Posts Worth Reading

This past week, I have read 3 blog posts that have just been particularly amazing.  The first two have been making the rounds on Facebook, so you may have already seen them, but just in case:

25 Things Our Sons Need to Know About Manhood
Really, you can just never go wrong with reading something by Ann Voskamp, but I thought this was particularly good.

Raising Daughters in a World that Devalues Them: 7 Things We Must Tell Them
If you have a daughter, know a daughter, are a daughter ... read this.

This one hasn't made the rounds, but I don't know why.  I think it's awesome.  It expressed how I feel (and how I want to feel) in my soon-to-be-the-big-4-0 body.
On Showing Your Waist Grace
I wanted to jump and shout ... and buy clothes that actually fit instead of waiting for the ones in my closet to fit again.  It doesn't mean I'm giving up.  It just means I want to feel better about myself TODAY.

And this...  I read it a couple of months ago, and it has stuck with me.
Women of Valor ... Pinterest Aside
I really should read this at least once a week.  This gave me a whole new, freeing, perspective on that woman with whom I have a love/hate relationship - the Proverbs 31 woman.

Happy Reading!




 This post may be linked up to one or more of the following blog parties.  Check them out! Monday: Menu Plan Monday on I'm an Organizing Junkie Wednesday: Works for Me Wednesday at We are THAT Family Friday: 5 Minute Friday at The Gypsy Mama, Company Girl Coffee at Home Sanctuary, Pieces of Amy Other days: A Wise Woman Builds Her Home

Matt's Sister

Matt, Julie, and me, circa 1990.

 My brother titled this picture, "Bangs, Braces, and a Turtleneck."  Ha!

Back in the Fall of 2000, David and I had just moved to Bremerton, Washington (just across Puget Sound from Seattle).  Having withdrawals from SEC football (it's just NOT the same in other parts of the country), we discovered there was an Auburn Club that met to watch games in Seattle, so we made the early-morning (because of the time difference) ferry ride over to join in the fun.

It was enjoyable meeting other members of the Auburn Family and sharing that inexplicable bond.  We didn't seem to have too much else in common ... until one of them asked me, "Aren't you Matt's sister?"  And there it was.  Literally 2500 miles away from where I grew up, I didn't have my own identity.  I was Matt's sister.

I shouldn't have been surprised by this.  Although I'm the eldest and "paved the way" through Hartselle City Schools and Auburn University, Matt (and Julie, for that matter) most certainly made the larger impact.   Voted Mr. HJHS in 8th grade, his popularity continued unabated through high school.  Believe it or not, Matt was terrified of starting school at Auburn, but it wasn't long before we were bombarded with "Hey, Matt!,"  "What's up, Matt?," and "How's it going, Matt?" as we walked along the Concourse together.  The boy had made more friends in his first term at Auburn than I had made in almost 4 years.

[Funny story: Matt and I lived together for two terms during his first year at Auburn and my last year.  Before moving down that Fall, Matt told all of his friends that he was "shacking up" with his sister.  I had to quickly set him straight that "shacking up" didn't mean what he thought it meant.  :)]

We got along fabulously during those 6 months or so of sharing an apartment, and I'm so glad we had that experience.  However, it demonstrated our differences in living color.  I was content to work alone for hours on end.  Matt had to have some sort of contact with me or some other person at least once during every waking hour.  When I was just turning in for the night, Matt was just heading out.  I didn't date much at Auburn, Matt ... did.  But we invented a terrific game called Wall Ball that I still miss playing.  (Sorry, downstairs neighbors!!)  Also, ask him sometime about the AbFlex and our version of the Slim Fast plan.  :)

Matt has always been extremely generous - especially when it involved spending my parents' money.  Salespeople quickly figured out the best time to knock on the door of our apartment because Matt always bought whatever they were selling.  He was also quick to buy appetizers for everyone at the table whenever he went out to eat.  (This may or may not have contributed to the number of friends he managed to make.)  It took Dad a while to figure out why I had been able to make the money last a lot longer than Matt....  I have a feeling, though, that's he's still generous even with his own money.

Today is Matt's 36th birthday, and I couldn't be prouder of the man he has become.  God has certainly used his love for people and ease at making friends for His glory.  A couple of years ago, Matt earned his PhD in Practical Theology from Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary.  I like to take a tiny bit of credit for this since I taught him to read using the book Morris the Moose Goes to School.  However, prior to college, I'm pretty sure the only other book he had read was Bo Knows Bo, so "Matt Pearson, PhD" came as a surprise to all of us.  :)

He is currently serving the Lord as the pastor of First Baptist Church in El Dorado, Arkansas, and as a Trustee for the International Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention.  He has a heart for missions, and his churches quickly become known nationally for their giving and participation in mission work.  He has taught and preached all over the world.  And being the most prolific writer of the Five Blogging Pearsons, you can follow him here.

I'm sure if I visited most parts of Arkansas, anywhere in Alabama, certain regions of Africa, and apparently lots of other unexpected places, I would still be known as Matt's Sister.  That's OK with me.  It's one of my favorite titles.




This post may be linked up to one or more of the following blog parties.  Check them out! Monday: Menu Plan Monday on I'm an Organizing Junkie Wednesday: Works for Me Wednesday at We are THAT Family Friday: 5 Minute Friday at The Gypsy Mama, Company Girl Coffee at Home Sanctuary, Pieces of Amy Other days: A Wise Woman Builds Her Home

The Holy Grail of Barbecue

There's Memphis barbecue, East Tennessee barbecue, and Texas brisket.  There's red sauce, white sauce, and no sauce.  There's pork, beef, turkey, and chicken.  Everyone seems to have a version that is "the best."

But for those of us privileged to have lived in North Alabama, there are only three kids of barbecue - Big Bob Gibson's, Whitt's, and sad imitations.

My personal favorite is Whitt's.  I could probably count on one hand the number of foods in the world that I would prefer over a Whitt's barbecue sandwich.  My mouth is watering just thinking about it.  Although you can add either a mayonnaise-based sauce or a vinegar-based sauce to Whitt's BBQ, it's not necessary at all.  The flavor is cooked right into the meat.  Every single bite is delicious, not just the outside skin or the part doused in sauce (like some other places I've been...).  Most people (apart from my husband) like to also put vinegar slaw on their Whitt's sandwich.  (I know that doesn't sound good at all.  Just trust me.  It's amazing.)

This week, we added US geography back into our homeschool world.  The reasons why it left and the reasons it returned are for another post, but suffice it to say, I needed to bring a little fun back.  Instead of following a format that had gotten us bogged down before, I decided we would go in alphabetical order.  (Mostly to help us learn this song.  Sing with me now, HJHS chorus students of the mid-80s.)

Up first: Alabama!

 

One of the parts we enjoyed most when we studied world geography last year was trying foods from the different countries we studied.  So I decided to bring that back, too.  The curriculum we are loosely following has recipes for many of the states, and the ones for Alabama were Pulled Pork BBQ Sandwiches and Peach Cobbler.  (There was no reference given for either recipe, but they both came from the curriculum that can be found at this link.)  The peach cobbler was OK, but the texture wasn't quite right somehow.  I should have just stuck with the Southern Living recipe for that one.

Not knowing what to expect, I made the BBQ recipe, and to my great surprise, it tasted a lot like Whitt's!!  (Note to self: next time add vinegar slaw to the finished sandwich.  That was definitely a missing ingredient.)  I think I added a bit too much brown sugar (a little more than the recipe called for).  Next time, I'll use a bit less sugar and perhaps a bit more vinegar.  But even as it was, I thought it was pretty close.

Pulled Pork BBQ Sandwiches

1.5 lbs pork tenderloin

1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

1/4 cup water

3 T brown sugar

2 t kosher salt

3/4 t ground black pepper

1/2 t ground red pepper

1/2 t chili powder

1/4 t garlic powder

Hamburger buns

Combine all ingredients (except pork loin - and buns, of course) in saucepan and bring to a boil.  Add pork to pan.  Cover, reduce heat, and simmer about 1 hour or until tender.  Remove pork from cooking liquid and shred using 2 forks.  Place pork in serving dish and pour remaining sauce over pork. 

Note: I combined all ingredients except for the pork in a bowl, placed pork loin in a crock pot, and then poured the sauce over the pork.  Then I cooked it on low for about 7-8 hours.  Delicious, and super easy!

Now, if you're expecting a dead ringer for Whitt's, you're going to be disappointed.  But it's the closest thing I've tasted outside of Morgan and Limestone counties.  Let me know what you think!

This post may be linked up to one or more of the following blog parties.  Check them out! Monday: Menu Plan Monday on I'm an Organizing Junkie Wednesday: Works for Me Wednesday at We are THAT Family Friday: 5 Minute Friday at The Gypsy Mama, Company Girl Coffee at Home Sanctuary, Pieces of Amy Other days: A Wise Woman Builds Her Home