(with two fellow quizzers, Hannah is on the right)
Smooching in Pigeon Forge...
Click on the above picture to enlarge and see the expressions on everyone's faces! Absolutely priceless!
I wrote to Moor House and to Cambridge immediately, to say what I had done: fully explaining also why I had thus acted. Diana and Mary approved the step unreservedly. Diana announced that she would just give me time to get over the honeymoon, and then she would come and see me.So, our honeymoon continues! And if anyone would like to water our plants while we're gone, the ladder is out back...
“She had better not wait till then, Jane,” said Mr. Rochester, when I read her letter to him; “if she does, she will be too late, for our honeymoon will shine our life long: its beams will only fade over your grave or mine.”
This was true: and while he spoke my very conscience and reason turned traitors against me, and charged me with crime in resisting him. They spoke almost as loud as Feeling: and that clamoured wildly. “Oh, comply!” it said. “Think of his misery; think of his danger—look at his state when left alone; remember his headlong nature; consider the recklessness following on despair—soothe him; save him; love him; tell him you love him and will be his. Who in the world cares for you? or who will be injured by what you do?”Jane Eyre was published in 1847, but those words about temptation I find relevant today. How often we humans try to rationalize our breaking of the God's laws. "Think of his misery." As if choosing to comfort Mr. Rochester would have been justification for breaking God's laws. "Laws and principles are not for the times when there is no temptation: they are for such moments as this..."
Still indomitable was the reply—“I care for myself. The more solitary, the more friendless, the more unsustained I am, the more I will respect myself. I will keep the law given by God; sanctioned by man. I will hold to the principles received by me when I was sane, and not mad—as I am now. Laws and principles are not for the times when there is no temptation: they are for such moments as this, when body and soul rise in mutiny against their rigour; stringent are they; inviolate they shall be. If at my individual convenience I might break them, what would be their worth? They have a worth—so I have always believed; and if I cannot believe it now, it is because I am insane—quite insane: with my veins running fire, and my heart beating faster than I can count its throbs. Preconceived opinions, foregone determinations, are all I have at this hour to stand by: there I plant my foot.”
There's no magic to running far or climbing Everest. Endurance is mental strength. It's all about heart.
~ Bear Grylls, Host of Man vs. Wild
What I learned from the miles of uphill my coach put before me was the simplest bit of math: The faster you run it, the sooner you're over it. ~ Sara Corbett, RW Writer at Large
The steeper the mountain, the harder the climb, the better the view from the finishing line. ~ AnonymousTotals for Week ending May 14:
1. Preheat oven to 325-degrees. Combine buttermilk and baking soda in a two-cup measure to allow room for mixture to foam up; set aside. Beat butter and sugar until creamy. Add olive oil slowly until blended. Continue to beat until mixture is smooth and shiny. Add egg yolks one at a time and beat well after each addition; stir in vanilla. Add buttermilk mixture and flour, alternately a little at a time, beginning and ending with flour.
2. Clean beaters and beat egg whites until stiff. Fold egg whites gently into batter. Stir in coconut and pecans. Pour into three 9-inch cake pans, greased with butter and dusted with flour. Bake for 30 minutes, or until cake springs back when touched. Cool cakes on racks.
3. To make Cream Cheese Frosting - mix cream cheese and butter with electric mixer until smooth. Stir in powdered sugar until mixed. Add vanilla. Let it set in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes before frosting the cake.
4. Place cake on cake stand. Frost each layer with Cream Cheese Frosting including sides and top of cake.
5. Put pecans in skillet and sprinkle with the sugar. Turn heat to medium and begin stirring pecans; sugar will begin to melt. Continue stirring until a glaze forms on pecans and they become slightly browned. Remove from heat and place on waxed paper to cool.
6. Garnish cake with Sugar Glazed Pecans and Toasted Coconut.
Mom had a saying. She used it frequently when we kids were telling her something someone else said. It was her way of making us think about what was said and who said it. You've probably heard it yourself. When one of us would say, "well, so and so said..." she would respond with: Believe none of what you hear and half of what you see.Benjamin Franklin said that. He and Mom were pretty smart! When it comes to words, a strong filter on our ears is needed. I hope we all know that we need to be careful of what we say. But what about what we hear? These may be very obvious, but I can't get away from the need to write, so here are some tips on knowing when to listen and when to tune out:
"Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true,
whatsoever things are honest,
whatsoever things are just,
whatsoever things are pure,
whatsoever things are lovely,
whatsoever things are of good report;
if there be any virtue,
and if there be any praise,
think on these things."
And may I add... listen to these things!
