Supporting our troops - just do it!

Ran across a blog post that talked about something near and dear to my heart - and that is supporting our troops.

http://insteadofthedishes.wordpress.com/2010/01/04/supporting-a-soldier-or-two-or-three/

They didn't ask to be over there, but when our government called - they went where ordered. If you have never been involved with supporting our troops, then do. It is an experience that you will be glad for having, and one that you will never forget. I haven't.

I'm not sure how I originally got involved with it, but I am glad I did. I have written and emailed to several of our troops. Have a bunch of photos that they have sent me. Am friends with a couple of them on facebook. Made some good epals who I am also friends with on facebook.

There are lots of websites and groups that can help you with getting involved with supporting our troops. Just click on google and do a search on 'supporting our troops'. It will bring up a whole list of websites. Now I have never sent care packages like the ones talked about in the blog post. You don't have to send care packages. You can just be a pen pal and send letters too. And I didn't know any of the soldiers that I wrote to either.

If you are daunted by writing to someone you don't know, and aren't sure where to start in a letter - just tell them about yourself. Who you are, where you live, what an ordinary day is like for you. Maybe tell them about what the dog did, or the kids did, or what the weather is like. Ordinary sounds real good to these troops, because their lives don't hold much of the ordinary. And as far as the care packages go, the websites will tell you all about how to do it and what to, and not to send. You can even find recipes for home-baked goods that mail well too.

Doesn't matter what country you live in. Support the troops of your nation. They are out there keeping you and our world a safer place for all. Me, I live in the USA in the state of Kentucky. So . .

I send out a big salute to all our US troops, and especially a salute to our troops from Fort Knox and Fort Campbell. SALUTE!!! :)

= jd =


Additional blog posts on the subject:

http://thearmydad.com/posts/supporting-soldiers-overseas.html

http://possumhillfarms.blogspot.com/2010/09/any-soldier.html

http://rediscoveringdomesticity.blogspot.com/2010/07/giving-back.html

Making your own granola bars?

Now everybody is wanting to eat healthier these days, aren't they. And granola bars are considered healthy, or are they? Depends on what is put in them as to how healthy they are. Some can be more healthy than others. But if you could make your own, then you could know what is in them - right? But how easy would it be to make them? Not too hard really, all you need is a recipe; and I have one for you. I found this one on a blog that I ran across, and have saved it into my recipe collection - which has grown quite sizable after several years on the internet. So here is the link to the granola bar recipe:

http://possumhillfarms.blogspot.com/2011/01/homemade-granola-bars.html

Sounds like a good recipe. And the author mentions tweaking the recipe. That is a favorite of mine, tweaking recipes. I save a recipe that I sort of like to use as a guideline in creating other recipes. Eliminate what I don't like, and add what I do; and in this way I customize recipes to our personal tastes. So check out this neat granola recipe that I found.

= jd =

Fifty years ago today . . .

Fifty years ago today, John F. Kennedy, gave his inaugural address. A month and 4 days later, I would be born. And I was named after his wife, Jacqueline. Here is a link to the text version of his inaugural address:

http://www.bartleby.com/124/pres56.html

This is the world into which I was born. This is the world which the baby boom generation grew up in. I am part of that generation - part of the latter end of that generation, but part of it none the less. We have helped to shape the world we live in today. And it is a different world than the one our parents gave us. We looked around at the world they gave us, and some of those things we saw and kept. And some of those things we chose to change.

But as times change, yet in ways they still stay the same. If Kennedy were being inaugurated today, then the words he spoke 50 years ago would still be applicable to today's generation and today's world. With few changes, if any. So let us reread those words of his anew, and apply them to our world of today. Let us put them in our mind and heart, and move forth into our world and see how we can make it a better place; and not a worse one.

== jd ==