We Are Never Alone

Throughout my life I have had experiences that have shown me that I am never alone. That someone is always watching and listening to my spoken or unspoken prayers. And that I never have need to feel afraid or deserted. One little experience happened a little over a year ago, right after I had just married my husband. As soon as we moved to Texas, I was immediately called to work with the youth at my church and they had a huge camping trip that week that they invited me to attend with them. Even though I was a grown woman who had been on my own in new situations many times before, the first night away from my husband was really hard. I barely knew anyone and I was feeling very lonely in my little sleeping bag in the corner of the tent. During my restless sleep, I got up to use the restroom and on my way back I looked up and was struck by the beauty of the night sky. As I was admiring the stars in the cold, crisp, silent air, a gorgeous shooting star shot across the sky, directly where I was looking. Some people may look at that as a coincidence, but I immediately felt the warmth of my Heavenly Father's love as I was given the comfort that I was not alone.

A second, more recent experience happened this last weekend, when again, I was away from my husband. He had left for the weekend for a business trip and I was home alone with our two new 8 week old puppies. On Friday night, after running some errands, I returned home to find that one of my puppies was extremely sick. She was showing all the symptoms for a fatal puppy virus called Parvo and I was really concerned. I called the vet emergency line since the office was closed and he said to just make sure to keep fluids in her all night and bring her in in the morning. He recommended Pedialyte or Gatorade...I had neither. After I hung up, I started crying. I was alone and scared and I didn't want my puppy to die. I tried to think of who I could call that would have some Pedialyte, since the small, local store was already closed. As I held the phone in my hand sobbing like a little girl, it rang. My friend Alex was on the other line, who just so happened to be in the next town over at Target, on the baby aisle, right in front of the Pedialyte. I almost started laughing because it was such an obvious answer to my prayers! Luckily, through some TLC and lots more prayers, my puppy made it through the night and was completely her old self by morning! All the symptoms were gone and I didn't have to bring her into the vet!

I know God hears our prayers and watches over us. I also know how important it is to recognize that his hand is in the little miracles that happen in our lives every day. The more we recognize his presence, the more present He will be :) Which is why I've chosen to share these experiences with you :)

Dutch Babies

Does everyone have a special childhood food memory? I have a lot, but this is by far one of my favorites! I remember standing in front of the oven, watching our masterpiece grow into amazing shapes and sizes. The best part was taking it out to see what the final shape was! I loved it! Dutch babies are kind of like breakfast soufflés. I've heard some people call them German pancakes, but they will forever be Dutch babies to me...even though it is kind of a weird name now that I think about it :{ Here's the recipe for making a personal-sized Dutch baby.

2 eggs

1/2 c milk

tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 c flour

1/2 tsp cinnamon

2 Tb butter

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Beat together eggs, milk, vanilla, and salt. Add flour, stirring constantly, until all lumps are gone. Add cinnamon. When oven is preheated, place butter in round baking dish and melt in oven. When melted, add mixture. Cook for 20-25 minutes.

My favorite topping is fresh squeezed lemon juice and powdered sugar. Yum! Try it! You'll like it!

How to stay ahead of the game!

Have you or your husband/wife ever said the words, "Where does all our money GO?!" I was hearing these words exclaimed every single week as my husband looked over our bank account and shook his head. Then I found Bottomline Budgets :) (Did I do a good job sounding like an infomercial? Hehe :) I'm not getting paid to advertise this site or anything, but I do want to let you know how awesome it is and how much it's helped us! After looking at a bunch of budget templates online, this is the one that made the most sense to me and what I knew would help us the most. I've never enjoyed making a "budget" per say... allotting certain amounts of money to each category and trying to stay within that amount. That's too much effort! But I do enjoy keeping track of our finances. With this template I am able to set aside money week by week for things that we are saving for without having to physically move money from one account to another, I can enter in all fixed expenses that I know are coming up that month, and I can enter in expenses as they happen so that we know how much money we have left to work with before we get paid again. I love it and my husband loves it! Especially when I tell him how much money we have left over that week :) He thinks I'm a genius, when really...Bottomline Budgets does it all! But don't tell him :) I like being a genius :)

Happy Borcht-day!!

On Sunday, I told my mom I'd be trying my hand at making Borcht. I had never heard of it until searching for recipes that included beets and she had never tried making it, so she said I had to post a picture when it was all said and done. So, her you are mom! Happy Borcht-day! Hehe :) I'll take it one step further, though, and include the recipe, or rather, my version of the recipe, because it really turned out delicious! This soup is a staple in most Eastern and Central European countries and can be made either hot or cold. The main ingredient is beetroot which turns the whole soup an awesome pinkish-purple color. It would be great to serve on Valentine's day :) It was fairly easy to make, just a lot of chopping vegetables, so if you have a food processor, that would be the way to go! I doubled the recipe I found, because I love leftover soup for lunches, and it freezes well, but if you don't want to make that much, then just half it. Oh, and this soup is extremely healthy! Especially if you choose to include mostly organic ingredients, like we did.

Borcht-day Soup

Prep time: 25 min /Cook Time: 1 hour

Serves 16

6 cups water

6 cups organic vegetable broth

1 chopped large yellow onion

1 cup chopped organic carrots

1/2 cup chopped organic celery

1/2 cup chopped organic bell pepper

3 organic beets, diced

2 cans organic diced tomatoes

6 potatoes, quartered

4 Tbls organic butter

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 head organic purple cabbage, finely shredded

1/2 cup organic milk or cream

4 potatoes, diced

2 Tbls dill weed

Salt and Pepper to taste

Sour cream if wanted

1) Place water, broth, 1/2 of the chopped onion, carrots, celery, bell pepper, beets, 1 can diced tomatoes, and quartered potatoes in a large stock pot over high heat. Bring to a boil.

2) Melt 3 tbls butter in a separate skillet over medium heat. Saute remaining chopped onions and garlic in butter until tender, approximately 5 minutes. Stir in remaining 1 can of diced tomatoes, reduce heat to medium low, and simmer for 15 minutes. Stir in cabbage and continue simmering and stirring until cabbage is tender, about 10 minutes.

3) Remove quartered potatoes when they are tender with a slotted spoon or tongs, and place in a bowl with remaining 1 tablespoon of butter and the milk or cream. Mash together until smooth.

4) Stir in diced potatoes, sauted cabbage, and mashed potatoes into the stock pot. Make sure mashed potatoes are stirred in well. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes more. Add dill weed, salt, and pepper. Serve warm with a dollop of sour cream on top and warm bread.

Have You Ever...

Celebrated your 20th birthday floating down the Seine in Paris
Watched a grown man cry like a baby the first time he prayed and cried right along with him
Branded a cow with a hot iron and watched its meatballs taken off
Ridden in a hot air balloon over Provo
Eaten at Gandolfo’s in your full cap and gown
Watched baby alligators being born at an alligator farm
Pet dolphins backstage at Walt Disney World
Planted the world’s largest baring tomato tree
Sung in the Christmas production at Walt Disney World
Been featured on a live Canadian French TV show
Gone to the top of the snow-capped Pyrenees
Learned to make chocolate in the basement of a jewelry shop in Switzerland
Walked though Ann Franks hiding room in Amsterdam
Seen the Mona Lisa
Seen Cats, The Lion King, Chicago, and Les Miserables in London
Gone to Easter Mass at Notre Dame de Paris
Mud wrestled in nothing but heart boxers and a tank top
Watched Titanic and counted how many times Jack and Rose said each other’s names
Gone on a 2500 mile road trip with your dad, twice
Played air guitar in your living room wearing only your bathing suit
Gone snorkeling and kayaking in the Caribbean
Had a song written about you
Tried pole vaulting
Stood solemnly in the American Cemetery in Normandy while The Star Spangled Banner was played over the loud speakers
Enjoyed Italian gilatto on the bridges of Venice
Hiked through 5 fishing villages along the cliffs of the Italian Riviera
Swam in the clear blue waters of the Mediterranean
Stood in the homes of Leonardo de Vinci and Claude Monet
Sung in a small jazz group, performing and competing all over Southern California
Took off on a spur of the moment 22 hour road trip to Nauvoo, Chicago, and Wisconsin with three people you met the night before
Almost gotten blown off the top of a light house in St. Augustine, FL
Gone on a road trip to Yellowstone to break the news to your old roommate that you had killed her fish
Attended church at a hotel that had elephants and giraffes on the chandeliers above you
Chased peacocks around a park in France so you could have a feather
Been shark fishing

Recorded your own CD in a recording studio

Can you believe I have!! Leave a post if you remember being a part of any of these awesome memories :)

French Cafe Corner

So here is the first product of my nesting :)

This little corner next to our kitchen used to hold a huge pile of empty packing boxes and two broken washing machines (don't ask). Now it is my favorite room in the house!

It makes me feel like I'm back in France at a little cafe :)

I was so excited when I found this perfect curtain material!

Don't you just want to sit and have a cup of tea? Come on over!

This obviously is my garden space and it makes me so excited for spring to come!!

It feels soooooo good to have this space exactly right :)

Nesting

Recently, I have been in this phase where everything has to have a designated space. I've taken one room at a time and organized and cleaned and decorated until I feel that everything is where it is supposed to be. It is such a drive that I feel within, it's almost unexplainable! Maybe it's the coming of spring, maybe it's the drum of winter, or maybe I'm preparing for something in the future that only my sub-conscience knows about?! I don't know, but it's funny how much peace it brings to me, knowing that my storage room is completely organized. I don't even go in there very often!

The term "nesting" has always been intriguing to me. In my biology course in college, I remember learning about bird nesting. The male usually provides the foundation for the nest and the female designs the inner lining. The female is the skilled builder and detailer. Lots of precision goes into weaving and adding to the nest. Almost as if every piece "has a designated space." :) Construction usually starts near the end of winter and is finished by spring when the eggs are laid, but the nest is only used once, never to be used again! Does that fact stop them from making the very best nest possible? Not at all!

And that's when I realized...I'm nesting. We may not be in Texas very long, but dang it, I am going to make the very best nest possible while we're here! No more packed boxes of decorating and craft materials, it's all coming out!