Saturday, January 31, 2009

The Greatest Love Of All ~ Whitney Houston

Whitney Houston is truly one of the greatest singers of all time. This video is amazing.

My Chinese Animal Sign

fun quiz for myspace profile and blog

I thought this was interesting. I think the description of me is fairly accurate.

The Most Beautful People

You Get What You Give

Friday, January 30, 2009

Norah Jones ~ Don't Know Why "Y" Didn't Come

I saw this and thought it was pretty great. I'm a big Norah Jones Fan, and Sesame Street is classic!

Thursday, January 29, 2009

Consider The Lilies. . .

This is one of my favorite scriptures, and one of my best loved songs. It is also a message I needed reminding of today. Enjoy. :)

When I Listen To People Tell Stories

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

The Pen Is Mightier Than The Sword

This is so true. When I think of how words and the books people read have influenced the world for good and bad, I am awe struck. The written word can make a difference generations after the author is gone.

Monday, January 26, 2009

Saturday, January 24, 2009

The Lighthouse By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow


The Lighthouse
by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow


The rocky ledge runs far into the sea,
and on its outer point, some miles away,
the lighthouse lifts its massive masonry,
A pillar of fire by night, of cloud by day.

Even at this distance I can see the tides,
Upheaving, break unheard along its base,
A speechless wrath, that rises and subsides
in the white tip and tremor of the face.


And as the evening darkens, lo! how bright,
through the deep purple of the twilight air,
Beams forth the sudden radiance of its light,
with strange, unearhly splendor in the glare!


No one alone: from each projecting cape
And perilous reef along the ocean's verge,
Starts into life a dim, gigantic shape,
Holding its lantern o'er the restless surge.


Like the great giant Christopher it stands
Upon the brink of the tempestuous wave,
Wading far out among the rocks and sands,
The night o'er taken mariner to save.


And the great ships sail outward and return
Bending and bowing o'er the billowy swells,
And ever joyful, as they see it burn
They wave their silent welcome and farewells.


They come forth from the darkness, and their sails
Gleam for a moment only in the blaze,
And eager faces, as the light unveils
Gaze at the tower, and vanish while they gaze.


The mariner remembers when a child,
on his first voyage, he saw it fade and sink
And when returning from adventures wild,
He saw it rise again o'er ocean's brink.


Steadfast, serene, immovable, the same,
Year after year, through all the silent night
Burns on forevermore that quenchless flame,
Shines on that inextinguishable light!


It sees the ocean to its bosum clasp
The rocks and sea-sand with the kiss of peace:
It sees the wild winds lift it in their grasp,
And hold it up, and shake it like a fleece.


The startled waves leap over it; the storm
Smites it with all the scourges of the rain,
And steadily against its solid form
press the great shoulders of the hurricane.


The sea-bird wheeling round it, with the din
of wings and winds and solitary cries,
Blinded and maddened by the light within,
Dashes himself against the glare, and dies.


A new Prometheus, chained upon the rock,
Still grasping in his hand the fire of love,
it does not hear the cry, nor heed the shock,
but hails the mariner with words of love.


"Sail on!" it says: "sail on, ye stately ships!
And with your floating bridge the ocean span;
Be mine to guard this light from all eclipse.
Be yours to bring man neared unto man.

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Signed, Sealed, And Self Delivered

I thought this was very interesting!

Posted in Oddities by Greg Ross on December 31st, 2008

http://www.postalmuseum.si.edu/exhibits/2b2f_6_parcel.html

When 5-year-old May Pierstorff asked to visit her grandmother, her parents had no money to buy a rail ticket.

So they mailed her.

On Feb. 19, 1914, May's parents presented her at the post office in Grangeville, Idaho, and proposed mailing her parcel post to Lewiston, some 75 miles away. The postmaster found that the "package" was just under the 50-pound weight limit, so he winked at their plan, classed May as a baby chick, and attached 53 cents in stamps to her coat. May passed the entire trip in the train's mail compartment and was duly delivered to her grandparents in Lewiston by mail clerk Leonard Mochel.

Other living parcels: Henry Box Brown, Charles McKinley, Owney the dog.

Monday, January 12, 2009

Looking For A Sign


I thought this was great. So often we don't recognize the answers that are all around us.

Saturday, January 10, 2009

Friday, January 9, 2009

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

It's Not The Mountain We Conquer, But Ourselves ~ Edmund Hillary

THE BEST Chocolate Cake EVER


THE BEST Chocolate Cake EVER
(I Found This Recipe Here. It looked pretty good so I plan on Trying It Out.)

1 box devil’s food cake mix
1 package Jello instant chocolate pudding mix
1 cup sour cream
1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup milk
2 tsp vanilla
2 cups mini semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a VERY large bowl (4 qt), mix together everything except chocolate chips. Batter will be thick. Stir in the chocolate chips. Pour batter into cake pan of choice (I normally use two 9-inch pie pans). For cooking time, I use the cooking times on the back of the devil’s food cake box as a guide and usually add 10 mins to whatever it says. Then I do the toothpick check, and if it’s not done, I check on it every 5 mins after that. :) It usually takes around 45 mins for two, 9-inch pie pans.

Buttercream Frosting

1 cup shortening (crisco)
4 cups powdered sugar
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup heavy whipping cream

In a mixing bowl, cream shortening until fluffy. Add sugar and continue creaming until well blended. Add salt, vanilla, and whipping cream. Blend on low speed until moistened. Beat at high speed until frosting is fluffy.