"Once Upon A Time" and Gratitude Friday!

Welcome, Company Girls and everyone else! Grab a big mug of hot coffee and pull up a chair. Today's Gratitude Friday list also includes a very sweet but longer "Once Upon A Time" story about two young ladies who grew up in the same part of the country. The year was 1976-1977 and they were a couple of the singing beauties in the North Kitsap Middle School 7th grade choir. The girls were standing right next to each other in the middle row but never got to know each other really well. One girl lived in Poulsbo, the other girl lived in Hansville. (about 15 miles apart!)

Poulsbo girl and Hansville girl
(click on each picture to enlarge a smidge!)

7th grade choir North Kitsap Middle School

The Poulsbo girl moved away in the spring of her 8th grade year. Not realizing that the Poulsbo girl had moved, the Hansville girl just kept being good friends with the rest of the choir and she graduated from North Kitsap High School in 1982! The Poulsbo girl was forgotten!! (or so everyone thought!)

Fast forward THIRTY TWO YEARS (32 years!!)

The Hansville girl (lady!) got married and had kids. The Hansville girl is now a Spokane lady. And although she never knew what happened to the Poulsbo girl, there might have been some special circumstances that led her to find out what exactly happened to that Poulsbo girl!

The Hansville lady got very interested in blogging and somehow, perhaps by browsing another Company Girl's webpage (who lives also in Spokane!), found Home Sanctuary. One day the Hansville lady mentioned during Company Girl Friday and on her Gratitude Friday list about spring, tulips and daffodils. They're very special bulb flowers that are always found in the springtime in Hansville and Poulsbo. Well, the author of Home Sanctuary wrote the Spokane lady and said that she REALLY misses having daffodils but they don't grow well in Ft. Worth, Texas. She also mentioned that she loves springtime because she grew up in Poulsbo, WA. The Spokane lady screeched when she read that. Someone else grew up in the same part of the country?! (remember, The Spokane lady is the Hansville girl who lived just 15 miles from Poulsbo!)

The beautiful story continues with the Hansville girl contacting the Poulsbo girl and the ladies figured out that they were in middle school together, they'd been in choir together and had had some of the same friends growing up! If the Poulsbo girl had remained there for the rest of her school education, both of them would have graduated together in 1982. And as the Poulsbo girl stated, "perhaps BFF!"

It only gets better! The Hansville girl grabbed the yearbooks and found pictures of them. Look back up to the top of the page to see our own Rachel Anne (Home Sanctuary!) aka Poulsbo Girl on the left and Kerri (Latte' Buddies) aka Hansville Girl on the right. The choir picture has the two girls in the second row up, smack next to each other in the middle.

The Hansville girl and the Poulsbo girl are back in contact after 32 years! Neither of them knew where life had taken both of them. They didn't have a clue about each other. Thanks to technology, the love of Jesus and curiousity, the girls are reconnected! They have talked on the phone a few times, laughing and giggling like girlfriends do. It is just a hoot! Both of their families think they're crazy.

Stay tuned for more recent pictures! Rachel Anne and I will be meeting over Mother's Day weekend in Ft. Worth! The most amazing thing is that we will be living happily ever after with Jesus when we're home in Heaven with Him. What a glorious Company Girl coffee time that will be!!

Gratitude List: finding oldtime friends, having friends from the dorky jr high days and they still love me, Company Girls, beautiful sunshine, teaching most of the week, trials and tribulations that bring us closer to Jesus! What is on YOUR list today?

Yummy snowed-in Blueberry French Toast

Good morning! Another snowy day in Spokane and I'm not going anywhere today. I looked in my cookbooks and my cupboards to see which things would match to make a yummy breakfast for the three of us. This is what I came up, courtesy of Gooseberry Patch "Farmhouse Christmas", and it was wonderful! Two pieces of blueberry french toast, bacon and orange juice made for a great snowy Sunday morning breakfast. (see the end of this post to get the review from the boys!)

Blueberry French Toast

2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries

2 Tblsp cornstarch

1/2 cup orange juice

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup plus 3 Tblsp water, divided

3 eggs, beaten

6 slices bread**

2 Tblsp butter, melted

cinnamon sugar

Place blueberries in a 13 x 9 pan. Blend cornstarch, orange juice, sugar and 1/2 cup of water together and place over blueberries. In shallow dish or pie pan, beat eggs and 3 Tblsp of water together. Dip slices of bread in egg mixture, allowing bread to absorb eggs and then place on top of blueberries. Brush bread with butter. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Bake in 350 oven for 15-20 minutes or until bread is lightly toasted and blueberries are bubbly and thickened.

** I used Poulsbo Bread (I grew up in the Poulsbo area!) I also needed more than 3 eggs because of the bigger bread. I will cook it a little bit longer than 20 minutes next time I make this recipe, but I am thinking it's one of my new breakfast favorites!! We'll see what the boys say...if it gets a thumbs up, it's a keeper.

WOW -- they both came in and said it's more than a five thumbs up recipe! Ian didn't like the nuts that are in the Poulsbo bread but that's easily fixed for next time if he's here! That's all the bread I have at the moment, though, and I can eat Poulsbo bread anytime, anywhere.