2011 in a few words

looking back on 2011, we have to say it was:

• tough
• tiring (with the many new responsibilities of homeschooling and classical conversations)
• questioning direction
• but all completely shadowed by the precious gift of life in our 2nd girl. that triumphs all!

Merry Christmas 2011!

updates

i know, it's been a while. it's been crazy around here.

1. our baby has been sick ( just common cold, but it's completely messed up her schedule and she's getting up quite frequently during the night - every other hour!)

2. i've got a new job with classical conversations as a service manager.

3. we're moving this week but in the mist of a lot of uncertainty -- ie. our lease is still not signed yet! - it's made for a major lesson in trust!

4. i'm sorry, i'm so tired, that i don't even remember what 4 was.

but yes, i'm still alive and plugging along in life.

oh no!

today is nov 1.
yesterday was oct 31... halloween. i took pictures of our jewel and our precious' costumes - today! the day AFTER halloween. then later today, i looked down and realized that i forgot to give our jewel the glow in the dark flower wand that i got special to match her costume while they went trick or treating yesterday. ugh! the irony is that our jewel found it last week and asked about it. i was caught off guard and i lied - saying it was for CC. (no, i don't advocate "white lies"... i was caught off guard and i wanted to apologize and ask for forgiveness for the lie. but i coudln't do that without giving away her fun surprise...)
it's a long winded way of saying that i was definitely NOT of top of things this week.

speaking of which... the week's been rather ick because i'm just now starting to feel better after being sick for almost a week. i think our precious is sick :(

lately i've found that i'll randomly think of something i want to write about as a memory point on this blog, but will forget by the time i actually get on the computer.  as i mentioned on my last post, i am trying to limit my computer time during the day.  i've found that if the computer is turned off at night before we go to bed, then i'm less tempted to get on the internet and steal time away from school.  i guess i could write it down on a piece of paper - old school... if only i didn't lose the paper.  man! if i get Alzheimer's one day, i doubt my man will notice. seriously, my memory is getting THAT bad! sheeze!

week's recap

1. conversation with my man:
my man: are you in the mood for a late night snack?
me: oh yeah! let's get something!
my man: what do you want?
me: ohhh! how about a salad?!
my man: sometimes, you and i are just not on the same page!

2. went for my first run in 10 months this past thursday.   2 miles. averaged 10 1/2 min pace. not bad for first run.  second run was 2 miles w/ my jewel on her bike. harder run the second time.  3rd run this morning wasn't easier... hoping it'll get easier soon!

3. had a wake up call this week when our jewel spoke some truth about my technical distractions. so now there's a new school rule. no email or phone during school hours for mommy. what a difference it's made! why didn't it occur to me sooner?!

end of the week recap

a typical homeschooling day. i disliked this stuff in school yet our jewel loves it.

they melt my heart!

my girls

this one just cracks me up! our precious gives us this look all the time and we're trying to come up with a funny name for it... but nothing yet.  our jewel is lovin' on our precious like crazy. it's wonderful to observe.

kids say the darnest things!

we're reading through ps. 28 and talking about inheritance (last verse).

Me: do you know what inheritance means?
our jewel: no
me: it's when the children get all the stuff from the parents when they die.
our jewel: yeah! that means i get all your make up!

mid week recap

wednesdays are long days for us.

we leave for CC at 7:45AM and get home around 4pm. then our jewel has ballet at 5:15 so it's a fast dinner and then out the door.  (fortunately, my man has been able to leave work early the last 2 weeks to be able to take her to ballet). 

so while they are at ballet tonight, i thought i'd whip up some chicken risotto.  i love the vibrant color of green peas against the creaminess of the arborio rice. unfortunately my man hates peas. so as the submission wife, what do i do? i put them in of course! it's healthy for you, my man so eat up :)

as a side, today's weather is just so perfect - for running of course. but i'm still banned from running and it's just miserable for me not to be able to lace up!!

update

my man mentioned that he has been writing on his blog more than i have... which says a lot considering he writes MAYBE once a month...
so i thought i'd jot down a few "latests"...

1. my man had a conference in the city a few weeks ago and i accidentally sent him to brooklyn instead - making him 1 1/2 hours late! yikes!

2. CC is well under way and it's been busy keeping up w/ the homeschooling group, homeschooling our jewel, and having an infant.

3. our precious infant is doing really well... however we were down w/ a routine and in the last 3 days, all of a sudden she's off - not in terms of her schedule but in terms of her sleeping abilities - she's crying lots more before her 7pm and 10pm sleep, which seems so odd to me.  i can't figure out what's up - i've checked all the obvious - ie. diaper, hunger, burping, etc...

4. my brain is scattered! i feel like i have ADD - i can't seem to focus and i'll come to the computer because i remembered that i was supposed to send someone an email but then i get sidetracked by the inbox and i completely forget to email that person until the most inopportune time - ie. when it's midnight and i'm trying to go to bed and i've got 10 million things racing through my head.  also, i feel like i'm telling our jewel to do 10 million things at one time and she gets frustrated with me. partly it's because i forgot that i told her about the other 9,999,999 other things i told her to do and the other part because my brain just has 10 million things on it's mind all the time.  sigh!

5. i've been convicted about having a grumbling spirit these days so i've been praying and trying to be more diligent about having a heart of thanksgiving before God.  i find that i've been complaining more to my man and i think it's been getting him down :(  i'm tired, weary, and dragged low by life's woes :(

6. 3 out of the 4 last soccer games have been cancelled for our jewel. i feel bad because i know how much she's looking forward to it.

i think that's all i have right now. my jewel's waiting for school.

Celebrating Labor Day before labor

Happy Labor Day!  In addition to it being a day to celebrate the hard work of our country's workforce, it is also the day before i go to the hospital for the birth of our precious one.

I'm ready for the jokes to begin...

challenge: can you give me a labor joke that i haven't heard before -- that will make me laugh?

unfortunately, i have been so busy homeschooling and getting ready for our homeschooling group (that starts in about a week) that i have barely had time to get ready for our precious one.  i still haven't installed my base for the carseat, we just got the stroller the other day, and i PRAISE God someone gifted us a bottle of baby wash because i forgot to get some.  we put up the pack-n-play last night and i'm doing a load of baby laundry as we speak.  what a rough start. this is NOT my personality.  so i don't feel quite prepared for this precious gift to come tomorrow, so i guess we'll be winging it.  i figure i have a few days while i'm in the hospital for my man to pick up those last few urgent things that i can't seem to remember.

i laugh whenever i hear someone else's views of my running.  here's a post someone put up after talking to me.

what not to do

my man was saying how he wanted to look during the c section but when i asked the doctor about it, she said their policy was no.

so last night (a week before the scheduled date), we did the next best thing - we logged onto youtube :)

NOTE: this is NOT for the squeamish!!!

i had the BEST belly laugh watching my man watch the video! seriously, i can't remember the last time i laughed this hard - it left me in tears!!!! he's definitely not squeamish but this video got him good.  

Aftermath of Hurricane Irene

we're fortunate that we did not have any major issues where we're at, but unfortunately our church will have some clean up to do.  here's an amateur, video shot at the gas station near our church found on youtube.

end of the week recap

1. this week our jewel applied what she's learning in grammar by saying: "ok, i've got 2 interrogatives and one declarative. the first is, can i sleep in your bed? and aaaaaalso, what can i eat when i we get home?... " my man and i just looked at each other and burst out laughing ... who talks like that?!  the homeschool lingo is starting...

2. i've had 2 people come up to me in the past few weeks and say - "i didn't know you were pregnant. you don't look pregnant!" really?! i'm 38 weeks, people - i assure you, i look VERY pregnant!

3. i'm back to eating lots of carbs... lots of refined, processed, bad-for-me ones. it's so bad for the baby  but it's what my taste buds want :(

4. i am so tired; my body feels weary, and mentally and emotionally i am drained.  my man and i were reading ps 34 the other day and it refreshed me - i do need to extol God in my day to day more. i'm wallowing in my fatigue.

mid-week recap (at the end of the week)

1. my man took our jewel on their first date night tonight. it was the cutest thing you've ever seen. he came to the door, brought her flowers.  they had a grand time. the funny thing was, he was telling me that as they were leaving the house, he said, " you look beautiful tonight!" and she said, "do i look hot?"

the back story is this... yesterday was our 9th anniversary and we were going to go out. i generally hold to the idea that the spousal relationship trumps the relationship with the children... but see, there have been little signs here and there - subtle - but still there - that made me think that our jewel needed a little extra TLC with the baby. she's been an only child for almost 7 years and now she's going to be sharing the attention of her parents.  she's really excited for the baby, but i've been noticing some things that made me wonder if there's something going on in her heart that she can't fully articulate.  and then there was also the fact that quite frankly, i had a lousy day, i was exhausted as could be, and honestly, i just wanted to prop my feet up and watch tv while eating ice cream - which is exactly what i did while they were gone.

anyways, i hope our jewel looks back on this one day with fond memories. i hope that she sees that she is dearly loved and that as much as her earthly father loves her that God's love for her is exceedingly great. 

there was more to the week, but as i sit here at the computer, my mind seems to draw a blank. i think that's a clue that it's bedtime for me.

"mid-week" update at the end of the week

1. i love it when i wake up in the morning, go into the kitchen and see a nice cold bottle iced coffee in the fridge left by my man.  i'm not a coffee drinker but this really hits the spot some mornings.

2. i miss my ratty ol' sneakers, the pounding on the asphalt in the darkness of the still early morning, the tired yet fresh feeling of being done with the workout.

3. i have my eyes set on this. October 7, 2012! Registration opens Dec 1, 2011 - yeah!!!

4.  i had a revelation about myself last night - i wondered if i'm an extremest about this idea of "your word being your bond".... not so much in a personal environment... but i'm talking in a professional environment. if someone says to me, "i will have this to you by monday"... i expect that you will get it to me by monday. if you don't get it to me by monday and there is no explanation why, then now i don't trust you and your words don't have credibility with me.  yes, this has happened a lot this summer...

 (as a caveat, i know life happens... it happens to all of us - i'm not talking about the follow up call that says "i'm sorry, there was a family emergency"... i'm talking about the no follow up call and no ownership of the fact that they didn't live up to their word". 

as i was talking to our jewel about the power of words, we talked about how it's important to follow through on whatever it is you commit to, that you can't take it back once it's said, and that there are consequences for the words spoken.   i want our jewel to know that if i verbally commit to something for her, that it doesn't mean, "i'll try" or "maybe".... it means, i WILL. we live in an age where words seem to have lost their meaning - it has taken on an idea of "i intend to but if something else comes up, then oh well... "  i want to model to her the power of words. 

random thoughts

1. i really really really really want to run. i think my legs don't but my inner soul is craving it.

2. i should NOT eat sweets before i go to bed. it leads to VERY weird dreams.

3. my man and i were talking last night about a hypothetical situation... what if your daughter came home w/ a guy that you really really did not approve of... and he insulted you to your face. and by insult, i don't mean, he doesn't like what you're wearing; by insult, i mean... he basically tells you he wants to get serious with your daughter.  how would you handle it so that you don't alienate your daughter but still speak truth into the matter? ok, the mama bear in me says by this point i would have learned how to use a gun and i would use this opportunity to show him what i know (yes, in my mind i would be able to take down a squirrel at 500 yards).  ok, the rational side of me says, take our daughter aside, speak calmly to her and then take the boy outside and shoot the squirrel... :)

i think we live in a culture where people think it's ok and actually expect gratitude from the parents when the boy goes to the parents to tell them what their intentions are, no matter how foul those intentions might be.  when did this become ok?

4. on the opposite side of this, i'm rereading anne of green gables for our book club this month. i get transformed into the world of anne every time i read it... sigh.

5.  our jewel started ballet this week and it's very cool to see how much she's enjoying it. we'll see how she feels about it at the end of the summer session.

why i've been sparse this summer

is that grammatically correct? can a person be sparse? whatever... i think you know what i mean.

this summer has been CRAZY! and i don't mean in a running from one vacation trip to another kind of way. i mean, in a work work work kind of way.

besides, being preggo, homeschooling our jewel, i've also been quite busy getting our classical conversations community off the ground.  CC is new to NJ.  i knew about it from VA and so when i heard they were trying to start one here, i jumped on it.  so i now wear the official title of director... which means that i spend a ton of time on the phone, answering emails, trying to find a location for our community, finding tutors, recruiting families, holding informational meetings, going to conferences, etc... a labor of love indeed. between this labor and the labor that's coming in september i am LABORED out, people!!
can i get a vacation at the end of the summer? oh wait, i'll have a new born that's keeping me up 1/2 the night....
so, if you wanted to know what i'm up to -- that's it.

update and The ultimate smoothie and food soapbox

Yesterday's doctor appointment indicated that our precious is still on the small side. the paranoid, pessimistic side had me jumping to all sorts of conclusions. but then i starting thinking w/ my brain, rather than my hormones.

we live in a culture where somehow big means good. have you seen the slurpee sizes these days? or the super sized meals at the fast food joints? look at our animals. i was at a farm several weeks ago w/ some friends and i commented that the cows looked really thin. my friend just looked at me and said - well of course they look like that - they're grass fed cows! they're SUPPOSED to look like that.  so when did we start thinking that beefing them up with all that hormone induced corn was a good thing???

so while our precious might be small, i was thinking about what i ate this time around, versus what i ate 7 years ago with our jewel.  i've learned a lot in those 7 years and our food lifestyle is quite different now.  most of our meets and dairy come from farms.  our intake our supplements and vitamins are far superior now then they were then.  even the grains that we eat now are of a superior quality.

take for instance our morning kefir smoothie:

1-2C of kefir (homemade. raw. fermented milk).
1 TBL organic flaxseed
3 TBL coconut (fresh; NOT bagged)
fruit
raw egg yolks (i usually do about 1 per person, but i really should up it to 2 per person). i ONLY use farm eggs. i would NOT use store bought eggs (even if those eggs were organic)... but that's just me.
drops of Cell Food (minerals) for each person

this is very different from what i did 7 years ago where i think i might not have even made smoothies then.

so here are some of the things that i'm doing differently this time around:

1. farm foods. can NOT stress this enough.
2. get high quality supplements - not all cod liver oil is the same.  we get our cod liver oil from Blue Ice.  we get ours from the farm but AMAZON also has it. please note our jewel has been taking cod liver oil since she was one.  and even she had a hard time adjusting to this brand. i switched to this one because it is far superior (fermented oil is much better for you) to the one we were using before. fermented oil is much much fishier.  we get the peppermint flavor and just being honest, it's not enough to disguise the fish.  Also, for the longest time, we just did the cod liver oil. but i've learned that if you couple this with the X Factor (which is really just vitamin K2), the health benefits rise dramatically. so my man and i also take vitamin K2.  our jewel gets it from the farm butter i buy.

3. which leads me to good quality butter.  i grew up without butter in our diet. and honestly, i still do not care for the taste of butter. i know, i know... even my man finds that utterly surprising that someone could NOT like the taste of butter. but i get myself to try and eat it and incorporate it into our foods whenever possible. OK - but this is NOT just any old butter. this is RAW FARM BUTTER.  good quality farm butter has something that Weston Price referred to as the X Factor (aka Vitamin K2). i make this fudge recipe that incorporates this butter and i have our jewel eat this fudge as a chaser after she takes her cod liver oil. 
4. i'm still eating sugar but it's significantly less than what i used to do: i've substituted coconut sugar and raw honey a lot more into our foods. but don't get me wrong, if you send me a batch of neiman marcus chocolate chip cookies, i will gratefully eat them :) ha ha ha
5. i incorporate a lot more homemade fermented foods: kombucha, kefir, yogurt, sauerkraut, etc.
6. the other major change is the quality of chicken stock. i use the free range, grass fed chickens i get from the farm and make good quality chicken stock the Nourishing Traditions way. 

note, these changes came gradually. it's so hard to go cold turkey for me so i just did what our family could handle. little by little.  over the last 7 years. i'm still learning. i know i still have lots more to change but we do what we can and i'm grateful for what i've learned so far.  i think we're on our way and ultimately, we do our due diligence, trusting that God's sovereign over it all.

homeschool day 1

we officially started the first day of homeschool today. (actually we started a few weeks ago but it was to finish up curriculum from last year) ... so today was day one of the "new grade".  overall it went well but it took a LOT longer than i had scheduled for. we ended up going about 5 hours instead of the 3 i had anticipated. i need to check the clock for each of the subjects to see what the hang up is. 

i changed the schedule from before so here's what it looks like now:

Bible - we're reading through the book of John in the KJV.  honestly, not the version i would have picked but our jewel got a little mini NT from church that she LOVES and it happens to be the KJV... so alas. she's doing really well w/ the reading, it's the comprehension that's "concerning" me; and by that i mean MY comprehension of this version rather than hers....

Math - we switched to Math-U-See from Saxon and since it's only the first day, i don't have any comments on it yet but i do hope she takes to it better than Saxon. 

Grammar - we decided to go w/ Shurley English and while there is discussion on when to start the student on grammar, we decided to begin this year (many people will recommend waiting until 3rd grade).

Literature - we're doing a little bit of everything here.  i got the McGuffey Readers (primers from the 1800's - get the original, not the updated version that basically tried to make things more PC and not as Christian).  I also got some books from the library that we're going through. I really like Jean Fritz's history books. i guess this is going to be my attempt at history this summer... it's not formal but at least she's getting something.

Geography - we started Legends and Leagues today and our jewel enjoyed it immensely. i had to "cut her off" because we had to move on to our next subject.  any time you have to convince your child that it has to wait until tomorrow to continue is a good sign the book is good :) we'll do geography 3 days a week.

Penmanship - i use the McGuffery reader and just pick out a line that she writes in her composition book.  i'll be alternating this w/ dictation from the reader. 

Storytime - we finished a Rebecca Caudill book today called: Schoolhouse in the Woods.  this is volume 2 of the Fairchild Family Story series.  It's similar to the Little House on the Prairie series in terms.  she likes it but i will take a break from it b/c 1) we've been on the prairie gendre for a LONG while since we were going through the little house on the prairie before this and 2) the library doesn't have the rest of the series.  can i just say that is really frustrating for the library to only have part of a series??!

i realize this is rather english heavy but i decided to hold off on science, history, spelling, and latin until the fall. we'll be joining a classical conversations community starting in september and the subjects will fit rather nicely w/ the CC schedule.... except for spelling. i'll probably drop penmanship in the fall and start spelling. 

the other thing that will shift in the fall is that we'll probably move to school 4 weekdays and have "school w/ daddy" on saturday mornings.  it will give me a break (AKA my long runs) and i figured it would allow my man to feel like a part of the homeschooling experience w/o feeling like he had to do any serious prep work... so saturdays mornings will be: art and logic.  we really like the mona brooks' book: drawing with children.  i highly recommend it. we did some of it last summer and her art class this past year applied the principles in the book as well.  for logic, i picked out Critical Thinking Activities. she did the book for grades 1-3 last year and she enjoyed doing the activities - so i just got the next one.  they also like playing chess so that will round out logic. 

4th of july

honestly, i wasn't going to write anything but i feel like i should... so here goes...

we drove down to see family friday evening and spent most of the weekend w/ family - mostly eating (it's what we do best).  was nice and honestly, by the end of the weekend, i was so tired! i didn't want to drive back up but somehow i managed to stay awake.  i'm not kidding, that's seriously the last time i'm going to do that drive before the baby comes!!

cold breakfast cereal

i've been wanting to make this and i feel like i should ear mark it on my blog or else i'll forget...

it's from one of the food blogs i follow and i know it'll be healthy. just need to get myself to make it though.

i would like to go on and on about the dangers of eating store bought cereal; even organic cereal... but i know how i can be on that soapbox, so instead, i'll just say that if you have time to make your own, please do.  it'll go perfectly w/ your farm milk :)

here's the recipe from healthyhomeeconomist's website:

Cinnamon Crunch Breakfast Cereal (Grain Free)

Ingredients
4 cups almond flour (homemade is the tastiest and most nutritious)
1 cup store bought or homemade coconut flour
3 cups plain yogurt or kefir
3/4 cup coconut oil
1 cup honey
1 tsp sea salt
2 tsp baking soda (optional if you are on SCD diet)
2 tsp organic vanilla extract
1.5 TBL organic, ground cinnamon (add more if desired)
Instructions
Soak almond flour and coconut flour in yogurt or kefir in a covered glass bowl for 24 hours.  Mix in remaining ingredients into the batter. Pour batter into (2) 9 x13 pans coated with coconut oil. Bake for 30 minutes at 350F or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Do not overbake. Let cool and then crumble onto baking sheets and dehydrate at 200 degrees for about 24 hours. Take out dried cereal off the top every few hours so as not to overdry and make the cereal too hard. Store in airtight container in the frig.

coconut granola recipe

i tweaked a recipe that i found on mel's kitchen cafe.

here's my healthified version of it:

*Makes about 7 cups of granola
3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1 cup slivered almonds
1 cup crispy almonds
3/4 cup shredded coconut
1/3C raw honey
1/8C coconut oil
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup mixture of cransins and raisins

Preheat oven to 250 degrees. In a large bowl, combine the oats, nuts, coconut and brown sugar. In a separate bowl or liquid measuring cup, combine maple syrup, oil and salt. Combine both mixtures by slowly pouring the liquid over the oatmeal mixture and stirring well. Divide in half and pour onto two 11X17-inch rimmed baking sheets, spreading out into an even layer on each sheet. Cook for 1 hour and 15 minutes, until golden. Remove from the oven and transfer into a large bowl, slightly breaking up the clumps. Add the raisins and gently mix until even distributed.

Honor thy family

we've been using that word: honor around the house a lot the past several months.  we talk about what is means to honor the family and each member of the family.  we talk about what it means to "honor thy mother and father".  honor is more than obedience. it's going above and beyond the call of duty. it's seeking to serve the other person before anything is even said. it involves being observant, being intentional, and taking the time to follow through.

here are a few ways we try to foster a heart of honor in our family:

1. we sprinkle that word throughout our conversations.
2. usually in the morning, i say something like: "hey, let's try a game today. can you think of one thing that would honor the family today and surprise me with it? and i'll see if i can spot it!"
3. if i see our jewel do something honorable, i lavishly affirm right away.
4. sometimes, i will surprise our jewel with something - maybe i'll make her a special batch of cookies, or i'll pick something up for her at the store and when i give it to her, i tell her that i was thinking of her and wanted to do something special to honor her because she is a special member of our family.  it's a way to exemplify honor to our children.

all this to say, that this afternoon, i asked our jewel to clean her room and she said that she had something to show me in my room. well, i was thinking that perhaps she made a tent with my clothes, or something... but i went in there and saw to my delight that our jewel honored us by making our bed.  it made me feel so special and honored... and of course, i made sure she knew it!

now, off to eat the brownies we made together :)

ps. see below for brownie recipe

Recipe from www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com

Grain free brownies

1 cup finely ground pecan flour (pecans should be soaked/dried first before grinding into flour)

1/4 cup Organic Coconut Flour

1/4 cup Organic Cocoa Powder or Carob Powder

1/2 cup Date Sugar

1 egg (2 eggs if you would like the brownies more “cake like”)

1/2 tsp baking soda (use only if you want more “cake like” brownies)
2/3 cup Expeller Pressed Coconut Oil
1 tsp Organic Vanilla Extract
1 tsp Organic Chocolate Extract
4 drops Stevia Liquid Extract (optional)

Mix pecan flour, coconut flour, cocoa powder, date sugar, and optional baking soda in a pyrex cassserole bowl.   Pour in liquid coconut oil (warm it if necessary to liquify) and mix well.    Add vanilla extract, chocolate extract and lightly beaten egg(s).   Mix well.  Bake at 350F for 20 minutes.   Serve with blueberries and Real whipped cream for an amazing taste treat.

chocolate chip scones recipe

i used this recipe from annie's eats

but modified it accordingly:

Ingredients:
1½ cups whole wheat pastry flour
¼ cup coconut sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
Pinch of salt
1 cup (6 oz.) chocolate chips (I prefer dark chocolate chips)
1/2 C sour cream
1/2C milk


Directions:
Preheat the oven to 375˚ F.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.  Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl; stir to combine.  Toss in the chocolate chips and stir to blend.  Add the heavy cream to the flour mixture, stirring just until a dough forms and the dry ingredients are incorporated.  Knead the dough very briefly with well floured hands to ensure even mixing.
Using a large dough scoop (or a large spoon), drop rounds of dough onto the prepared baking sheet.  Bake 15-20 minutes, until lightly browned.

(as a side note, when i asked our jewel if she wanted to help me make these scones, her response was, "mama, i think you can do it yourself")
kind of funny when your efforts to teach your child independence kind of gets thrown back into your face.

weekend recap

some random things from the weekend and today:

1. went to my sister's family yesterday and we just hung out bbqing and had a water balloon fight. actually it's more like the kids all ganged up on my brother in law.  we ended the day w/ my man's homemade pizza and pahtbeensu (a korean dessert made w/ shaved ice, red beans, fruit, and condensed milk). yum!

source: latimes

2. my man made a comment that shocked me the other day! he had never eaten watermelon w/ a fork when he was growing up!!!! WHhhhhhhat????!  apparently, he didn't grow up w/ our indoor versus outdoor watermelon eating etiquette. (ha ha ha! can you hear the sarcasm in my voice?)... well, sort of. there was kind of an unspoken rule in the house that if we went on a picnic, we'd eat the watermelon in wedges. if we ate it at home, it was cut up in cubes and put in a bowl to eat w/ a fork.  is that odd?

this makes me think of our first year of marriage when my man stared at me aghast because i ate popcorn w/ a fork. in my defense, i only did it that one time and because i didn't want to get popcorn grease on my fingers (apparently, i prefer to save it for my arteries).

3. speaking of watermelon, i've been devouring this sweet piece of heaven! in the last 5 days, i've averaged about 1 watermelon every 2 days.  in fact i'm sitting w/ a "bowl" as i write. you can't really tell from the picture, but this is a large salad bowl (it fit about 4/5 of the watermelon).  this is for me:

this is for the rest of my family (this container has the remaining 1/5):

4. today's morning was quite productive - can't say the same about the rest of the day though.

after dropping off my man and our jewel, i met up w/ a friend for a walk, made dinner in a crockpot, made cookies for our jewel's end of the year class picnic, did the dishes, and managed to squeeze in a last minute shower before running to pick up the kids at carpool. having said that, the sad results of the productive morning put a damper on my smile.... jewel didn't like the dinner or the cookies :(

now that's a first

everyone had something different for dinner tonight:

our jewel had pasta, my man had left over london broil w/ vegetables, and i had kimchi stir fry. somehow it made family dinner not seem to family tonight. hummmm

i'm just curious

the other day i was talking to someone about sunday meals and she happened to mention that they have big lunches on sunday so they don't really do dinner... but it got me thinking... what's considered a big meal?

it is an entree, side, and dessert? because if so, that's what all my meals look like and if i had to skip dinner because that's what i had for lunch, i'd be one very hungry, irritable mama.

so i'm just wondering... do people just eat a lot less than i do? i always thought i ate more than others, but is my concept really that far off from others?

example. for breakfast, we have a kefir smoothie and our jewel has a bagel.
then my man has rye toast w/ coffee at work. and around 10, i usually have rice and soup. or rice and seaweed, or rice and something.

then our jewel gets home from school and we usually have leftovers from dinner - maybe pasta, some meat, perhaps rice and soup, or occasionally a sandwich and soup or hotdogs.

then we have a snack around 3 (fruit, dairy, nuts, whatever).

then we have dinner around 5:30/ 6 and it's usually some casserole and salad, or korean dish.

then around 8 i'll do a fruit snack or lately it's been cereal.

so this is my typical eating day... that doesn't sound like a lot to me, but maybe i'm not the typical american i thought i was.... hummmmmmm.

date breakfast

who said dates have to be at night?

with the school year winding down and only two weeks to go before we officially start homeschool... i started dreading the idea of no more alone time...

i have no idea why we didn't think of this earlier. i wish i had because i would have requested he take a few more mornings off earlier in the  year... but alas....

my man took the morning off and after our jewel left for school, we made biscuits using this recipe, bacon, eggs, and a cup of meile cappuccino (for me), espresso (for him). sat outside this really nice sunny day and enjoyed breakfast for two while talking about life.

apparently, i don't know how to do dates lite... so i go in for the big kill, like... what's God saying to you lately? what's been going through your head and heart? let's discuss our journey of faith that we're on these days... what is God convicting you of lately? you know, what everyone talks about when they go on a date....

wish everyday could be like this... but then again, i should be grateful for today. off to enjoy the rest of the morning before our jewel gets home from school!

a recurring thought

a lack of faith makes the problem look bigger than it really is.

weekend recap

saturday we met the in-laws at a local beach and i learned something about myself that is relatively new. i do not like commercialized beaches!

they had the boardwalk with the arcades, the carnival scene, the nasty fried food, etc.
i think i enjoyed this when i was younger.. but now it just seems like a place to waste money on junk.  i'd much rather go to a quiet, natural beach.  is this a sign i'm getting older and boring???

Imputation

my man is a lover of words.
one of his favorites is the word "imputation". it came up in small group the other night so i thought i'd save something he wrote on it:

Imputation is actually a legal term that is best understood in the context of agency law. In agency law, you have basically two parties - the principal and the agent. The agent operates under the control of the principal. You see this most often in an employment relationship - the employee (agent) operates under the control of the employer (principal).

Imagine a store in a shopping plaza. The owner of the store has an employee. That employee is out in the parking lot returning a shopping cart to the store. The employee, not paying attention, accidentally rams the cart into someone's parked car, damaging it. The owner sues the employee for his carelessness. 

Agency law says this - even though the employee was the person who acted as the cause for the damage (guilt), as long as he was acting within the scope of his profession (store employee), then his act is "imputed" or transferred onto his employer. In other words, even though the employer was not the person who damaged the car, the law will look at him and treat him as if he were the person who did it. Therefore, the employer is the one who is held legally responsible for the damage because the law looks down upon him and proclaims "you damaged the car." The guilt is transferred from the employee to the employer. That is how legal imputation works.

So when Paul uses the word imputation in such verses as Romans 4:6, I think this is the idea he is trying to convey. In a sense, there are three major forms of imputation in the Bible:

1. Adam's sin imputed onto all people. As Romans 5 describes it, the sin of Adam brought sin and death on the rest of the world (5:12). Apart from the fact that we sin because we're sinners, we're sinners from the get-go because when God sees the unsaved, He still sees the sin of Adam. The sins of the unsaved are a legal judgment placed on them due to the imputation of Adam's sin on everybody who came after him. One good explanation for this concept, which obviously might seem like a kind of crappy deal for us because we never asked for Adam to speak for us, is when a US President/Congress declares war on a nation. If he declares war, then the whole nation is at war. A US citizen traveling to the enemy country can't say, "but I personally didn't declare war, that other guy did!" The President's word covers everyone, whether they want it to or not.
2. Christ's righteousness imputed onto the saints. The saints are passed over from God's judgment because Jesus' righteousness is placed/imputed upon us (i.e. covered by the blood) so that when the judge looks upon the saved sinner, he sees Jesus, not the sinner. I think it's one of the many reasons why Jesus is referred to as the second Adam. Adam's act spoke for us all first, declaring us sinners (death through Adam), and Jesus' act spoke for us second, declaring the believers righteous (life through Christ).
3. Man's sin imputed onto Jesus. Just like in the example above, the sin is taken off of us and placed on Jesus, so that when God looked at Jesus on the cross, He saw our sin instead and Jesus was judged on that (2 Corin. 5:21). Of course it is important to note that Jesus never actually became a sinner per se, just that he was judged as if he were because of the legal imputation/transfer. So Jesus' relationship with the Father was never hindered as a result of this legal transaction because He remained holy and without sin.

One of the things that stands out to me in all of this is that each of these transactions occurs completely outside of ourselves. Just like the employee's bad act is transferred to his boss because of the law, not because he wants it to, in the same way we don't get a say in how the sin and righteousness transactions work. We just need to trust that the mechanism that God set up works.

quinoa! it's what's for dinner

i'm always on the look out for a good quinoa recipe that my family will like. so far, i haven't found any. don't get me wrong, there are lots that i've enjoyed but to find one that my family genuinely wants me to make again and enjoys without that plastered forced look of, "thanks for cooking"... well, that's been tricky.

so i'm going to give this one a try from a recommendation from a friend:
(verdict to follow tonight).

ngredients

• 1 cup quinoa
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1 lb extra lean ground beef
• 1 small onions, chopped
• 1 -2 garlic cloves
• 1 teaspoon coriander
• 2 teaspoons chili powder
• 2 teaspoons oregano
• 4 -6 dashes hot sauce
• 1 (14 ounce) cans corn, drained
• 1 (19 ounce) cans black beans, rinsed
• 1 (28 ounce) cans whole tomatoes, broken up by hand
• 1 cup Herdez red salsa
• 3/4 cup soy cheese

Directions

1. Prepare Quinoa: Rinse in a sieve under running water. Dry Roast in a skillet for approximately 7 minutes until a crackling sound is heard. Boil 1.5 cups of water in a small saucepan, add the dry roasted quinoa. Turn down the heat to low, cover and simmer for 20 minutes.
2. While quinoa is simmering, heat oil in large skillet. Add garlic and chopped onions, cook 2 or 3 minutes.
3. Add beef, spices and hot sauce. You may want to add a little salt and pepper here also. Brown.
4. Spread quinoa in a large baking dish.
5. Layer remaining ingredients in this order: Beef, corn, tomatoes, salsa, black beans and finally the grated soy cheese (Jalapeño flavor recommended).
6. Bake at 450°F for 20 minutes.

UPDATE: it was very tasty and my man even said he's like to eat it again.  also, i did NOT use soy cheese. yuck! i threw on some sliced farm cheddar cheese after i served everyone their serving. and it melted right on top.  i liked that better than putting it in the oven.  

homeschooling schedule planned

being the planner i am, i just have to write down a schedule, even if it doesn't happen, even if it gets changed. something has to be written down...

i decided to start school mid june. our jewel's school ends the first week of june. so i thought we'd take a week off and then start school.  i have two thoughts in mind: 1. i might do a 5 weeks on, one week off throughout the entire  year and starting in june will allow me to do that. 2. since i'm expecting in the fall, if we need to take some time off when the babe gets here, it won't be a big deal.

so here's my summer plan... for now:


8:30 - 8:45 Bible time
8:45 - 9:15 calendar/ weather/ math
9:15 - 9:30 grammer
9:30 - 9:45 literature
9:45 - 10:00 snack time
10:15 - 10:30 story time (mommy and me reading)
10:30-11:00 geography (2x week)
10:30 - 11:00  science (3x week)
11:00 - 11:30 art (2x week)
11:00 - 11:15 logic (3x week)
11:30 - 12:30 lunch break

afternoons will be spent playing, going on walks, and playdates w/ other friends.

* somewhere in here i need to figure out chore time (should i do it before or after school?)

sad revelation

the other day i commented to my man how i haven't had any back pain in several months. i was thinking that maybe the weight shift from the preg. has taken some of the pressure off my spine or something... and then in church this past sunday, it hit me like a load of bricks! i haven't gone running since the preg.  do you know what that means???? maybe i don't have pain from the lack of running?!

well, the typical person might say, "no running, no back pain. guess i'll have to stop running. "
what does the CRAZY PERSON say? "oh well, guess i'll enjoy the next 6 months of no back pain before it starts up again."

trifle recipe

tonight was AWANA's last night of the year.

i whipped together a quick dessert to take with me:
pound cake using the recipe from allrecipes.com

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 3 eggs
• 1 pinch baking soda

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease and flour a 8x4 inch loaf pan.
2. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add sour cream and eggs.
3. Add flour and pinch of soda, mix well. Pour into a 8x4 inch loaf pan.
4. Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for 1 hour, or until a toothpick inserted into center of cake comes out clean.

then i whipped up some cream w/ some confectionery sugar and a shot of vanilla extract and layered the pound cake, whipped cream, and sliced strawberries in my trifle bowl. wah-la. pop into fridge until ready to take to awana and done!

 

the pound cake was pretty light and moist - but boy! sweet for my taste. i might cut back the sugar to about 1C next time; but then again, one person at AWANA tonight said it could have used more sugar. seriously??? i thought it was soo sweet!  personally, i wouldn't make this for just my family as i think the sugar and white flour is just killer, but it's a good dessert dish to take along to a pot luck or something.

weekend recap

saturday was marvelous! we did nothing!!!! i LOVED it! it was probably the first day in a LONG time that i didn't drive anywhere the entire day. we just did some school in the morning, then cleaned, cooked, and went for a nice little walk. 

sunday was rather busy... sundays seem to be busy for us generally  and i don't like that. it used to be a day of family and rest and now it's a day of running around. this sunday after church, i ran to the grocery store to buy some stuff for small group. ran home, ate lunch, then ran out the door to catch a music show and then zipped to small group. 

fortunately unfortunately, my man was sick yesterday so he spent the day in bed. it was actually nice. we didn't have to all get up early and go. we just lounged around the house, at least until it was time to leave for art class. 

mid-week recap (at the end of the week)

-praying for the visible from the Invisible.

-faith grows in the valley.

mother's day dinner and chocolate mousse

we went over to a friend's house and the men cooked dinner for the moms in honor of mother's day.

menu:
appetizer: brie w/ apricot preserves on crackers

entree: garlic roasted cauliflower,
garlic roasted broccoli
garlic roasted potatoes
roasted sweet potatoes
steak

dessert: chocolate mousse with freshly whipped cream, topped with strawberries.

the chocolate mousse was pretty easy to make and i really liked the recipe so i'll be making it again. i did think it was pretty rich but everyone else thought it tasted fine and finished it clean!

we used the recipe from this blog: of annie's eats.

here's the recipe:
Ingredients:
7 oz. bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped (we used dark chocolate from trader joe's - we just threw it into the food processor)
3 tbsp. water
4 large eggs, at room temperature, separated
Pinch of coarse salt
Directions:
Combine the chocolate and water in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water.  Heat until the chocolate is almost completely melted, stirring occasionally.  Remove the bowl from the heat and stir until the mixture is smooth.  Set aside and let cool to near room temperature.
In a clean, dry bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, combine the egg whites and the salt.  Whip on medium-high speed until stiff peaks form.  They should be thick and smooth.
Stir the egg yolks into the cooled chocolate mixture.  Add one third of the whipped egg whites to the bowl with the chocolate and fold gently to lighten up the mixture.  Fold in the remaining egg whites gently with a spatula just until no visible streaks are left.
Portion the mixture into 4-6 individual serving dishes (or 2 larger serving dishes, for a romantic, share-friendly dessert).  Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 3 hours.  Serve as desired with freshly whipped cream and chocolate shavings.

 * note: we put the mousse in martini glasses and it made 5 servings exactly. i felt so bad for the kids cause they got the short end of the stick - i think they might have only gotten one scope each.  the kids' portions we put in a shot glasses.  my man thought that was a bit ironic but i figured the kids would think it was cute.

happy mother's day!

using left overs to make banana muffins

it all started with a cup of oatmeal that was left over from this morning's breakfast.
i really didn't want to eat the rest of it and i hated to throw it away.

so i decided to make some banana muffins with it.  it was yummy! moist, soft, and melts in your mouth

1C whole wheat flour (freshly milled)
1/4C almond butter (i made this from coconut oil and almonds)
1/2 tsp BS
1 tsp BP
1/2 tsp salt
1/2C brown sugar
2 eggs
1C mashed bananas
1 stick of butter
1C left over oatmeal (in it was raw honey and cinnamon to sweeten it up).
1/2C shredded coconut
1/4C shredded chocolate

preheated 350. mix all together. i really didn't make do the whole dry/ wet thing. i just threw everything in and mixed it up.  18-20 minutes in the muffin pan.

wednesday news

sometimes, things just don't make sense

you endearing man!

in the last 2 weeks, people around me have been given some very bad health news:

1. my mentor's twin brother just found out he has stage 4 cancer.
2. my man's best friend, who is 35 suffered a heart attack.
3. my man's best friend's wife's cousin (same best friend) died. he was only 17.

so all to say it's gotten me thinking about death, losing a loved one. and it made me think about the little things a little differently. so while i don't believe in throwing your man under the bus, i thought i'd write down 10 things that i find annoying endearing that one day i think i'll miss.

1. leaving closet doors open.
2. throwing clothes on the bed/ bench, etc. anywhere but hanging them in the closet.
3. not putting the dishes in the sink.
4. not throwing out the trash
5. refusing to switch to natural deodorant (actually, i just find this amusing that he refuses to try to go organic on this, but understandable ...)
6. me telling him some paper is really important and that he needs to take care of it only to be asked a week later where that said paper went.

hum... that's all i got.. all i keep thinking about is the good stuff he does around here. so i'm switching my list.

1. doing the dishes to serve me.
2. offering to make dinner when he gets home from work cause he sees i'm so tired, even though i know he's tired too.
3. letting me pick the restaurant when we eat out.
4. taking bed time duty w/ our jewel cause "i'm so done!"
5. letting me shower first, even though he knows i'll probably use all the hot water.
6. rubbing my back every night, even in the middle of the night when i wake him up.
7. not getting mad at me when i'm really really trying to start a fight.
8. sometimes eating something that he really doesn't want to eat, but doing it b/c i made it.
9. entertaining my crazy health food 'experiments'.
10. supporting my running even if that means an inconvenience for him.

ok i can keep going. 
it's the little things that i want to remember. because they reflect the bigger thing -  which is that i'm grateful for a servant man God 'loaned' me so that He may be glorified in our covenant promise.

mid-week recap

this week it's been a whole lot of driving and a whole lot more of fatigue.
i realized that i drive about 2 1/2 to 3 hours a day. it's probably not that much for those who commute into the city but for someone who really does not care for driving, it's wearing me out :(

in other news, we took advantage of national pretzel day and got free pretzels.
we also took advantage of baskin robbin's 31 cent scoop day and got ice cream.
it's the little things, i guess. my man said that while it's kind of silly to be going around town looking for the bargains, one day we'll look back on it with fond memories.
so cheers to cheap deals!

sweet potato fries my way

wash, peel sweet potatoes and slice. size of steak fries (you can leave the skin on but just scrub really well). i usually do one sweet potato per person... depending on the size of the potatoes.

throw potatoes into gallon ziplock bag.
add into the bag, melted coconut oil (about 2 TBL - enough to coat the potatoes).
dash of sea salt, black pepper, and if you're in the mood, dash of cayenne.

put into oven at 450 for 30 minutes. rotate every 15. adjust rack if need be, turn oven to broil and set timer for 5 minutes.
nice, crispy fries straight from your oven to your table :)

no running makes you crazy

ultras have been on my mind lately.
i recently read an article about a mom who ran a 100 mile ultra race, while still stopping to breastfeed her child at every rest stop... and she still placed 3rd??!! i wish i could remember where i read that and who it was, but well, you know how our memory can go...

i'm trying to remember how long it took her to run this one - maybe 23 hours?? but let me tell you, it was a whole lot of nursing going on. 

there's a part of me that really wants to sign up for an ultra but i think it's just the crazy talking. i think that i'm so deprived of my running that all i want to do is run, but once i actually start running, i'll remember how long those training runs lasted and how much energy it required of me. but for now, my brain only remembers the good stuff. funny, how your brain plays tricks on you, heh?

happy easter

Christ has risen!


On this easter, we're thankful for the forgiveness of sins and the grace that is extended to us through the blood of the Lamb. 

Jesus, today, help me to live in your forgiveness.

it's in writing

i just want to be clear that i'm running a marathon next year. this no running business is driving me crazy.  so family, do what you got to do. body, you listen too. next year, it's ON!

taking a step of faith

lately, my man and i have been getting into jaime winship's sermons.  you can find some of them here.
he was a missionary to indonesia and jordan. he has a heart for muslims.  he's got a very engaging way of speaking but really, i like him because he gets you to look at Christ in a refreshing new way. 

my man and i have both been convicted about stepping out in faith more; realizing that we're really not living in faith but living within our means. for example, it's easy to pray that God would answer something that you're really capable of doing yourself - ie. buy a car. but it takes faith to ask God to provide a car in a way only He can. 

since my man's accident several weeks ago, we've been praying, and researching.  we thought that we knew what we were going to do.  we had figured out how much we were going to put down on the down payment. we had started applications for an auto loan to refinance the difference, blah, blah, blah... the usual route.  but in the mist of that, we heard God's quite voice. "test me. see if i don't answer." we thought of judges 6 where Gideon tested God and He met Gideon.  we thought about how we've been diligently following a budget and striving to be obedient in the area of stewardship of our resources and it just didn't seem right that God would want us to take out a loan now.  so we take our step of faith, eagerly anticipating God's response to our need for a car.  we believe He is our provider. and so in faith, i write this post, declaring that we choose to trust Him rather than our balance sheet.

it's exciting to watch and wait on Him.

family history tidbit

one of the things that i enjoy about going home is the time i get to spend w/ my parents w/o the interruptions of life... we sit around the dinner table and chat, catching up on life.

during sunday's evening chat, i discovered that my dad knows his grandfather's names going back 35 generations! he told me the general migration of these 35 generations of families and how his family ended in their current hometown. i find that utterly amazing that he knows his family history.  family pride is pretty big in our family (particularly my dad's side) and so apparently it was required that he memorize his family tree (the males of the family, of course) when he was a kid. 

there's even a published book that tells of their lineage. wow! now, if only i read "han mun" (formal korean), then i could read it. 

ps. the korean language has 2 systems - the korean alphabet (han guel) and then the korean alphabet w/ hanja (which are chinese characters). i never learned the later, and unfortunately, official writings are done in hanja.

letting the cat out of the bag

our jewel can't keep a secret.  she gets so excited, you see it bubbling up in her face and she just can't contain the news. even if it's something as simple as what we're having for dinner. last year, we baked my man a cake for his birthday but my man barely even make it in the door before our jewel spilled that we made him a surprise cake. she cracks me up! i love that she's got such joy written all over her face and her excitement to share news with others. 

so since she has already gone and told people, even people she doesn't know, i guess i'll go ahead and share that we're expecting our second.  our jewel's quite excited to be a big sister. 

weekend in the city

i am exhausted! any time i go into the city; i need time to recuperate but this time i was the one who drove into the city; that just took my fatigue to the next level!!! so two days later, i'm in bed at 11am really wishing i could just stay here all day!

saturday:
AM - went to a HUGE used book sale not too far from us. honestly, i've never seen one this big - esp one sponsored by a library. it was in an amory, spanning 2 buildings.  they even charged you $20/head if you wanted to come early! i was able to get a few books for our jewel.  but then we couldn't linger too long because we were off to the city to see an opera.

PM - once a year the new york city opera does a family opera. this year it was to the book "where the wild things are". by maurice sendak. honestly, it was weird. it was almost like a modern interpretation type of thing w/ opera in it. but regardless, our jewel liked it. we met up w/ 2 other families in the city to watch the show so afterwards, we got some cookies from levain bakery. the $4 cookies that everyone seems to love. as i recall it was part of our trip last year when we came in the city for the opera.  this year, i couldn't take more than a bite before i felt sick from the sweetness. it really is that sweet.  then afterwards, we let the kids run around central park and then off we went to have a casual dinner at whole foods. we picked that place b/c 1. it was close, 2. it wouldn't be a big deal to take 6 young kids there and eat in their cafe area, and 3. now this is the main reason we went - b/c one of the adults in our group had never been inside a whole foods. can you imagine?!!  all in all, the trip was fun, we enjoyed the company, and i was wiped out by the time we turned the door knob of our house to enter at 10pm. 

also, one thing that i love about the city is the street performers everywhere! there was a college student that was trying to get into cirque du soleil so she just set up two poles and did a lot of hand balancing acts.  she was kind enough to let our jewel pop up on it and get her snazzy picture taken.

sunday: 

we had church and then afterwards we had small group. we didn't get home until almost 10pm - AGAIN.

so here i am on monday morning, really really exhausted! but it's such a nice day  (and it is 11am) i'm going to get up and take our jewel to dunkin donuts for a monday morning/ afternoon  treat!

poetry books

our jewel really enjoys poetry. she loves the rhythm of the words, the shortness of the "story", and just the sing songy ways you can say them. 

i wanted to keep track of the ones we've enjoyed so far:


Emily Dickinson Poetry for Young People Edited by Frances Schoonmaker Bolin

 

Winter Poems by Barbara Rogasky

An Illustrated Treasury of Read-Aloud Poems for Young People

 

The Bill Martin Jr Big Book of Poetry

quotable quotes by our jewel

our jewel: ticks do not make good pets. 

conversations w/ our jewel

on the car ride home, i was talking to our jewel about how we can solve the problem of too many clothes in her room.

our jewel: yeah! let's give away some of my clothes to people who don't have any.
like in asian, or alaska!!

also on the car ride home, her classmate attempted to give her a nickname.. it did not go well.
classmate:.... kath.
our jewel: that's not my name!
classmate: i was giving you a nickname.
our jewel: no! that's not my name. i don't have a nickname!

random thoughts

1. i really really really miss running. i get jealous every time i see someone run outside!  i think about it constantly and often randomly ask my man how my irritability level is from not running.  he's been rather gracious b/c i think i'm being a bigger pain then he's letting on. 

2. i'm very grateful for my man's servanthood and his willingness to make dinner tonight. chicken and peas risotto w/ left over lentil soup. it actually went pretty well together but oh so filling!  note: heavy cream in the risotto is fabulous. it was farm cream, which was incredibly thick this time. my friend said it was more like clotted cream.  (this is probably what messed up my ice cream).

3. we seem to do craft in spurts around here. honestly, i'm not really into kids' crafts. i do enjoy adult crafts (home decor stuff mainly), so you'd think that i'd enjoy doing crafts w/ our jewel too... but nope.   today was craft day - my man and our jewel made a jacob's latter.  then she and i started an easter egg wreath.   i wish i was more systematic w/ this as i know she enjoys doing them but b/c it's not something i enjoy, it doesn't come naturally, nor does it even cross my mind unless i happen to see something that inspires me to put together a craft project for her.  

4. i spent the afternoon volunteering at a consignment sale. i also consigned stuff this year (first time ever). i'm not sure if i'll do it again. i went through 6 years worth of clothes which was a task in itself. then to have to tag each thing (which i did wrong the first time b/c i missed that it had to be printed on cardstock) and go through every item to make sure there were no stains, rips, etc.  i thought about ironing b/c it was recommended... but that idea quickly died after i saw how long this entire process was taking.   honestly, i don't know if it's going to be worth it for me to do this again.   i doubt i made that much $ off of the sale.  

april fools means snow...

in the north.
it's currently snowing buckets outside! does God have a sense of humor or what?!

so on this white april 1st, we'll be having lentil chili for lunch/ dinner as soon as i brave the snow to go and pick up our jewel from school.

here's the recipe that i got from allrecipes.com with my small modifications.

lentil chili

threw into a pot - 1 lb of ground turkey
added chopped red onions, green peppers, and celery.  let the meat cook through and the veggies sweat.  then added in 1 28 ou can of diced tomatoes, approx 2 cups of chicken stock, 1 10 ou can of tomato sauce, salt, pepper, 1 heaping TBL chili powder, 1 tsp cumin, 1 dash of dried thyme, and 1 tsp of garlic.  let simmer until flavors blend together. done.

mid-week recap

1. so i've been a little busier this week b/c i've been driving my man to and from work and also taking our jewel to school (normally she's in carpool in the morning so all i have to do is brush my teeth and pack our jewel her snack).  while i have to admit that i don't like getting out of bed earlier or going out in the cold, i have really enjoyed our family time in the car together. we've been praying for the day and it gives my man and me a few extra minutes to talk w/o the distractions of the internet.   i have to say that for a split second, i entertained the idea of working off one car so that we can continue this but honestly.... that only lasted that split second. 

2. this week i've been pondering the idea of what it means to hear God's voice. do you think that you find yourself going through the day, doing your thing... and not really listening? sometimes, i think we're listening but really we're just kind of coming up with our own answers to our prayers and then telling God this is how i want you to answer... we may not say it in those words, but that's what our actions say.  so this week, i've been praying that i can listen. no agenda. no stipulations. just have an open heart that wants to stick around and hear what God's got to say. 

3. on a completely different topic, have you ever had something really good at someone's house. they tell you the recipe. you go home and try to replicate it and it's not at all what you ate?? that's what happened to my lentil soup this week. it just goes to show that not all ingredients are the same.  fortunately, my friend/ mentor isn't secretive about what she did so i figured out that while most of our ingred. were the same, the quality of the ingred made all the difference in the world.  isn't that true of life sometimes?  two people can do the exact same thing - but one puts that extra level of care and effort into that and that makes all the difference. it's about the heart attitude in the process, more than the outcome. 

if you're curious, here's the lentil soup recipe:


diced carrots and onions (i also used celery).

• i sauted mine in chicken fat (from grass-fed chickens) and organic olive oil
• she sauted it in duck fat (huge difference!)
• also, while both of our carrots were organic, hers were from whole foods and mine was from costco.  i have to say, the sweetness of her carrots came through in her soup. i couldn't replicate that subtle sweetness in mine.

add lentils (soaked in filtered water) and chicken stock

• while both of our chicken stock came from grass fed chickens, i boiled the chicken.
• she said making broth from roasted chickens is a lot more flavorful.
• also, i used brown lentils and she used french lentils.

then add sea salt, pepper, and thyme

• in addition, she also added tumeric. (she said the tumeric probably wasn't the big difference).

simmer for about an hour and then blend 1/2 in a vita mix to get a smoother consistency.

4. i've started reading this book called: Fannie's last supper by Chris Kimball (the guy who does America's Test Kitchen and started Cook's Illustrated).  It's about a recreation of a 12 course Victorian meal, in true Victorian style (thus using stoves from the Victorian era, etc).  it's part culinary history and part cookbook.  it's pretty fascinating.  the other day, i just happened to be tv surfing and i was able to catch the PBS show that aired based on this book.  i'm not sure i would have wanted to live in that era; but i do think that we've lost a lot in terms of culinary appreciation and food preparation that was prevalent in the Victorian era. 

5. i'm so over winter. it's the end of march and there was snow in last night's weather forecast. are you kidding me???? fortunately i didn't wake up to it but last week, two days in a row, i woke up to whiteness on the branches and the ground. this is no good, people! i need my warmer weather.

be careful what you pray for

last night our jewel really really wanted my man to be able to work from home today. she loves seeing him and being in the same room w/ him even if he's not accessible.  this morning on the way to work, my man was unfortunately in a car accident. no one was hurt and it'll probably just be an inconvenience more than anything else, but as soon as i got home from my picking him up the first question i asked our jewel was.... did you pray that daddy would be able to work from home today? sure enough, she did. 

it was her first lesson in prayer... sometimes God answers prayers in ways we never expect.

spring break recap

it's always nice to go back home. we got to see lots of friends and spend good time with family.  we went down for my dad's birthday and i think he was really appreciative that we came down even though my parents kept saying not to trouble ourselves.  unfortunately the gift that the kids got together and bought for him did not arrive in time. they laughed when my sister pulled out her droid and said, "here's a picture of your gift that you will be getting later next week."

we always lament that we can't see everyone we wish to see, but we're so grateful that we have friends that want to see us when we are back. it makes us feel grateful for the community we have back home. it also makes me miss what we had while there. it's so easy to take it for granted until it's gone. 

along the same lines our jewel got to see some of her friends and it revived her soul. i could see the pure joy on her face and it's made me sad that we've pulled her away from those friendships.  esp since she hasn't found those same kindred spirits up here. 

this trip, especially more so than the other trips in the past, has made me wish we could go back.

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY! and mid-week recap

i'm about as far away from irish as you can possibly get but i'm always up for a reason to celebrate.

today's reason for celebration was the servanthood of my man who got up an hour early to pick up bagels for all. we sat down and had a nice leisure breakfast w/ bagels, muffins, and coffee (or in the case of our jewel hot chocolate)... actually i ended up drinking her hot chocolate too. he even went as far as setting the table and everything. such a dear man!

mornings like these just encourage my heart!

in other news, i may have mentioned in the past my man's obsession with espresso. not coffee - espresso. and when i say obsessed - i mean, obsessed. it all started about 8.5 years ago when we got a basic espresso machine as a wedding gift.  that began the journey of learning espresso. soon, it was upgraded to "miss silvia". (that's actually the name, my man did not name her).  he then got a manual espresso machine (le pavoni) where you can control the pull of the cup.  (how quickly the water goes through the espresso grind).  then it went to researching grinders and upgrading that.  from there, it proceeded to researching beans. he even went as far as buying beans that were roasted the night before and fed ex'd to your door so that you would get it exactly 3 days after the roasting - as that was the optimal time to grind them.  so you think that would be it, right?  of course not! as of this week, he has begun buying raw beans so that he can roast them himself.  he made his first batch earlier this week. he's been experimenting with when to grind them. it's amazing how different the coffee tastes when you grind them 1 day after versus 2 days after the roasting.  he's met a few guys who makes my man look like small potatoes - so of course that has spurred my man on to new heights.  i find this whole thing amusing, entertaining, and just overall enjoyable to watch. mainly because if you know my man at all, you know he's one of the most humble guys you'll probably meet in life.  he's also very easy going - not really bothered by much in life.  but give him a bad cup of espresso - esp. if you are a certain italian restaurant that has a very good espresso machine and toots good espresso - and he will turn his nose up to you.   one of these days, i would not be surprised if he sets up his own barista bar in our basement.

also amazing is that after 8 1/2 years, he's finally gotten me to enjoy an occassional cup of coffee... i do not care for coffee. i think it's bitter and just plain nasty.  but he's finally figured out a combo that works for my palate and that my man agrees is enjoyable for him as well.  i would tell you what it is; but i think if he were ever to open an espresso bar, it would be on his menu as one of his signature cups.  i will give you a hint - it will be called cappuccino miele.

oh and over the weekend we got to see some relatives who came down from upstate to visit.  my man's aunt, her mother, and her two girls came down for a weekend shindig.  it was cool to see 3 generations of females enjoying each others' company.  we hit lunch and then adventure aquarium. do we have pictures? of course not! that would be so unlike us! we pull out the camera to get a picturisque shot w/ the phily skyline behind us, only to see the battery was dead! boo hoo!! but it was a good time had by all and the afternoon flew by.  it was especially nice that my man's cousins were so into our jewel and let her lead them all over the displays.

what's for dinner tonight?

does chicken noodle soup go w/ hot dogs? i don't know but that's what i'm serving tonight.
and of course the ice cream for dessert.

No churn ice cream recipe

i saw this from foodrenegade.com and it's been on my "to make" list FOREVER! i finally got some cream from the farm so i made it this afternoon. it should be ready for tasting just in time for dessert tonight. so excited! comments to follow...

UPDATE: blah! it was no good! i'm not sure why but the cream i got from the farm this time was really really thick!  and it crystallized; the problem that i often get w/ making ice cream not in an ice cream maker.  unfortunately the cream is not cheap; so while the experiment went bad; we still have to eat it. i wonder if it'll be good if i thaw it back out; whip it up and spoon it on top of chocolate chip cookies???

book review: The guernsey literary and potato peel society

it's a book of letters about the german occupancy during ww2 of the channel islands.   it took me a little while to get into, but once i did i finished it up in 2 days.  it's a great light read.

mid-week recap

• monday night my man went to a private concert to see this guy.  the irony? the way they took my man in for the concert, he was using the same elevator the band used. guess who he was in the elevator w/ and didn't even know it? that's right - the feature performer.

• as i stare at a sink full of dishes, i can't help but think how this is just another illustration of how marriage changes people. when we first got married, i couldn't stand anything in the sink... not even a fork.  now my general rule is that i do dishes once a day.  and yet, my hands are still so dry they crack and bleed. 

•  why is it so much harder to motivate myself to go for a walk than for a run??  

•  i was telling my man that i can't wait til saturday... this is coming from the stay at home mom who has entire mornings free after she sends her little one off to school.

bye bye chipotle

there was a time in my life when we went to chipotle multiple times a month.   well last friday's visit killed my urge for it and i no longer have the chipotle bug. 

i'm very particular about what i get there: it's the vegetable burrito bowl, with everything minus the sour cream.  that means: the rice, grilled green bells and red onions, black beans, 3 different types of salsa, corn, cheese, lettuce, and then guacamole.  well, this time, they completely messed up my order - TWICE. the second time, i just said forget it, i'll just eat it and what a mistake that was. it wasn't my burrito bowl and i didn't like it at all! in fact, it gave me an upset stomach and i kept burping up hot salsa til the next day! (by the way, in case you don't know. spicy salsa is great going down; not so good coming back up) so now i no longer hunger for my sweet, spicy chipotle dish. 

good bye, my dear friend. it was good while it lasted.