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Ron Paul: Hope for America! I've surprised myself and gotten all political this year, blogging about Dr. Ron Paul and the U.S. Constitution and Austrian Economics and great Ron Paul quotes. Prior to that, I was blogging about parenting, adoption, older child adoption, international adoption, Khabarovsk, Russian adoption, attachment disorder, attaching in adoption, Love and Logic, parenting, home-schooling, blog widgets, books, Friday Poetry, Poetry Friday, works for me, recipes, cooking, baking, bread-making, bread, KitchenAid stand mixer, KitchenAid stand mixer attachments, gardening, arthritis, paraplegia, poetry, literature, grammar, sticklers and bluegrass. All the while sharing rotating quotes from C.S. Lewis, GK Chesterton, Ron Paul, Bono, and other Good Thinkers. In case you are wondering, Ron Paul should choose Sarah Palin as Vice President. Got liberty?

:: Adventures in Daily Living ::


hope for America

Get your own Ron Paul button at http://titanmiller.no-ip.org/ronpaul





about me

Here I chatter about books, parenting, election 2008, recipes, teaching college writing, and the adventures of getting settled in with our two freshly (Fall 06) adopted school-age children from Russia. This blog is chapter two; chapter one is posted at Jamie & Suzanne go to Russia.
+/- rather useless info about me
I live in the City of Subdued Excitement, Cascadia, Land of the Free.

I am the wife of a man I call My Gift from a Generous God. I am mama to two lovely children, Dandy and Chickadee that became ours in September 2006 in a court-room in Siberia. I am the daughter of two people whom I love and admire. One of them, my dad, is a new (Dec 06) paraplegic.

In my previous life (B.C. - before children), I was a college English teacher, specializing in composition and ESL composition.

:: click here to read my 8 things meme

My Peculiar Aristocratic Title is:

Venerable Lady Suzanne the Tenuous of Grasshopper in the Hole
+/- posting schedule
Sundays: travel pictures.
Mondays: recipes.
Tuesday: whatever I fancy.
Wednesdays: a Works for Me.
Thursday: whatever I feel like.
Fridays: a lovely poem.
Saturdays: who knows?

Random bits & pieces of my life:

:: header picture ::
Edinburgh Botanical Gardens

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My Blog List

  • The Daily Tiffin
    Cheater Spinach Soufflé
    I love spinach soufflé, but I don't love the amount of eggs and the work involved in making it properly when I just want to get something savory on the table...
    1 hour ago
  • Hiraeth
    In 15 Words or Less Poems
    [image: trees.JPG] Revelation Standing, garbed in recent past, Mossy mantle, cloaked and veiled; The secret history of trees. [image: 930302-1062888-th...
    1 hour ago
  • Blogtations
    Don't you hate it when
    Don't you hate it when you find out that the LOW fat REDUCED calorie blueberry loaf at Starbucks has 28 grams of sugar and 400 calories?~Real. Life. Ramblings.
    3 hours ago
  • Luckybeans
    Mulanje Conquered
    Wow. I don't think I have ever done anything so difficult that did not result in an infant being placed on my chest. Mulanje was beautiful, wonderful, and ex...
    4 hours ago
  • Scribbit | A Blog About Motherhood in Alaska
    Summer Movies I'm Dying to See
    [image: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull]Can you handle another movie post? I don't know what it is but I've been in a movie mood lately,...
    4 hours ago
  • Shelby's Life and Whatnot
    Digory, Digory, Digory
    I think maybe Digory got jealous of Scout getting the lion's share of health crises because he got his revenge last night. Stupid me left a bar of chocolat...
    6 hours ago
  • Touchstone Magazine - Mere Comments
    Peace on a Mountaintop
    I know I should be posting on the recent acts of judicial tyranny in California, or on the op-ed piece that has been making our e-mail rounds, wherein Martha...
    7 hours ago
  • Semicolon
    Lobelisms
    Today, May 22, is the birthday of author and illustrator Arnold Lobel. He wrote the Frog and Toad books and the Mouse books and Owl at Home and mebelimany ...
    7 hours ago
  • Ann Kroeker
    Uninterrupted Conversation? This Can Happen?
    After 14 years of parenting, I’m about to find out. We parents of four are going on a little outing, just the two of us. Seven years ago was the only time ...
    8 hours ago
  • Three Sons and A Princess
    The Great Escape: Leaving The House Without Screaming
    Every time M and I want to go out we have to plan very carefully to reduce the amount of trauma Pineapple exhibits to the babysitters (our sons). First we n...
    8 hours ago
  • The Looking Closer Journal
    Pray for Steven Curtis Chapman and his family
    What tragic news. Steven Curtis Chapman’s 5-year-old daughter was killed in the family’s driveway today, hit by an SUV driven by her teenage brother. I int...
    8 hours ago
  • Owlhaven
    So sad for this family
    I am just heartsick over this news. Please pray for Steven Curtis Chapman and his family. His Cinderella went to be with Jesus today.
    9 hours ago
  • Pioneer Woman Cooks
    Sleepin’ in Omlette
    This is another one of those “Cookin’ in Real Time with P-Dub” recipes…you know, the kind where I decide, on a Wednesday evening, that I’ve done nothing ...
    9 hours ago
  • Rocks In My Dryer
    No Words
    Just...no words. From The Tennesean: Steven Curtis Chapman’s youngest child died Wednesday afternoon after being struck by a car driven by her teenage brot...
    9 hours ago
  • An Untraditional Home
    Lesson 1 of the Art Class is up
    The introductory art class is up. Since it is the beginning it is more of a getting to know you and figuring out where you are sort of class but all the s...
    9 hours ago
  • Lawn Gospel
    New Attitude, Road Trip to Ky, and Ending Women’s Suffrage
    Thursday morning (tomorrow) I am leaving College Station to make the trip to Dallas, which begins the first leg of the Summer ‘08 Road Trip to the New Atti...
    10 hours ago
  • Andrea's Recipes
    Red Potato Salad
    Summer would not be the same without some of my favorite foods: barbecued ribs, potato salad, coleslaw, and ice cream. If we cook up a batch of ribs, we mu...
    10 hours ago
  • from russia, with love
    got mail(box)?
    A friend of mine in Belgium has created a virtual museum of sorts to preserve that most endangered of all species...the mailbox. Alain would love for this ...
    11 hours ago
  • smitten kitchen
    semolina dumpling soup
    My German grandmother never made mazto ball soup with chicken stock, or so my mother tells me. In fact, she never made chicken stock at all. Compared to be...
    16 hours ago
  • The Hamersma Adoption
    call for prayer!
    As expected, there is more unforeseen paperwork to be done. It turns out that the judge in Russia is unhappy that Rob is "Robert Hamersma" on his Canadian...
    16 hours ago
  • Like Merchant Ships
    Slicing canteloupe without waste
    I've just cut the first canteloupe of the summer. The Erratic Homemaker's technique produced the prettiest slices and least waste I've ever had. *PS--A few...
    16 hours ago
  • The Kindlings Muse
    CS Lewis Looks At Mysticism Podcast: Live at CS Lewis Centre Segment 1 of 1
    William Butler Yates once said, “The mystical life is the center of all that I do and all that I think and all that I write. . .” This same thing could not...
    17 hours ago
  • Liz In Ink
    That's a Wrap
    This week I made my last two school visits of the year. Gasp. Sit down. Sigh. It is a lot to juggle -- the calendar and schedule-making, the maps, the Powe...
    17 hours ago
  • Storing Up Treasures in Heaven
    IMMEDIATE NEED
    We have an immediate need for funds for the *Mauney Family* . They JUST found out that they have been chosen to adopt an African American baby who was bor...
    18 hours ago
  • Long And Winding Road To Home
    OH So Busy
    So busy right now with last bits of house building things. Busy end of first grade things. Busy with church things! No pictures right now, but here's the l...
    19 hours ago
  • Read Roger
    Kids and the Kindle
    I don't see it. While I'm having a fine enough time with the Kindle myself, I think its lack of a backlight and color, rudimentary display of pictures, and...
    19 hours ago
  • Always Wanted Four...
    Easy to Please
    Today, Ben and I grabbed lunch-to-go at Panera on the way home from the gym. I let him drink his chocolate milk (which comes in a box with a straw) in the ca...
    19 hours ago
  • Farmgirl Fare
    Wednesday Daily Dose Of Cute: Better than Kisses
    One Dog Clean Up Crew *Can't get enough cute? **The First Daily Doses of Cute* *Daily Dose of Cute Part 2* *Daily Dose of Cute Part 3* *Lambing Season 2006...
    19 hours ago
  • Confessions of a Pioneer Woman
    Black Heels to Tractor Wheels, A Love Story: Part XXXIV
    “*I was thinking*…” I began, hesitating for a moment. “*I was thinking…that I want to elope*.” Marlboro Man chuckled at first. But when he realized I was...
    20 hours ago
  • Annie @ One Mother's Day
    MY TEFLONIC PERSONALITY
    *Painting by Ilya Kitching in the style of Van Gogh (reflecting my much happier mood today)* * ***Fortunately, God graced me with a near complete inability...
    20 hours ago
  • Life of Elle
    Resources for the newbie
    I realized I come at this gardening thing with years of experience and a degree under my belt (now where did that diploma go?). I also try to avoid tellin...
    20 hours ago
  • Robin Brande
    Once again Oprah copies me
    Why can’t she just live her own life? Why does she always have to copy me? See, what you don’t know is that while I’ve been away, I’ve finally and fully co...
    20 hours ago
  • "Et tu?"
    The Parents' Sleep Index
    I was going to write something today, but unfortunately I find myself unable to put together a single coherent thought. My nine-month-old, who used to slee...
    20 hours ago
  • Four Feet More
    Open House is closed
    I've been gearing up for my first ever Open House the last couple of weeks, and finally, the big event was last night. The students helped me get everythin...
    22 hours ago
  • A Mile in My Shoes
    It's a Very Sad Day
    As Tim was leaving for work this morning, he noticed a ball of gray fur lying in the street. No tail and her belly still swollen with milk for her babies, we...
    23 hours ago
  • Fanatic Cook
    Prostate Cancer and Low-Fat Diets: 4 Studies
    Coincidentally, Tara over at the New York Times' Well Blog just posted this: Low-Fat Diet May Cut Prostate Cancer Risk, NYTs Well Blog, May 16 2008. It's ba...
    23 hours ago
  • Big A little a
    The Summer Blog Blast Tour
    The SBBT marches on! Here's today's schedule: Delia Sherman at Chasing Ray Ingrid Law at Fuse Number 8 Polly Dunbar at 7 Impossible Things Before Breakfast ...
    1 day ago
  • Family Reunion
    Movie Time
    Enjoy... Here's a link if it doesn't work CLICK HERE
    1 day ago
  • Our Little Russian Peanut
    Runny Noses and Wet Diapers (Moscow Trip 1 - Day 5)
    Ooooo... a sneak peak! Introducing the Peanut's hand! And Papa's of course! :-) Today we had a sick little boy. Runny nose and a cough. We noticed he had a...
    1 day ago
  • Bread, Water, Salt, Oil...
    Apple Blossom Day
    May is Apple Blossom Time in Somerset. This is when the harvest to come in the autumn starts out on its annual journey. Never an easy time as wind and r...
    1 day ago
  • Tartelette
    Cherry Blossom and Hibiscus Macarons & A Giveaway
    [image: Mcarons-Copyright©Tartelette 2008] Thank you all for your kind words after my last post, you are all amazing to give your support and wishes like y...
    1 day ago
  • Life with this Child of Mine
    Something Fun: Q&A style
    If you could ask me anything...about anything...what would it be? About Iliya or adoption? My shoe size? Why we keep our house so cold? <--I'm sure that's ...
    1 day ago
  • Worth The Wait
    I Have An Owie
    Today, Brian and I took the boat out to the lake while the kids were in school. Its an older boat, and it hasn't run in a while. So, in order to be respons...
    1 day ago
  • The Open Window
    They Call Him Mr. Pitiful
    Richter is home. He is still groggy from the anesthesia and he's wobbling around like a 2-foot-tall drunk man. He has to wear the Elizabethan collar for 10 d...
    1 day ago
  • Pacific Northwest Cheese Project
    2008 Seattle Cheese Festival on Video
    1 day ago
  • David Perry
    In their best light
    Despite the cheering effects of all that delicious solar energy on the psyche, bright sunlight is not always the kindest friend of one trying to capture an...
    1 day ago
  • here and now
    I finally figured it out!
    I have blogged for quite a few months now and I have looked every time I posted for a spot to include a title. I had given up. My friend, Robin, has posted...
    1 day ago
  • a wrung sponge
    Review: First Daughter
    White House Rules by Mitali Perkins. Dutton, January, 2008. Age 10 & up. (Advanced Review Copy) This is one of the books featured this month at Fusion Storie...
    1 day ago
  • Magistramater
    Didn't Need to Be Beautiful
    Chives are already fragrant. They are a succulent savory addition to salads. Famous as toppers, especially on baked potatoes. Chives are hardy (translati...
    1 day ago
  • Gluten-Free Girl
    green garlic
    [image: green garlic] For years, garlic meant pungent bulbs beneath papery sheaths. Actually, before that, garlic meant pulverized-into-pulp mush in a jar...
    2 days ago
  • HipWriterMama
    SBBT 2008: Inspiration, Evolution and Robin Brande
    I am so pleased to welcome Robin Brande, author of Evolution, Me and Other Freaks of Nature, here on my blog. To tell you the truth, I should probably tell y...
    2 days ago
  • In My Kitchen Garden
    The Winner of Butterfly by Thomas Marent!
    Butterfly in the Farmyard (And I Really Should Know What Kind!) The *randomly selected* winner of a copy of the gorgeous and gigantic book, *Butterfly*, i...
    2 days ago
  • Don Holmes:
    review of a book The Shack - a runaway best seller
    The Shack - A very critical review. Overview: Mackinzie Allen Phillips (Mac), who has had his young daughter murdered in a shack during a camping trip, is...
    2 days ago
  • Manolo's Food Blog
    Green breakfast
    It is the year of change, indeed. Among Mr. Henry’s friends and relations long-established eating habits are giving way to new ones. No meal is more cultur...
    2 days ago
  • The Hinkley Herald
    Little Chopins
    Sunday was the Spring piano recital. They all performed very well. Nathan played Men from Mars, Nicole performed a Little Mermaid song, and Michael perf...
    2 days ago
  • Laurel Snyder
    In the Mail!!!
    I was totally shocked when I opened my mail today and found THIS!!! It’s my first copy of Inside the Slidy Diner, and it’s truly amazing. A work of art! ...
    2 days ago
  • This Garden Is Illegal
    Lily-Of-The-Valley: Not as Innocent as You Thought
    The lily-of-the-valley are in full bloom. I have to admit, if there ever was a plant that could pass for being fake, lily-of-the-valley is it. No other flo...
    2 days ago
  • FoodieView Blog
    Recipe Roundup: Entertaining Summer Sweets
    by Helene Dujardin of Tartelette Photo by Aran of Cannelle et Vanille While we are bathing in the warmer days of Spring, Summer is right around the corner ...
    2 days ago