Life Was Cheated

Tags

Christian, death, Doris Martin, Fragile, friendship, God, grief, Jesus, life, marriage, Pittsboro

Doris Martin

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Spring storms. Flood waters.  This week a dear friend of our family (especially to my parents), Doris Martin, passed away.  Her passing was a result of a tragic drowning accident.  When I heard the news I felt waves of emotion.  The main question that ran through my head, “Why should this sweet Christian woman with such a gentle spirit suffer such a tragic and abrupt end to her life?”.  She was a school teacher that made a difference in the lives of so many children and families in our Pittsboro community.  She was a great friend to my parents and family.  She was a great wife and life companion to her husband Ernie.  They were always together, even in those final moments.  I can’t even imagine!

Life is fragile.  It can slip away in a moment’s notice.  When life ends abruptly, it always resonates deep in my heart.  I think to myself “how unfair”.  There’s never a guarantee that you get to settle the accounts of your relationships with others.  There isn’t even a guarantee of a “good bye” or even an “I love you”.

So life was cheated this week, but not for Doris.  She is with the King, her Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!  Her life now is with the heavenly host who cry out “Holy, Holy, Holy!!!”  The life that was cheated is in the lives of so many that knew her.  The life moments that won’t happen now with family and friends because of this tragedy

Please pray for her husband Ernie, and the countless others that are so grief stricken.

ADVENT 2013

Tags

ADVENT, central florida, Christmas, christmas cookies, Christmas music, Christmas traditions, cookies, Gaylord Palms, ginger bread house, Traditions, winter park

The ADVENT season was a great time to be with my family and friends this year.  My wife and I have tried very hard over the years to have Christmas traditions of our own.  It’s something that I think has been especially important for her and at the same time hasn’t come easy.  When you think of traditions it conjures up images of Norman Rockwell paintings.  It’s a trap that I have fallen into many times over the years and as a parent can leave you feeling defeated.  I can remember times when the kids were little and trying to put up the tree.  Decorations, Christmas music, hot cocoa – you get the picture.  Well reality; about a ten minute attention span intervened by a sugar rush.  I’m not going to lie – it was tough with two little boys.  I think the best we were able to do in the way of traditions in those days was going to the tree farm to cut down the tree.  We would hike around looking for the perfect tree, have the Clark Griswold like angelic illuminated moment when it was found, and a ceremonial “Timmmmmbeeeeerrrrrr”.

This year, we took another run at the ADVENT calendar.  Every day in December there was a different activity to do as a family.  Some days we coordinated the fun with some other families so we could do things together.  Some of the highlights this year:

Purchase a Christmas album
Work on a puzzle together.
Play Texas Hold’em at the Odell farm
Christmas party around the fire pit in the back yard
Christmas cookie exchange
Ginger bread house decorating contest
Ornament exchange
Line dancing at the Odell farm
See A Christmas Carol play (my personal favorite)
Christmas gift shopping as a family
One night stay-cation (Gaylord Palms)

We stayed very busy this year with something to do every day, but it was well worth it in relationship and in tradition making.  We even broke a tradition (I had a hard time with that) this year and opened our gifts on Christmas eve.  The teenagers slept in on Christmas morning and we did stockings when they woke up.  It worked out great!  After the stocking my wife shared some things she had learned from her devotions this month, and we all prayed as a family.  What a sweet way to celebrate the birth of Jesus.  Afterwards, Christmas morning Eggs Benedict breakfast.

So yes, even when it seems the boys are all grown up traditions can be made.  You have to just keep trying and just keep loving.  Merry Christmas!

Puzzle

Let the decorating begin

The Winner!

Ginger bread wake

Dessert

A Christmas Carol pre-show

The Big Man!

Puzzle Done!

Gaylord Palms lights

Gaylord Palms Christmas show

Gaylord Palms waterfall

Smile

Handing out presents

Papa Noel

Goodies

More Goodies

Joy

Contemplation

Winter Park lights

Peace & Joy

Park Ave.

cool pic at night

Happy Campers

Tags

camping, central florida, disney, fort wilderness, mickey mouse, squirrel

We went camping a few weeks ago at Fort Wilderness and spent four days and three nights there.  Each year we have a group of about 30 families that get together for a long weekend at the Disney campgrounds.  It really is a lot of fun and Disney knows how to make it well – Disney.  

Honey Harvest

Tags

bee keeping, beekeeper, bees, central florida, Florida, Honey

I have to say that I have been wanting to write about this for several months now.  This past Saturday I was invited to one of my favorite family’s home to participate in the harvesting of honey from one of their bee hives.  What an absolutely fascinating process. 

Pumpkin Carvin’

Tags

fall, Family, food, friends, fun, hollowed, october, pumpkin, pumpkin carving, pumpkin competition

We had a good time last night with friends carving pumpkins.  I appreciate so much how my friend Pilar works to create events like this and therefore memories.  The food is always central to the festivities as well.  It’s really is a blessing.

When You Can’t Quit

Tags

5k, arnold palmer hospital, base camp, celbrity waiter, character, charity, children, childrens cancer, dr joseph, exercise, quitting, run, Running

The past few weeks have been full of reflection. When we moved into our home, like most people, we met and got to know our neighbors. Some neighbors you get to know a little better than others. It seems that you get to know those neighbors a little better that might have children the same age as yours, or go to the same church, or even share a hobby.

The family that lived across the street at the time, had four boys of which two were the same ages as our two boys. Our youngest son became friends with Jason (the third son) and are still best friends to this day. We learned that the family were missionaries to Jordan, and that their youngest son Joseph had leukemia.

Some Birthday Fun

Tags

birthday, cupcake, food, fun, great food

We went to our friends today to celebrate their daughter’s birthday.  She is turning 20 and is like family and very special to us.  Here are some pictures of the great food and cupcakes that we  had.

I think I’m going into glycemic shock

Watermelon-Rind Pickles

Tags

Cooking, Family, Foodie Finds, Pickles, Preserving, Southern Foods, Summertime, Sweet Pickles, Traditions, Watermelon

Below is my first guest blogger. My wife and I have known Debbie for about 20+ years and we get together as couples about once a month. Debbie is one of the most gifted people that I know. She knows guitar, can paint, take terrific photographs, repurpose furniture, creates crafty magnets, and makes delicious desserts. She’s in the process of opening up a shop on Etsy and you will soon be able to find some of her great creations here:
Daisystudio

I hope you enjoy!

By Debbie Stewart:
It is day six of the great watermelon-rind-pickle science project I am undertaking. I call it a science project because it feels like that. Each time, the outcome will be a jar of pickles, but the recipe is not an exact science. You have to try and test and try again, but it always requires more than just measuring, heat and time. You also have to cook by feel and smell and sight.

I have helped my mother many times over the years to make this recipe, but now I am taking it from day one to day ten largely by myself. My mother helped me on day five, which is the first day of making the syrup. I anticipate that she will help me on day ten when we must boil the syrup for the last time and pack the pickles in jars to be processed through a canning bath. And at the end I hope to have learned by doing how to keep this tradition alive.

It takes all of ten days to make the pickles. From the trimming of the rinds to the boiling of the syrup, each day has a duty in the cycle of the pickle. Some days it is a soak in salt water to the last day when the pickles get put into jars and dropped into a canning bath. Each step has a purpose. Today was a relatively easy day of boiling the syrup, which on the first day of boiling was, as my mother said it would be, thick as taffy.

These pickles are an old-school recipe passed down from my great grandmother Harriet Lincoln Gibboney. Great Grandmother Gibboney was my dad’s grandmother. She lived in Roanoke, Va., in a two-story Queen Ann-style house. For me these pickles are a deep Southern food tradition nestled in the heart of Virginia. And they are sweet. Just as you would expect from the South. Sweet and crunchy.

My mother was wise enough to ask for the recipe from my dad’s family and brave enough to attempt making and mastering them. Now I appreciate them and want to learn to make and master them myself. It is worth preserving and passing on. It is good to remember our roots and to keep our traditions. Chef Carla Hall says that food should be made with love. I believe that sentiment is true. So if you happen to recieve a jar of watermelon-rind pickles from me or my mom, we are giving you a little love steeped in family tradition.

Rocco’s Tacos

Tags

dining, Florida, food, Foodie Finds, mexican, orlando, rocco's tacos

We had dinner last night with some great friends at Rocco’s Tacos & Tequila Bar in Orlando. If you are looking for some great Mexican food with a great atmosphere, this restaurant should be at the top of the list.

There are several ways to order your food. We started out with the guacamole prepared tableside with Rocco’s chips. The guac is made right at your table and peppers added to your liking. And like it we did! Our friends opted to go the individual taco route. A great way to get lots of variety. My wife an I split the Molcajete Seafood for two. An authentic fajita baked and served in a lava rock bowl from Mexico. Served with flour tortillas, pico de gallo, guacamole, sour cream, shrimp, scallops, mahi & poblano chiles, calabaza squash, charred tomatoes.

All and all it was a really nice experience. My only criticisms would be that it was quite loud to try and have a conversation where you didn’t feel like you were yelling, and the prices were a little on the expensive end of the scale.

Here are some pictures of the atmosphere. I really liked the different lighting.

Gone Fishin’ (Alligatorin’ ?) – part 2

Tags

banjo minnow, bass, fishing, Florida, St. John river

I went out fishing with my friend again yesterday. Again I got skunked by the bass (but hopefully you enjoy my pictures). My friend caught 3 bass and 1 alligator using the horny toad lure. We had several fishing poles rigged up with different lures from the Alabama rig (my friend’s wife calls it the bass chandler), plastic worms, buzz bait, crank bait, and the trusty banjo minnow. But the only thing that was working was the toad. There we sat in the middle of the St. John at about 7 am, new trolling motor, and fish leaping out of the water to eat their breakfast. None of which included what was on the end of our fishing line. I actually think they were taunting us. It was really pretty ridiculous.