#287 Nomad Diary. 18-24 April 2026. Sat-Tues in Galveston, Texas. Drive Tuesday to Long Beach, Mississippi Airbnb. Our New Recipe: Lean Beef with Cheesy Noodles and Veggies.

On our happy call with our grandson Quinn (5yr+7mos) at his new place in Moscow. Been there for one week. We are so happy to see and talk with him on this call! And also to talk with our son, Jeremy and our daughter-in-law, Andrea, who are also learning about and adjusting to their new life in Moscow. They said that Quinn is eating all the new foods! Yay!

My Special Moments and Other Activities This Week.

Saturday. 18. 

*We got a call from our son, Jeremy and Andrea and Quinn!! They’ve been in Moscow for a week and are learning about their place and adjusting to life. It was so wonderful to visit with them and see their faces!! They have a very nice apartment furnished by the embassy. Quinn’s playground is just outside their apartment and visible from an apartment window or two. He’s already got friends to play with, and who come outside to play when they see a kid at the playground. He’s very happy about his different and more expanded, yet very safe and watched over, situation at this place. 

After a good and long conversation with them, they sent some pictures of where they’ve already toured and visited inside the city. They also told us their first impressions of the food differences from Brazil to Russia. They said that Quinn is eating everything! Lol. That’s excellent that he’s adventurous to try new foods, and that he’s learned to love a lot of savory ‘good for you’ foods. 

*Darrell called his Mom, Shirley so we could wish her a happy birthday today! She’s turned 92 officially. She seemed happy and cheerful with her current company: Glenn and Phoebe from Kingsport, Tennessee. Her youngest son and his wife have come to visit for the week and celebrate her birthday. 

*We stayed at our place until late afternoon, then drove down the beach road to Kroger for groceries. There’s a bunch of people enjoying the beach. We enjoyed driving back to our place through a different part of town. We really like our neighborhood with the older houses that are cared for, and give us close access to the beach and to the main street where we are a couple blocks from Bishop’s Palace. Many of the hotels on the beach are closer to Kroger, and we are glad to be where we are away from the hotels.

*I added this recipe to my diet tracking app: Mynetdiary (icon looks like a green apple with a tape measure). I shared the recipe link with Darrell to add to his mynetdiary for tracking his macros. We’ve been following higher protein for over a year and a half. I wrote about our reasons for change prompted by Darrell’s diagnosis of non-alcoholic fatty liver (NAFL), in remission within 6 months!

We made up a new recipe that worked into our ‘macros’ plan very well! It’s one that we made up as we cooked together, easily within 30 minutes, and serves us for 2 meals. 

Lean Beef with Cheesy Noodles and Veggies

1# 97% lean ground beef, crumbled and browned in skillet. Add salt, pepper and fresh chopped garlic.

2 cups chopped veggies (we had fresh carrots, cooked in hot water before cooking pasta, scooped out and put into covered skillet to finish cooking on low with beef)

8 ounces sliced baby bella mushrooms (put into skillet after beef is browned)

⅓ cup chopped yellow onion, (add into skillet with carrots, cook on low while preparing noodles and cheese sauce.)

2 ½ cups dry noodles cooked according to package directions. (we had rotini this time. Drain and add to skillet)

For the cheese sauce:

1 ¼ cups lofat Good (or Daisy) brand cottage cheese

⅓ cup 2 % milk 

½ clove garlic sliced. (put into a smoothie blender and blend until smooth: cottage cheese, milk, garlic, salt and pepper. Stir into skillet and add 2 more measured cheeses. Serve hot.)

Measure out these cheeses:

38 grams shredded parmesan

43 grams reduced fat feta cheese crumbles

 

In Galveston, a sculpture seen in a mansion garden. It reminded Darrell and me of 'Thing' in the old TV show: The Addams Family. We just laughed at it!

An Old Mansion entryway in Galveston, Texas

Pretty Yard in Galveston, Texas with a Spanish style house or mansion.

One of many art carvings made since 2008's storm Ike. It's been 'Iked.'

Old Architechture near the Strand and Cruise Port in Galveston, Texas.

One of my favorite 'Iked' tree sculptures.

Sunday. 19. Walking a few blocks to 11am worship at the church of Christ on the main road through town, and between several mansions facing the street. Today is much cooler, breezy and raining in small showers. We met about 20 members at this church at Wednesday night Bible class. We arrived at the church building and met the people from Wednesday and more. Our first song was “Will Your Anchor Hold” which made me smile in this more than once storm-devastated town of Galveston. After worship we stayed and talked a little longer to a few people, then said our goodbyes. Darrell and I walked toward the cruise port which is near ‘the Strand.’ The Strand is the old shipping port buildings that are now tourist restaurants and shopping. We picked a restaurant and ordered the seafood feast together. After our nice lunch of redfish, shrimp and crab, we walked through a part of town that looked like a 1950’s style downtown with some of the store signs from that era still hanging on the buildings. One large vintage sign was McCrory hanging vertically on its old storefront. We walked several blocks back to our airbnb and were having hot tea with milk and toast with honey by 3pm. 

Empty lot in Galveston gone to yellow spring flowers.

The best pillows of over 100 Airbnb's! I took this picture to reference the company. They are heavy and firm with some give.

Waiting at the Bolivar, Texas Ferry on a rainy Tuesday morning. 

A true scenic byway driving along the narrow strip of Bolivar Peninsula along the Gulf coast.

Coming up to an abandoned pole home. 

Not even a 'fixer upper'!! It's just waiting to wash away.

Leaving the Bolivar Peninsula and driving Northeast toward Beaumont, Texas, we cross High Island Bridge.

Somewhere east of Vinton, Louisiana we stopped at a cafe for lunch.

I ordered an unusual burger and even unusual for me to want something like this! I thoroughly enjoyed it. Darrell ordered the same burger and added jalapenos. He thought it too salty.

Marina seen from our truck driving along the Gulf.

We arrive and unpack at our Long Beach, Mississippi Airbnb condo.

We are in the bottom and middle.

Gulf view from Our condo.

Another Gulf view from Our condo. We remember the 2005 Hurricane Katrina that devastated this area of the Gulf Coast. We happened to be in Meridian, Mississippi riding out that storm, and at the same time grieving at my Mother's funeral.

Inside Our 2 bedroom condo.

We use our 2nd bedroom to conveniently hold our suitcases on the bed.

Nice Trees around here.

At an outside dining cafe, Darrell Gets a seafood mixed pasta. It was delicious and I was kind of jealous except that I had a nice fish dinner as well.

A fun screenshot of phone call with Eric and his two cuties: Owen (4yrs+7mos) and Esther (2yrs+6mos)

Sitting outside Our condo.

At the beach. Easy walk from our condo. The water is too cold to get into for me, and I don't really like swimming in the ocean.

At the beach, there is a nice seawall with steps going down onto the beach.

Long billed birds.

Darrell's fabulous picture was a quick reflex that he went with! 

Wednesday. 22. PM we went to church in Gulfport, Mississippi. We met people there who we met over ten years ago in Michigan and have retired here! Amazing!!

Thursday. 23. Hours spent today going through old photos that were saved on One Drive. Trying to reduce the amount of duplicates and save our family photos that we scanned in August and September 2020 when we downsized our house. I’ve enjoyed seeing so many of my old favorite pictures. Pictures of our 4 sons when they were stair-steps in their ages. Their cute little faces of a time past when we were a growing family and in such love with that time of life and all of the fun and all of the struggles that come with real life. So many wonderful times to review and enjoy. It’s 2 weeks until May 6th when we fly out of Huntsville, Alabama for Vancouver, BC and our cruise up to Alaska for summering there. 

Friday. 24. I finished going through all of my One Drive cloud storage with Darrell’s help to keep me on track with the technology and the moving around of electronic pictures and documents. I was able to get everything moved off of One Drive and close that account! Yay! That’s a big win. I enjoyed looking at old pictures too. 

Some of my thoughts from recent Bible classes and personal studies.

*The concept and action of ‘blasphemy’ was mentioned in our past Tuesday online class covering some of Luke 23, by UK teacher, Jeremy. This idea got me to want to think a bit more about ‘blasphemy’. I sent Jeremy a Whatsapp message to thank him for his recent presentation, and ask him for some more info on ‘blasphemy’. 

I asked Jeremy, “If you have a blasphemy study trail, I would appreciate it. 

Here’s the verses he sent me with some short comments.

NKJV Luke 23:39: … “then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed Him…”

Matthew 4:3.. “If You are the Son of God… “ Satan knew exactly without a doubt who Jesus was and is. 

J: “so I understand it is dishonouring God. Jesus was dishonoured by many, some perhaps in ignorance, others knowingly just a plain refusal to believe.”

Revelation 16:9 … “those that followed the beast blasphemed the name of God they couldn’t argue against God’s existence or power even so they didn’t repent or give God the glory.”

*Colossians 2:18 Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions,[d] puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind, 19 and not holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God.

20 If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations— 21 “Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch” 22 (referring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to human precepts and teachings? 23 These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.”

Wow! In these verses I see: to be in the body of Christ is where nourishment and growth from God exists. Don’t go back to the elemental spirits of the world. These perish and are human teaching. Christ is interested in stopping the indulgence of the flesh– attention to the flesh/elemental spirits of the world. True spiritual growth is through God with Christ as my head, not by following self-made religion, etc. 

Another class covered the beginning of Luke 24 and highlighted verses 25-27. The resurrected Jesus taught a complete Bible class on the road to Emmaus about the events of his suffering and resurrection.

25 And he said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” 27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.

May my heart believe ALL that the prophets have spoken, and be wise with understanding.