I am addicted to finding and printing out new recipes online.

There, it's out there in the open. Unfortunately that's the last step in addiction recovery I intend to take for this problem. I don't think I need to feel guilty for it, however, because 1) all my random, printed-out recipes are FINALLY neatly organized by category and stored in a binder inside plastic page protectors, and 2) I actually try them. The last month's meals have for the most part consisted of brand new recipes I have found online and in magazines, and only two of them so far have I trashed afterward (recipes, not the meals). Not that they were BAD; they just weren't amazing enough to make again. But the rest have been fantastic.

You can all wish you were my husband now. (He's pretty much the most awesome guinea pig ever, since he has a stomach lining made of cast-iron as well as taste buds efficient enough to tell me when something is particularly good.)

*****

On a completely unrelated subject, I have figured out, at long last, a perfect response for when I get asked when we're having kids (which happens far more often than should be socially acceptable in my opinion). From now on, I am going to reply with, "As of right now, Andrew and I have no desire whatsoever to create life, either now or in the future." Can anyone really argue with that? I would like to thank Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert for a phrase that helped me think of this response. LOL

Five for Friday

I think I'm supposed to post five good things today? Or so seems to be the trend I'm noticing in some other blogs. ;)

1. One of my aunts and her husband are flying here to spend the weekend with us before they go on a cruise to Alaska. It's been over a year since I've seen any of my relatives so I'm excited! We're going to take them sightseeing. =)

2. I get to welcome home some more Tomahawk soldiers tonight, and see some more of my ladies get their husbands back! Happy happy!

3. I am leaving at 4 today, so I'll hopefully miss some of the traffic and get home earlier.

4. Hubby wants to get ice cream from Coldstone tonight!

5. We are going to Port Townsend tomorrow with my aunt and uncle--it's so gorgeous up there.

O Pioneers!

Today Andrew and I have decided that in a couple decades, when he's done with the Army, we are going to live in the country. On a small ranch, somewhere here out west. I will have multiple cats (some inside, some barn cats), at least two dogs (maybe 3), and a horse.

"Why Sarah," you ask, "could this have anything to do with the fact that you spent nearly your whole work day on thepioneerwoman.com?"

And I would respond, "Guilty as charged. But in my defense, I had absolutely nothing to do at work today. "

Okay, so the website is not completely to blame. I've been feeling for awhile that I want to live in the country one day (especially if it continues to take me an hour and a half to get home from work on Fridays), and there's a horse-shaped hole in my heart that has been there since I was a little girl. And my husband, believe it or not, is a country boy and grew up on a farm, despite the fact that he is more into computer games than trucks.

I'm glad we got that settled.

My name is Sarah, I used to be a "fundy"....

So, hi.

I normally fail at blogs. But lately one of my main ones, over at LiveJournal, has fallen by the wayside. I don't exactly know why but I just haven't felt the urge to post there, although I do still read other people's. I guess I feel that if I'm going to keep a blog, it might as well be one with the possibility of a wider audience. I don't know very many people anymore with LJs. Also, quite a few people I know have blogs on this site, and I find it impossible to keep up with sites that I'm not using myself. So, we'll see how it goes. I have no idea what sort of content will end up here--it will probably be random!

The other day I discovered a blog called "Stuff Fundies Like" (http://www.stufffundieslike.com). What is a fundy, you may ask? It's short for "Independent Fundamental Baptist." There is no good definition that I know of for this, but the beliefs held by IFB people are generally so "out-there," controlling, and un-Biblical that churches full of these people and led by a staunch IFB pastor end up fitting most of the documented characteristics of a cult. I grew up in one of these cults, and although I've been out for 3 years (and trying as much as possible to be "normal" for several years previous), the damage it did to me is still there. This is a pretty important fact about me because when you know me for awhile, it explains a lot. I grew up wearing denim jumpers & skirts, was homeschooled (to "keep me out of the world") with--for the most part--a very sub-par curriculum, had no real friends, did not watch/read/listen to anything other kids did, and was constantly surrounded with an atmosphere of fear, self-loathing, judgment, spiritual and emotional abuse, and negativity. Some of the stuff I was taught would blow your mind.

Anyway, recovery has been a slow process, though I manage to hide it pretty well on the outside. What has been cool is noticing how, when I seem to be struggling particularly badly with the bitterness and hurt, God shows me something that helps me heal just a little more. Sometimes it will be witnessing a display of true Christian love or hearing a particularly awesome sermon from my pastor. This week it was finding the above-mentioned humorous site. I read everything the author had posted there within two days, and what was so good was being able to just laugh. Sure, some posts brought back the anger and sadness, but overall I sat there and laughed til I cried. Sometimes I just have to forget my anger over the damage they are doing to people and the cause of Christ and laugh over the sheer ridiculousness of IFB cults.

So, that's what I felt like writing about today. Finding this site was the highlight of my week!