All posts by Guests and Former Contributors

Griffin Is Good, But Is He A Superstar?

We all knew this was coming.  We could see it when he was at that small, Christian high school in Edmond winning four straight state championships.  We witnessed him match up against the best collegiate talent in the country as he left us breathless and led the Sooners to the Elite Eight.  Those of us in Oklahoma have known for years what the entire world is beginning to understand…Blake Griffin is pretty good.

No team has found a way to stop Griffin from getting to the rim (courtesy sportsjury.com)

Kobe and Lebron are the faces of the NBA, but this season, no player is hogging more highlight time than Griffin.  The Clippers power forward is good for at least one jaw-dropping dunk per night and as a rookie, he’s already being mentioned among names like Karl Malone and Tim Duncan.  Griffin may not be a superstar yet, but that day is coming soon.  To those that say Griffin is overrated (you know who you are Skip Bayless), stop for a second to consider the evidence.

Through 41 games, Griffin is putting up 22.7 points, 12.7 rebounds, and 3.4 assists.  Wednesday night against Minnesota, he finally snapped a streak of 27 straight games with a double-double.  If you want to put Griffin’s numbers in perspective, he’s the only rookie in 25 years to record a double-double streak of 20 or more games.  Shaq never achieved those numbers.  Neither did Dwight Howard or Tim Duncan.  Only eight players in NBA history have averaged 20 points and 12 rebounds in their rookie seasons.  If Griffin keeps up his pace, he’ll be in a select club with household names like Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Elgin Baylor, and David Robinson.

Continue reading Griffin Is Good, But Is He A Superstar?

Mama’s Chimichangas

I’m not sure what recipes I will choose when I have cooked all the Mexican recipes in the Stockyards City Cookbook, but for now I still have a few left to choose from!  This week I am cooking Mama’s Chimichangas.  I hope you have a hungry group when you fix this because like the other dishes I have made, this one makes a lot of food.  The recipe calls for 8 inch tortillas but I used the 8 inch as well as the 12 inch size, giving everyone an option depending on how hungry they were.  So, let’s get cookin’!

MAMA’S CHIMICHANGAS

by Patricia Parent

1 lb. Cooked Beef, Pork, or Chicken
1 jar Salsa (16 oz.)
1 can Refried Beans (16 oz.)
1 can Diced Green Chilies (4 oz.)
1 pkg. Taco Seasoning
16 Flour Tortilla (8 inch)
16 oz. pkg. Montery Jack of Cheddar Cheese
Cooking oil (optional)

Cut cheese into sixteen 5 x 1/2 inch sticks.  Shred meat (about 3 cups).  In a large skilled, combine meat, salsa, beans, undrained chilies and taco seasoning mix.  Cook and stir over medium heat until heated through.  In another skillet, heat tortillas one at a time, over medium-low heat about 30 seconds per side.  For each chimichanga, place 1/3 cup meat mixture on tortilla near one edge.  Top with a cheese stick and fold in sides.  Roll up, starting with cheese side.  Place in a a casserole dish and bake at 350 for 15 minutes.

Continue reading Mama’s Chimichangas

2011 Ranch Hand Guide: #2. If You Can’t Sing – Dance

"5th Grade Julie." Piano lessons, art, and even home-building was part of her life, or just down the road in the near future (1973-74).

Out here on the ranch there never seems to be enough time.  We are always tending to the animals, building something, or just performing the everyday maintenance that all homeowners have to do.  Somehow, and it’s not always easy, I make time for hobbies that enrich my life.  So rule #2 translates into “find a hobby you are good at and make time for it.”

The Seed

As a kid, I took dance and piano lessons outside of school, but I had an opportunity to explore sewing (the home economics/shop era) and art during school. I actually remember the advertisement for an art school that read “If you can draw this… you may have a future in art.” We had an empty lot across the street from our house, and I watched my mom start a garden there before it sold and a house was built on the land.  I worked summers in the home building industry with my step-dad.  I was exposed to a lot of different activities.  Exposure is important.

Germination

Just because we are exposed to different activities doesn’t mean we will have the opportunity to pursue those activities.  For example, it wasn’t until a co-worker introduced me to quilting and my Aunt Sally gave me a sewing machine that I had the opportunity to pursue sewing.   That happened over twenty years ago, and I am still making time for it.  I have found that I can look at something and figure out how to make it, but I have also found some success in designing my own interesting projects.  Now that I live on a ranch, I have my own space for a garden.  I am still learning the basics, but a friend talked me into enrolling in our local Master Gardener class.  What a learning experience!  I have realized that two of my favorite activities were merged in the creation of the Tag Rag, the gardening bandana I made that I wear every day in the summer.

Continue reading 2011 Ranch Hand Guide: #2. If You Can’t Sing – Dance

No Buzz For Basketball

If you still have a team alive in the NFL playoffs, you’re one of the lucky few.  For the rest of us, mid-January leaves an empty feeling.  College football season is officially over.  Just reading that last sentence out loud is almost enough to make my eyes wet.

So now we can turn our full attention to basketball.  Or can we?  I’m sorry, I just can’t do it.  I feel no buzz, no excitement, and no anticipation for hoops right now.  I don’t think I’m the only one.  In this state, no one is talking basketball.  Sure, the newspapers and local media will cover the games because they have to, but trust me, the fan bases of our state schools are not fired up.  There is far more interest in the next football season than there is in the current basketball season.

Part of that is simply the climate in our state.  Oklahoma is a football state, always has been, always will be.  Don’t get me wrong, there is plenty of basketball tradition here.  Henry Iba, Eddie Sutton, Wayman Tisdale, Billy Tubbs, the Griffin brothers, Nolan Richardson, and countless others have contributed to the hoops history of Oklahoma.  But the truth is, no matter how many Final Fours the colleges rack up, and no matter how many dunks Kevin Durant throws down, basketball is never going to overtake football in the hearts and minds of Oklahomans.

Brandon Weeden and Justin Blackmon will both be back for another season in Stillwater (courtesy tulsaworld.com)

Part of the basketball apathy is due to the unbelievable success of football in 2010 and what could transpire in 2011.  OU is already one of the favorites to win a national championship, while OSU is getting its stars back and should start the season in the Top 10.  Tulsa finished in the Top 25 for the first time in nearly 20 years, and the search for a new head coach is dominating the headlines in this part of the state.  If there’s one constant in Oklahoma sports, it’s that it’s never too early to start talking football.

Continue reading No Buzz For Basketball

Hearty Meals…Good for your Soul!

My cuddle buddy Luci

January is turning out to be a very chilly month! All I want to do lately is move from the bed to the couch and stay under my blanket with Luci cuddled up next to me!  (Luci is my child, aka, my little terrier mix that I rescued when she was 6 weeks old.) Although she only weighs 5 lbs, she does put off some heat!

Another thing I like to do when its cold is eat warm, hearty meals. This does not coincide well with most New Years resolutions, I suppose.  Many of my co-workers and friends are on some sort of diet, whether its the HCG or WW, so I do look for ways to make recipes healthier – whether you are watching your waistline or you’re just a healthy eater in general.

Ramsey Wayne Sellers...such a cutie!

This week I made two casseroles for my friends who just had a sweet little baby boy. (I actually went ahead and made myself smaller casseroles to have in the freezer for later as well.) I have no children and am not accustomed to the traditions that come with having them. But, I am learning that you no longer have much time to cook, nor do you want to. By cooking these meals ahead of time, they can be popped into the freezer, thawed the morning of, and baked with no hassle!

Continue reading Hearty Meals…Good for your Soul!

A Moment With Sheldon S. Stout, Oklahoma Poet

Rooftop Flower Girl

Sitting on the rooftop ledge

She threw petals to the wind

Watching as they slowly floated

Down

Roses

Daisies

And

Posies

A soft rain of color

Covered the street below

Adding color

To her world of black and grays

~ by Sheldon S. Stout, 2008, From “Pop, Punk or Pulp Poetry?”– 2008

Sheldon Stout was born in Enid, Oklahoma (OK). He grew up in Medford, OK and currently resides in Alva, OK with his wife Bethany and his four daughters: Amber, Autumn, Isabella and Zowie. He has written three books of poetry: Pop, Punk or Pulp Poetry?: A Collection of Poetry by Sheldon S. Stout , Call It What You Will, and Mystical Tales of the Lost & Found: The Poetry & Prose of Sheldon S. Stout

Why poetry? In Jr. High I wanted to be a rock star. So I started writing songs. None were very good. Then we had to write stories for an English class. So I wrote some stories. I continued writing throughout Jr. High and high school but it wasn’t until I was a Junior in high school that I started getting into poetry. It was in Mrs. Innis’s English class in 1988-89 that I really found my calling, so to speak. We had to write some poems and I got a good response from the teachers and other students. So I wrote more. I found it to be a nice escape from my problems and a good way to vent my frustrations with the world.

Continue reading A Moment With Sheldon S. Stout, Oklahoma Poet

Real Men and Tea Parties

No, this post has nothing to do with a powerful political movement that’s sweeping our country. It’s about something way more important. A totally different kind of tea party.

As the father of a beautiful three-month old little girl, I just want to make sure I’ve covered all my bases in writing about what actually constitutes a real man should I ever receive an invitation from my daughter to attend a tea party (imagined or otherwise) that she’s hosting. That said, a real man is willing to sit down for a tea party with his daughter.

By attending a tea party as the honored guest of his daughter, a real man models for her the kind of man she should be interested in dating when she is of courting age.

The only other important thing I can add to this discussion at this time is this: a real man always remembers to stick his pinky out.

[michael]

2011 Ranch Hand Guide: #1. Never Wrestle With a Pig. You Both Get All Dirty and the Pig Likes It.

In The Ranch Hand’s Guide to 2011 I listed five guidelines that I’ve adopted to have a great year without resolutions.  Let’s just get some facts out of the way.  This article is not about pigs or dirt. I realize I like to talk using idioms and metaphors. If you are still wondering, rule #1 translates into “when it really doesn’t matter, you don’t need to argue with people.”

The Seed

Before I was ever able to recognize this in myself, I saw this undesirable trait in other people.  You know you have too.  I watched someone argue over a restaurant bill.  I heard friends and family members complain about their embarrassment when someone they were with argued with the Wal-mart checker.  The people I know who argue do it all the time…and are pretty good at it.  They usually aren’t happy with getting the last word.  They need to have the last two or three words, and when I really don’t care, they are still talking about it.  Those people are not good listeners and have a low tolerance for people who are different from them.  It dawned on me that maybe this is how they create a positive view of who they are.    I realized there were situations when I had argued unnecessarily.  Yuck. It was unattractive and it had to stop.

Germination

I began practicing this rule using baby steps.  I stopped talking before I had said everything I felt I “needed” to say.   My opponent and I were never left any better than when we started, so what was the use?  Then, I took the plunge into not even addressing the silly things that I once thought were important.  Silly things.  That’s the key.  Who cares if I ordered rice and I got rice and beans.  I like them both.  Then to take it a little further, I started extinguishing the beginnings of arguments started between, for example, my husband and others.  Wow!  What a difference in the conversations that followed between us. Suddenly the complaints were gone and discussions of our role in the perceived problem ensued.

Continue reading 2011 Ranch Hand Guide: #1. Never Wrestle With a Pig. You Both Get All Dirty and the Pig Likes It.

The Middle IS a Position

This gummy bear is caught in the middle...as is our author.

by Joey Rodman

“Whose side are you on anyway?” My friend barked out over the phone. I paused for a second and tried to think of what to say but before I could she hung up. I desperately wanted to say I was on her side, but I wasn’t. I wasn’t on the opposing side either. I just, well, I guess I was on my side. My side is the one where this whole fight didn’t involve me so I wasn’t going to involve myself in it. This apparently was not an option.

I’ve never been much of an “us vs. them” thinker. People say there are two sides to every coin, but I think there are at least three. I remember reading Robert Frost’s poem about the two roads in the woods and how he chose the one less traveled. While I commend him for this I always wondered if he wasn’t still playing it safe. I mean he could have just wandered off where there wasn’t a path. Sure it’s not as safe or comfortable, but it can be done.

Unbeaten path treks come at a price, and in Oklahoma it’s a pretty hefty price. Orange or Crimson? Neither? Both? I’m happy if an Oklahoma team does well. This gets me labeled as a fair weather fan… which is SO not the case. I point to my undying affinity for the Chicago Cubs to prove that I am least of all unfaithful and mostly a glutton for punishment. I can look at which team has a better record, but these things are not very important to me (remember my Cubs fandom?). I look better in Crimson but I know a lot of really great OSU alums too. Should I pick a team based on how good it’s sweatshirt looks or by the company of it’s season ticket holders?

Continue reading The Middle IS a Position

Never More! (?)

Choc Beer is but one of the local Oklahoma breweries. Click the photo to visit their website. They ALSO promote responsible drinking...you can't enter their website without taking a moment to think about your age. Lamar's words today, however, would have you think about this question: "Is there someone around you with drinking challenges? If so, how will your reviewing the website influence them?"

by Alfred Lamar Jackson

Hello, and how are you today? Today is a great to be alive and kicking. If you are alive and kicking and reading this now it means you are blessed with air in your lungs, strength in your legs, and vision in those pupils

Today I wanted to skim across an issue that seems to pop up every now and then. I decided to take my turn and put down my opinion on this matter. So let’s get started.

Drinking. I can hear the sighs now. I can feel the groans coming from the guts of a vast majority of people. I just want to put a spin on the issue. I’m not going to talk about whether it’s right or wrong, I’m going to talk about what you and I are responsible for as believers in Christ.

1 Corinthians 8 is a great chapter. It’s very meaty as I like to say. We’ll take a sample from verses 11-13.

So this weak brother, for whom Christ died, is destroyed by your knowledge. When you sin against your brothers in this way and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if what I eat cause my brother to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause him to fall.

PARAPHRASE:

So first I’d like to remind you to start and the beginning of the chapter and read to the end to understand to whole part of this message. First off, knowledge is power when it’s put into the right hands. To summarize, Paul is talking about the beliefs at the time about food sacrificed to idols. That food was seen as defiled. Now, believers free in Christ should know that food is food and eating food sacrificed to idols is the same whether you eat it or not.

A very big key lies in verse 9. Be careful, however, that the exercise of your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the weak.

Continue reading Never More! (?)

Looking Ahead to College Football in 2011

For the Oklahoma schools, the 2010 college football season came to a close last week.  No need to stop talking football, however.  It’s never too early to look ahead to 2011 and see what next season might have in store for the Sooners, Cowboys, and Golden Hurricane.

OKLAHOMA SOONERS

2010 was another banner year for Bob Stoops and the Sooners.  OU will likely finish in the Top 10 when the final polls come out next week.  With a 7th Big 12 title and those BCS demons finally exorcised, the Sooners will start 2011 as a favorite to play for the national championship.

UPSIDE – Ryan Broyles and Travis Lewis gave Sooner fans belated Christmas presents this week when both announced they will return to Norman for their senior seasons.  Broyles is OU’s most reliable offensive weapon.  This season he hauled in 131 passes for over 1,600 yards and 14 touchdowns.  About his decision, Broyles said, “We’ve got a chance to be a very good team next season and I really want to be a part of that.

Linebacker Travis Lewis will return for his senior season at OU. (courtesy espn.com)

Lewis is the heart and soul of the Sooner defense.  Although he’s rated as one of the top linebacker prospects in the country, Lewis is far from satisfied.  “I’m coming back to win a national championship point blank,” Lewis said in an OU press release.  “Anything else would be a disappointment.”

Along with Lewis, the Sooner secondary is young and cornerback could be an especially strong position for Brent Venables’ defense.  Freshman Tony Jefferson and Sophomore Demontre Hurst more than proved themselves this season.  The DB duo combined for 115 tackles, five interceptions, 18 pass break-ups, and three forced fumbles.

Continue reading Looking Ahead to College Football in 2011

Mmmm Mmmm, Good and I’m Not Talking Campbell’s

Winter is definitely here and there is nothing like a bowl of hot homemade soup to warm the soul.  I know, your probably thinking, “My man doesn’t think soup is a meal.”  Well, he won’t even realize that he is eating soup unless you tell him!  This is a hearty bowl of  beef and potatoes you’ll find so easy to make it will be on your list of go to recipes.  My man, the one who doesn’t eat leftovers , even had this for lunch the day after I fixed it for dinner!  So, lets get cookin’.

Cowboy Tortilla Soup
by Dustie Butner

1 lb Ground Beef, browned and drained
3 Cups Water
1 box Au Gratin Potato Mix (used dry)
2 Cups milk
1 Cup Salsa (any kind)
1 (16 oz.) can Ranch Style Beans (I used the ones with jalapenos)
2 Cups Velveeta Processed Cheese
1 (12 oz.) can tomatoes and green chilies (optional)

Combine browned ground beef, dry potatoes and water in soup pot on stove.  Cook on medium until potatoes are tender.  Add milk, salsa, beans, dry potato mix and cheese.  Heat on low until cheese is melted.  Add tomatoes and green chilies (Rotel).  Cook on low until thoroughly heated.  Serve with crushed tortilla chips, a dollop of sour cream and cheese on top.

I used skim milk, because that is all I ever buy and I would recommend rinsing the Ranch Style Beans to remove the “grease” from them if you are trying to eat healthier.

I hope you like this great recipe as much as my family and I do!

Happy Cooking,

[jani]

A Man’s Ode to Sleeping In

Inspired by a friend’s ode to his pickup truck, I decided to give an ode to something in my life that has been with me through thick and thin but that has, in fact, seen better days as of late. – M&M

Oh sleeping in… what a cruel cruel mistress you’ve been to me through the years. We’ve seen it all together, that is, as long as “all” occurred after 11 a.m.

I remember when I was just a wee lad, a school boy if you will, and my dad resorted to using a spray bottle to separate us as we lay there in my bed basking in the glory that was our time together. I may have been on time to school, but I never forgot you through the day because I knew you’d always be there for me the next morning.

In the summertime of my tween years, my parents instituted a 10 a.m. cut-off time on our blissful slumber together. I remember my mom calling from work around that time each morning to make sure I was out of bed. I must have been a bad liar or your influence on me was just too much, because she’d always know when we’d been together. Maybe she could hear it in my voice.

Either way, I’d leave you each day for a fun-filled afternoon of MTV’s beach house, little league baseball, or swimming in our above-ground pool. But then, like the bride of a soldier who awaits the return of her husband from battle, you were there waiting for me when I finally made my way back to our bed each night.

During high school, you never made me late for class, but you were the reason I rarely ate breakfast. It was you who made me forsake ironing my clothes. It was you who pushed me into the arms of hooded sweatshirts, nylon warm-up suits, and gym shorts. It was you who made me defy the normal limits of driving speed set by local authorities just to make it to class on time. And yet, I never complained because our love affair was deep and it was true.

Continue reading A Man’s Ode to Sleeping In

The Ranch Hand’s Guide to 2011

We’re just a few days into 2011, and I don’t mind admitting to you that I didn’t make any resolutions this year.  I didn’t last year either.  However, there are some general guidelines that I can list on one hand that help me enjoy my days here at the ranch. This list comes with a visual: a hand.  The hand starts closed, and as you read through the list, open one finger each time.  Start by opening your pinky first.  Go ahead.  No one is watching.  Just do it.

pinky
Start with a closed fist (most people approach new things that way anyway) and open one finger at a time as you read.

1.     Never wrestle with a pig.  You both get all dirty, and the pig likes it.

2.     If you can’t sing – dance.

3.     Some people grin and bear it.  Other people smile and change it.

4.     Ride the horse in the direction it’s goin’.

5.     You can’t keep trouble from visitin’, but you don’t have to offer it a chair.

At this point you’ve got an open hand.  Hopefully it will lead you to an open heart.

Open hand
You don't have to wear gloves, but let me warn you...this does not work while wearing mittens.

In the weeks to come I’ll be translating these “Ranch Rules” into “City Speak” for those of you who prefer to live there.  I’ll also be providing some examples of how these rules have been applied to my life out here on the ranch.

Now, there are a few of you who are pretty smart and can translate these all by yourself.  That’s great!  There are even more of you who will find a way to apply each of these after I give the examples.  Everyone else may just have to live through 2011 (and maybe 2012) before they realize these rules might just be better than resolutions.  In other words….

“There are three kinds of men.  The one that learns by reading. The few who learn by observation.  The rest of them have to pee on the electric fence for themselves. “ ~ Will Rogers

2011 is here.  Let’s give it a HAND.

[julie]

For “Ranch Hand Guide” Week #2 post, click here.

New Years Resolutions And Why I Break Them

by Joey Rodman

About this time of year people start nagging each other to make resolutions and goals for the New Year.  Things to start, things to stop, things to do differently.  I have been asked a total of 45 times (at the time of writing this post) what my New Years resolution is.

My answer?  I don’t have any because I don’t like being a failure. *time passes…*

So, I’ve now asked my friends to tell me anonymously what they think my resolution should be and here are their replies:  Of the 13 friends who responded…

8 wrote: Stop losing your cell phone.
Okay, I’ll admit it I lose my cell phone a lot. Weekly, actually, if not more often.

I don’t think it’s my fault. First of all it’s tiny.  Second, it always falls out of my pocket and gets wedged between the couch cushions and then the battery dies and I can’t find it via sound location. Third, I just don’t care enough to keep track of it. My cell phone is my only phone.

I have no landline, so most of my friends think it should be attached to my hand at all times in case they need me. I think otherwise. I get hundreds of text messages each day; most of them are useless. If you really need me, you’ll find me. Right? Right. Besides millions of people survived in the times before cell phones and I think I can do it too.

3 wrote: Quit getting hurt.
Um… so if I could stop falling down, tripping, face-planting, sliding, etc. don’t you think I would?! Okay, I probably wouldn’t. I’m a klutz; I get it.

In addition to being a klutz I’m often distracted (mostly by my cell phone, or looking for my cell phone) so I don’t pay attention to things around me. I got a pogo stick yesterday, I don’t envision this cutting down on injuries. One of my closest friends commented: “Joey, who gave you a Pogo stick and what were they thinking?!!!!” Point taken.

Continue reading New Years Resolutions And Why I Break Them

Stockyards City Cookbook Cook Through: Breakfast Dilemma Solved

Jani and Whitni, in their kitchen whipping up breakfast.

Looking for something easy to fix for breakfast the next time you have overnight company? Need a simple casserole recipe to take to work or church without all the hassle? Well, we have just the recipe for you.

Christmas morning at our house is always hectic; hurrying to see what Santa brought, packing up family members to get them on the road to visit in laws and in the meantime trying to get breakfast prepared and on the table after a late night!!

Well, Whitni and I found a simple solution to the breakfast problem it is called “Omelet for a Crowd”. It was a breeze to make, easy to clean up and everyone loved it.

Omelet for a Crowd

By Kim Stewart

8 eggs slightly beaten
1 c grated cheddar cheese
1 tsp salt
6 slice bread (cubed)
2 c milk
1-lb sausage-fried, crumbled and drained
1 tsp. dry mustard

Mix all together. Put into a 9×13 pan. Refrigerate overnight. Bake @ 350 for 35 min the next morning.

Breakfast Dilemma Solved

Happy Cooking,

Jani & Whitni

Real Men and Lava Soap

When it comes right down to it, the type of soap you use has nothing to do with whether you’re a real man or not. Unless of course, you’ve been using Oil of Olay or any type of bath bar. In which case, you should seriously reconsider.

With that said, I’ve noticed a lot of television commercials for men’s soap recently (with the Old Spice ones clearly dominating the field) and so I thought I’d throw in my own two-cents on the subject. After all, if a real man is supposed to be comfortable in his own skin, shouldn’t we try to make our own skin comfortable?

Lava soap is, as M.C. Hammer might say, “Too legit to quit.” I mean, just look at the packaging. It’s simple and practical. It’s red, black, white (all very masculine colors) and it has a picture of a mountain in the background. And it’s not some mamby pamby pristine mountain top either. It’s a volcano. A volcano that could, at any given moment, violently explode without warning spewing tons of ash and fire into the atmosphere grounding all of the flights in Europe for over a week. And that’s just the packaging.

When I tear into a bar of Lava soap, I never cease to be amazed at the beauty and simplicity of these little green bars of manliness. I mean, sure, it’s just a bar of soap. But this is no ordinary soap. As the packaging says, it’s PUMICE POWERED! I like to refer to it as scruffy soap.

It’s the kind of soap that you instantly know can manhandle any amount of dirt or grease on your person at any time. Axel grease, no problem. Manure, easy. Motor oil, piece of cake.

It’s the kind of soap that a woman would only use on the heals of her feet. Don’t even try using it on a child unless you want to be ridden with guilt over the pain and anguish you’ll inevitably inflict on their tender young skin.

This is man soap. Lever 2000 may be good for all your 2000 body parts, but there’s a reason they call it LEVER and that’s because it LEAVES dirt and grime behind. Not Lava. Lava will literally scrape everything off that Lever leaves behind, including the top layer of your skin if you’ve been pampering it with Olay or some other ladies bath bar.

If you’re already using Irish Springs, Ivory, Zest, or some other gender-neutral soap product, please don’t hear me saying you have to go out and switch to Lava in order to be a real man. However, if you find yourself in the market for a new type of soap at any point in the near future, let me encourage you to give Lava a try. You won’t regret it (Unless of course you’re a baby, in which case you will regret it because it will make you cry. Then again, if you’re a baby, you’re probably not buying soap for yourself yet).

If you’re not convinced yet, perhaps the ultimate stamp of approval for Lava soap is this: it’s the only soap I know of that is regularly sold in hardware stores.

Lava soap… it’s pumice powered, so you know it’s good.

Great gift ideas for Christmas!

by Alfred Lamar Jackson

INTRO

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good morning! Yeah I switched it up on you. I couldn’t do the traditional thing. I also couldn’t bear the thought of posting a Christmas-y type message because I think that it’s expected on Christmas, naturally. So I wanted to come up with a topic completely unrelated to Christmas, however it is related to reason we celebrate Christmas. And the reason we celebrate class is, all together, “JESUS.” Very good.

Well here’s the result of my attempt: epic fail. I just couldn’t do it. I wanted to talk about gifts. More importantly I want to converse about the gifts that we give Jesus. I think most folks would jump to tithing, but I’m going to skip over to the spiritual gifts. Romans 12:1-2 is very “meaty” verse in my opinion, but I’m going to focus on a simple aspect.

“Therefore I urge you brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”

So this is simply put, Jesus’ birthday wish list. He wants my body as a gift. I just wandered if I had ever really truly stopped to think about that? The same person who made me and gave me my body wants it back as a gift.

So what? Well I thought it over and asked myself about…. Myself. (Conundrum) Would I want my body in its current form as a gift? I mean don’t get me wrong, who wouldn’t want a six foot eight tower of lean chocolaty goodness? However, I continued to think about other things such as my heart health, my work ethic, my core values, and the things I’ve done and said or subjected my body to. Would I really want to give all of that to God? Eck!

Continue reading Great gift ideas for Christmas!

The Gifts That Keep On Giving

It’s Christmas Eve, but it’s not too late.  There’s still time to pick up a few things for your kids.  And no, I’m not talking about the Wii controller, the latest Xbox game, the flatscreen TV, or the new laptop.  I’m talking about the gifts that will make memories for years; the gifts your kids will really appreciate when they get older.

Memory Makers

My best presents weren’t the Legos or the Gameboy or the sweatshirt.  As I look back on my childhood Christmases, my favorite gifts were the ones that forced me outside.  I remember the Nerf football, spongy and shining out of the box, that survived hundreds of sessions of pick-up football in the cul-de-sac until finally it was nothing more than a bare block of foam.  It’s paint gone from all those incompletions scraping off the asphalt, it’s shape altered by the times the neighbor’s dog got a hold of it.

I remember the hockey sticks for my brother and the goalie pads for me.  Gifts that turned our driveway into an imaginary rink.  Gifts that transformed my brother into the overtime goal scorer, and me into the netminder who preserved a shutout with his spectacular glove save.  Believe it or not, that hockey gear is still in my parents’ garage, and still gets use from time to time.  Simple gifts that gave me my favorite times with my brother and inspired in me a love of hockey that I still possess today.

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Stockyards City (+ Whitni’s) Holiday Snack Buffet

Spinach Dip served in Hawaiian Bread

What a week! I usually have some spare time to sit and be lazy on the couch at the end of the day but it seems as though I have lost some hours, if not days, lately!
I cannot believe that Christmas is this weekend!  I’m so-o-o ready for family time! And of course pretty much everything is centered around eating while we are hanging out.
I’ve been to quite a few holiday parties this year and sometimes get stuck on taking the same thing every time. It was nice to open up the Stockyards City cookbook and
find something I hadn’t made before. I chose to make a simple spinach dip since the party was at my house and well….I had to clean and make sure everything was just
so. It’s a super simple recipe that doesn’t cost much to make and can be served with crackers or in my case, Hawaiian bread. Yum!

Spinach Dip
by Jana Lowry

1 pkg. Dry onion soup mix
1 C. Sour Cream
1 C. Plain Yogurt
1/2 C. chopped green onion
1 pkg. Frozen chopped spinach
(thawed and well drained)

In a bowl, blend all ingredients together. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours. Enjoy!

Continue reading Stockyards City (+ Whitni’s) Holiday Snack Buffet