Erin Bars

I love Lara Bars, but I am too cheap to buy them often. They have such a simple ingredient list, so I decided to make my own version, the Erin Bar. It has a few more ingredients than Lara's, but it's all good stuff.

Erin Bars

Here's the recipe:


Erin Bars


2 cups flour (I only had wheat on hand, but you could use any flour)
2 cups rolled oats
2 Tbsp. ground flax seed (or any tasty seed that you have on hand)
2 Tbsp. cocoa powder (cinnamon would also taste good)
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup oil (I used organic EV coconut oil; it tastes so yummy!)
1 cup flaked coconut
1 cup almonds
1 cup pecans
1 cup craisins (or you could use raisins or dates)
1/2 cup honey (or agave nectar)
3/4 cup applesauce
1/4 cup water 

Mix the flour, rolled oats, flax seed, cocoa powder, and salt thoroughly. Add oil and mix until well combined. In a food processor, combine coconut, almonds, pecans, and craisins. Process until nuts are finely chopped. Add the processed fruit and nut mixture to the oat mixture and mix well. Stir in the applesauce and water. Press dough into a greased 13x9 baking dish. Bake at 325 degrees for about 30 minutes. This recipe makes 20 bars, so I freeze them in a Gladware container to extend their shelf life.


Each Erin Bar (measuring about 1.3" x 4.5") has 263 calories, 5 grams of protein, and 3 grams of fiber. 

Notes from "Staying in Love: Re-Modeling" by Andy Stanley

I love, love, love Andy Stanley's podcasts! He speaks God's truth in love and in such a powerful, yet simple way. After listening to  his "Staying in Love" series, I decided to put together my notes and post them on my blog.

Falling in love requires a pulse, but staying in love requires a plan. We have to learn to make love a verb. We must do love. Jesus said that we must love one another in a way that reflects the way that He loves us. Do not love each other in a way that looks like the way other people around us love one another. Follow the model of Jesus.

Look at Philippians 2:3 in the context of the romantic relationship. What does it look like to love someone, to make love a verb, to do love? "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit." That is, try to remove any element of competition. Don't try to prove you're smarter than him. Don't underscore the fact that she told the story wrong. Do your best to remove the competitive spirit or vain conceit. "In humility of mind, value others above yourself. Act as if that person is more important in this world than you are. Think about the most important person in a situation. At the wedding, the bride and groom are the most important people in the room. The MVP at the press conference is the most important person in the room. Paul says that as you enter into a relationship with someone, you must make every decision as if that other person is more valuable than you are. Paul is not saying that they are more valuable. He says to treat them as if they are more valuable. If you were in the presence of a famous person, you would defer to them. You would be in awe of them. You would respect them, not belittle them or criticize them. Show the same respect to your mate as you would your most valued possession, regardless of the way they treat you. Wouldn't you love to be treated that way? When you observe couples who are still in love after many years, you will see this behavior. Remember that there was a time when you really were in awe of that person in your life, when you valued them above yourself.

Learn to show interest in what interests them, even when it doesn't interest you. You could choose to be critical of it, belittle it, or be neutral about it. Or you could look for ways to be proactively interested in something that holds no interest to you, simply because it is interesting to the person you love. What is it in your relationship that is just not your thing? Show interest in it even if you don't want to. This is what relationship is about. A marriage is not a 50-50 contractual agreement. You must give more to it than that. Philippians 2:5-6 says, "Have the same attitude of mind Jesus had of Himself who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to His own advantage. He never played the "God card." He never pulled rank.

Don't demand your way, but submit your will to others, because Jesus had that attitude when He went to the cross. The New Testament teaches mutual submission. Men, focus on giving your life away to her. Let her focus on what God says to her about submission. Jesus never used his position to his own advantage. Verse 7 says, "Rather, He made himself nothing," emptying himself. That is how you must approach your relationship. Love is a verb. Marriages that have lasted for many years demonstrate this approach. They have learned how to empty themselves for the sake of the other person.  "Taking the very nature of a servant.." Jesus had the right to be more, but He made a decision to empty himself of His position. Love is a verb. "..being made in human likeness and being found in appearance as a human, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross." He submitted, not because He had to, but because He chose to.

Here's Jesus' dilemma: He could maintain His place in authority in heaven, but He could never have a relationship with you. He had to walk away from that in order to have a relationship with you. He had to make our greatest interest His greatest interest. Our separation from God due to our sin is our big deal. For Jesus to have a relationship with us, He had to give up what He had and make our needs a priority over His rights. Our need for a savior was more important to Jesus than His desire to maintain His position of authority. He demonstrates the spirit of submission.  If you want the kind of love relationship you desire, you can get what you deserve and sacrifice the relationship accordingly, or you can submit yourself to the person in the relationship and give up some of your wants. You have to say no to your wants and say yes to another. Is it worth it? Yes. Does it always work? No. Is it risky? Yes. Can you have it both ways? No. Are there any guarantees? No. You can spend the next ten years making a point, winning an argument, proving how smart you are, and sacrificing the relationship. Or you can decide that your goal is to serve this person. You can submit, give up some rights, say no to you and yes to them. That is the humility, the spirit of submission. Have the same attitude as Christ.

Lecturing and griping doesn't build a stronger relationship. It makes your spouse never want to be at home with you. Just because everything you have to say is right doesn't mean that you must say it. Are you going to treat them like the most important person in the world, or do you just have to be right all the time, to correct them, to lecture them? What is most important? If you have a relationship where you both treat each other as better than yourself, the relationship will flourish. Arguments will happen, but you need to talk about problems as they arise, remembering to treat that person as if they are the most important person in the world. God wants you to take your love cues from Jesus so that you can have an incredible relationship!

The New House

After distributing our possessions between a storage building, two SAMs, two offices, and a rent house, we finally have all of our belongings in one place! Hooray! Moving two businesses and a household twice in six weeks was an experience that I never wish to repeat. I am exhausted, but happy to be here.

Luckily, the move took place during spring break, so Caitlin and Collin have been able to unpack and get settled into their new rooms without dealing with mountains of homework as well. They enjoy riding their bikes down the street to the park and playing with the neighbors behind us.

I love the peace and quiet here. No more nightly lowrider drive-bys blasting Tejano music at 160 decibels, no more gunshots fired in the middle of the night, no more meth labs down the street, no more gang symbols spray-painted on my fence...

Sonia Sotomayor

Sonia Sotomayor said, “I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn’t lived that life.” She has restated this belief on seven different occasions. Remarks such as this are bigotry, whether they are stated against a white man or a Hispanic woman.

Conservative Latina Rachel Campos-Duffy stated:

“For conservative minorities, especially conservative minority women, Sonia Sotomayor’s nomination and the warnings from the left not to “bully” her are a reminder of the double standard with which we live out our social and political lives. The recognition that there are two separate rulebooks for minorities: one for liberals and one for conservatives. In the liberal rulebook, whites must be sensitive and considerate of a minority’s life story and the unique obstacles he or she faced and/or overcame. In the conservative rulebook, well, there really is no rulebook because there are no rules. It’s always open season on conservative minorities."

I couldn't agree more. The double standard is appalling.

When determining a judge’s qualification to the highest court in the land, race and the ability to overcome adversity are irrelevant. Charm, empathy, and experience do not qualify Sotomayor to be a Supreme Court justice.

America is a republic, founded on a deep commitment to the rule of law and to constitutional government. Justice must be delivered objectively and without empathy. It is imperative that all Supreme Court Justices impartially interpret the U.S. Constitution. To do otherwise would be unconstitutional.

Summer 2008

This summer Caitlin, Collin, and I learned how to play guitar. We were inspired by Coffey "southern man" http://www.coffeysouthernman.com/ , who is a self-taught guitarist and writes his own Christian music (he competed on "Nashville Star" this year). His YouTube videos offer inspiration as well as instruction for guitar newbies like us. We printed out the chords to his songs and started jamming!


Both of my children have an uncanny ear for harmonies and quite a knack for songwriting. I am continually amazed at their gifts and am very blessed to be their Mama. Other than the occasional bit of sibling rivalry (who can outdo whom during jam sessions), we are having a lot of fun!













Collin "caught" his first fish this summer, with a little help from his daddy. He is a natural fisherman, apparently. Willie, Sr. (Uncle Willie's dad) taught Collin how to cast a line. He said that Collin looked as if he had done this all of his life. He has great form, or rhythm, or whatever lingo one uses to describe a good fisherman!

Here is Uncle Mike with Caitlin and Collin and the "catch of the day."

My Lovely Redheads

We captured these shots at the Fort Worth Botanic Gardens. My sweet kiddos are so much fun to photograph. I love the way the natural light makes that red hair so fiery.

Finally On Board

Top 10 reasons I decided to start blogging:

• I have the gift of gab; I don't understand the concept of an unexpressed thought.
• We don't have cable or satellite TV (and we don't text on our phones), so blogging makes me feel a little more high tech.
• I research every imaginable topic on the internet and often feel the need to share all of this knowledge, no matter how trivial.
• I need a place to brag on my really awesome kids and my wonderful husband.
• I run a household and have two jobs, so I felt the need to do something with all of my spare time ;-)
• Where else can you go to learn about sewing, embroidery, parenting, and environmental issues all in one place?
• I'm an internet junkie.
• I have a laptop imprint and a 2nd degree burn on my thighs from my internet addiction; I might as well do something useful with my computer time.
• My husband blogs, so peer pressure has set in.
• Blogging is free!!!