Joan's Girls: July 2009

Our Message

Joan Ruth Smith Stout passed away on September 5, 2007. She was my beloved mother and grandmother of the beautiful girls pictured to the right, Kim, Tiffany, Tara, Chelane, Stephanie, Tristen, Sara, Telisa, Mikel, Jenny and Ashling. My mother died due to complications from malnourishment, or in other words, an eating disorder. I believe it started in her teens and she was completely unaware of the insidious disease that took route in her mind. She was somehow blessed to give birth to four children, three boys and a girl. Joan loved her children with devotion and passion even though much of the time, she felt poorly. Stomach problems, headaches and heart palpitations were a daily occurrence for her. As her only daughter, I was oblivious to her plight until my very own sweet daughter started on that same journey in her teens. By then my mom had been suffering from her eating disorder for a good fifty years, and there was no redirecting her thoughts. Unfortunately for me, I was angry for a while when I realized that the route of all her illnesses was through lack of nutrition. That was shameful on my part, and I am sure that only added to my mom's illness. I hope she knows now how foolish I was. However, through the journey of Telisa's eating disorder, the girls in our family have learned much, especially Telisa! It is for this reason that we collectively, as Joan's Girls, are choosing to send the message out to the world of what real beautiful bodies need to support good physical and mental health!!!!!!! We watch with horror the unhealthy and unattractive images on TV, Movies, Magazines etc. We witness some of our dear friends struggle with body image issues, and frankly we are sick of the comparing and obsessing over one's size versus one's health!! We believe in good health, we believe in eating the food provided for us by our Heavenly Father, we believe in balance and moderation, we believe in exercise in moderation, we also believe the best exercise is done while serving others, we believe that God created many types of bodies and we thank Him for that! We believe in modesty and we believe that our bodies are a gift from Heavenly Father! We believe that true beauty comes from within. All of Joan's granddaughters are true beauties. Our legacy to her will be our commitment to the TRUTH of what is beautiful and praiseworthy. We seek after these things. We will strive for good health and the truth in all we do!

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Celebrating our Grandma Joan!!

Grandma Joan and Tristen, Tara, Kim and Jenny

Grandma Joan with Mikel, Telisa, Stephanie and Tiffany

It has been a while since we have had a post for Joan's Girls. I know in reality that Joan's girls are among the busiest girls on the planet! So I thought I would share a few photos of Grandma Joan with her girls to spark a few memories! Enjoy!

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Comfort Food or...

Just an awesome side dish. I love Paula Deen. When you need a good "down home" recipe she's great! Her Mac N Cheese recipe is easy and yummy!

The Lady's Cheesy Mac

Ingredients:
4 tablespoons butter, cut into pieces

1/2 cup sour cream

2 cups grated cheddar cheese

3 eggs, beaten

4 cups cooked elbow macaroni, drained

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup milk

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Once you have the macaroni cooked and drained, place in a large bowl and while still hot and add the cheddar. In a separate bowl, combine the remaining ingredients and add to the macaroni mixture. Pour macaroni mixture into a casserole dish and bake for 30 to 45 minutes. Top with additional cheese if desired.

Yield:6 to 8 servings

Preparation time: 20 minutes

Cooking time: 45 minutes

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Love

I wanted to do a post on the power of love. To me it is one of the most powerful forces in the universe. Travis' great love for me inspired the subject of the post. I almost posted a song that I love that reminds me of Travis and his great heart. But, the more I thought of it, I decided to go deeper and post a message that tells of the source of Travis' love and of all the love that there is--Jesus Christ.