobby people who also have fancy parking passes), you will be allotted 18 inches at your bleacher seat. Most people’s behinds extend a little bit farther than 18 inches when seated. Therefore, your whatever amount you exceed 18 inches will be squished up against your neighbor’s overflow, and so on, and so on. You are probably going to get to know your neighbors very, very well.

Hopefully, you will be able to see the Jumbotron from where you are sitting. If not, you will have a crick in your neck by the second quarter from straining around to see the Jumbotron, because you certainly aren’t going to be able to see much of what has actually happened down on the field from your bleacher seat waaaaay up there.

Most of the game will actually be pretty exciting. The roar of the crowd is pretty incredible, especially if you have never been in one place with 107,000 people all at once. Did you know that Neyland Stadium actually becomes the 4th largest city in Tennessee during football games? And it is mesmerizing to watch the wave when it happens – That part may actually be more fun to watch than the game.

Sooner or later you are going to have to leave your seat, either to find a restroom or to hike another 2-3 miles to try to find that elusive Petros stand. Leaving your seat will require you to climb (literally, not figuratively) over your neighbors. (You might want to buy them a Petro too as a peace offering.) Restrooms are actually pretty plentiful, so that’s usually not a problem. Of course, you will then have to climb back to your seat when you return.

During the course of the game, your knees will stay uncomfortably jammed into someone’s back, and someone will have their knees jammed into your back. Your back will be hurting back half-time, because you have been trying to sit up really straight to keep the guy’s knees behind you from poking you in the back. The guy in front of you will not sit up straight, and therefore your knees will remain in his back. He will frequently turn around and glare at you for this, but there is nothing that you can do.

You will eventually decide to leave early, either because the game is going really well or because it is going really bad. The 2-3 mile hike out of the stadium and the 2-3 mile hike back to your car won’t be too terribly bad. However, once you get to your car, you will have a 1-2 hour drive home ahead of you if you live in the immediate Knoxville area due to the traffic. Tailgating after the game is therefore encouraged.

I will be stretched out on my sofa in my air conditioned living room during the game tomorrow.

GO VOLS!!

Great web site:

http://smokeys-trail.com