Birthdays and Bellies

It is always fun celebrating birthdays! This year was no exception. My Mom and Dad decided to go to Disneyland to culminate another year of life. Melissa and Eric drove down with them, came to Irvine to spend the day with us and then we all met up for dinner at Downtown Disney. I think one of the reasons I anticipate birthdays is because I really enjoy wrapping presents! My love language is gift giving and it extends to the presentation. This was my mom's present this year - a red, black and white theme. Her gift was an adorable red apron and white baking dish from Crate and Barrel. Brown paper is the perfect starting point. From there the ribbon, topper, card make a gift unique. So fun!

Here's to another one Mama! I admire your kind heart, generosity and huge capacity to love. You are a treasure on this side of eternity.

While Melissa and Eric were down here and we were waiting to go to dinner we decided to put my camera to work. We shot photos all afternoon. They were troopers to put up with my lack of knowledge and very complementary of the final products. Anyone out there who could show me a thing or two about a Canon Xsi?? I would love it! I need some major instructing. Never-the-less, we had a great time and there is at least one good one to commemorate Melissa's first pregnancy and the Matthews' first child. We love you Cade and can't wait to meet you. Below are a few of my favorites. I'll let Miss show you the rest.

Order has been shipped...

Hum? I didn't order anything from Amazon. What are they shipping me?

I scrolled down a little farther and saw I was receiving a wall map of China!! My really thoughtful husband wanted us to learn the lay of the land before we travel 13 hours to the country. He put it up and marked the spots we will hit on our trip in just a month and a half! So now we are a little more acquainted with the territory and others who visit our home in Palo Verde will be too!

Beijing, Shanghai and Xi'an are marked with red

and China with surrounding countries

Allow me to introduce you...

...to our small group! We love being a part of Thrive Group 1 and walking together through the journey of marriage. It is a blessing to meet weekly and talk about what God's word says about marriage and our roles as husbands and wives. We had our first fellowship gathering this past weekend and it was fabulous! We had lunch, chatted and carved pumpkins!

My pumpkin - I saved it from the "pie" bin at the grocery store and decided to draw instead of carve. It doubled as our centerpiece!

Adam and Jeanene

Bryan and Lacey

Cody and Kenya

Kurt and Krysten

Stuart and Hilary

Bryan and Jamie

Lester and Katie

And of course - Matthew! Can you believe I forgot to get a pic of us! This is Matt's second attempt at a pumpkin. The first rolled out of his hands and cracked. So sad. Thankfully the Hoetgers brought an extra!

All smiles with our pumpkins!

We were missing a few at our party - so they are not pictured here but we love them just as much!

COOKIES!!!

I decided to make cookies one afternoon for two reasons.

1) I like cookies

2) This recipe I found contains my FAVORITE candy

Reese's Peanut Butter Cups!!

I got a new camera for my birthday and I am trying to learn a thing or two so I took a bunch of pictures of the cookie escapade. Plus, I knew I would love them and would want to post the recipe and pictures always make a post more fun (Random fact - one time I was quoted in the newspaper saying "funner" and I was told MANY times that "funner" is not a word. So now I always make sure I say "more fun"...oh, I was in 3rd grade.).

So here it is!

All the cookie ingredients! Look at that pile of delicious cups!

You use a whole 12 oz bag :) mmmmm. Never mind the stick of butter...

The recipe - I was trying to be artsy! Ha!

Here comes my commercial...

Look at these cookies! What I didn't take a picture of was the bottoms - no burnt bottoms here. Want to know why?? I used the SILPAT! A fabulous invention that lets you say good-bye to burnt bottom cookies! They plumped up and looked great!

This on the other hand was my baking sheet without the SILPAT. I only have one and I wanted to put both sheets in at one time. Call me impatient, but I would have thought my non-stick Calphalon cookie sheet would have done a better job. (It did come off really easily - so Calphalon is still pretty high on my list) None-the-less, I was so impressed with my SILPAT that I immediately put another one on my Amazon wish list. If you are looking for a good Christmas gift for someone (maybe me ;) they are at Bed Bath and Beyond for a mere $19.99 and you can use a 20% off. Great deal!!

End of commercial...

Delicious.

The Recipe

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp kosher salt

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temp

3/4 cup dark brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 large egg

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1 12oz package Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, coarsely chopped

--> Heat oven to 375. Line baking sheets with parchment paper (or a SILPAT). In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt

--> Using an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugars until creamy. Add the egg and vanilla and beat to combine. Gradually add the flour mixture, mixing until just incorporated. Fold in the peanut butter cups.

--> Drop tablespoon size mounds of dough 2 inches apart onto the prepared baking sheets. Bake until light brown around he edges 12-15 minutes. Transfer to a baking rack to cool.

Pour a glass of milk and enjoy.

(Recipe from Real Simple)

Baked Mac and Cheese ** For Carol

So, I was having a hard time writing a blog following my previous post. It didn't seem right to blog about daily happenings in our lives. To be honest, I'm still reeling from the events of last week. Carol pops into my head often and I have to literally think through the process of dying. I remind myself that she is no longer here in our presence, but in the presence of the Lord. Then, I sigh and thank the Lord for the time that she was here and rejoice that she is in heaven. So there is the reason I decided to post a yummy recipe. Carol loved to cook and share a meal with friends and what better than a "comfort food" to post in her honor.

So here it is ** Baked Mac and Cheese **

I know, I know ... I can hear the gasps over cyberspace. I have actually never had a bite of this delightful dish because I DON'T LIKE CHEESE! There. I said it. I am not a fan, in fact I don't ever eat it. But my cheese loving husband digs this side dish or maybe even main meal depending on the intensity of your love for cheese. I modified Betty's version of the cheesy goodness - so I guess that makes it my own...

2	cups uncooked elbow macaroni (7 ounces)
1/4	cup butter or margarine
1/4	cup all-purpose flour
1/2	teaspoon salt
1/4	teaspoon pepper
1/4	teaspoon ground mustard
1/4	teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
2	cups milk
2	cups shredded or cubed cheese (8 ounces) ** I have done a mix of cheddar and a quatro blend from TJ's OR smoked gouda and parmesan ** A couple handfuls of panko bread crumbs for the crunchy top 1. Heat oven to 350ºF. 2. Cook macaroni as directed on package. 3. While macaroni is cooking, melt butter in 3-quart saucepan over low heat. Stir in flour, salt, pepper, mustard and Worcestershire sauce. Cook over medium low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture is smooth and bubbly; remove from heat. Stir in milk. Heat to boiling, stirring constanly. Boil and stir 1 minute. Stir in cheese. Cook, stirring occasionally, until cheese is melted. 4. Drain macaroni. Gently stir macaroni into cheese sauce. Pour into ungreased 2-quart casserole. Top with panko bread crumbs. Bake uncovered 20 to 25 minutes or until bubbly.

In Memory

Today I’m thankful for technology. I was able to attend a funeral in Washington DC from my living room in Irvine. The funeral was broadcast over the internet so that those of us far away could attend.

Carol Marshall was an amazing woman. She was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in the early part of this year and on Monday she saw our Savior face to face. She will be greatly missed here, but I’m comforted to know that she is complete, made whole in Christ and no longer in pain. She is experiencing the riches of heaven and the Lord in all his glory. Her life was well lived and she was fervent in telling others about salvation in Christ. I am confident she heard the words “well done good and faithful servant upon standing in the presence of the Lord. I want to be like her.

Carol had placed her faith in Christ. She accepted that He died for her sins and that they were forgiven because of his shed blood. She lived a life worthy of the call and placed her trust in Him. When the cancer started to take over, she didn’t worry because she knew the Lord had a plan for her life and He was in control. When she was experiencing pain, she drew close to the Lord for comfort. When she was scared, she went to scripture and found peace in the Word of God. That is a life worthy of the call. It wasn’t just for Carol. It is for you to, whoever may be reading this that doesn’t know Christ. He died so that all sins would be forgiven. Jesus took on the weight of the world and paid the penalty so we wouldn’t have to..because we never could. We are all sinners, we have been separated from God, but by his grace, through faith we can have a right relationship with him. Place your trust in Christ and allow Him to change you the way he changed Carol. You can have assurance that when you depart from this world you will stand before the savior and he will welcome you in and not send you away.

I met Carol when I was in high school and I became friends with her son, who led me to Christ. We eventually started dating and I distinctly remember a later conversation with Carol where she told me that they had been praying for me. Together, they allowed the Lord to use them to bring me to Himself. I’m forever grateful. Over the next few years that we dated Carol made me part of the family. She had this uncanny way of making you feel like you were the most important person to her. She invested in me, cared for me, treated me to dinners and trips, and taught me about living the Christian life. They brought me to church with them, the church where Matt and I met (also grateful for that!), and made sure my feet were on the right path. She also had an impact on Matt. He wrote this on her blog and it sums up how we feel about her. “Carol, our memories of you span many cities and many different stages of life on this earth. You've taught us both how to know the Lord better. You taught Jenny how to be a woman of God when she didn't have a clue. You taught Matt how to bring faith into business without compromising excellence in either. In all our memories of you, what's consistent is your unwavering solidarity with the Gospel of Jesus Christ and your contagious energy that so easily drew others to you. In his book "Don't Waste Your Life," John Piper writes, "God created us to live with a single passion to joyfully display His supreme excellence in all the spheres of life." Rest confidently that you have done just that. We love you.”

Lost Luggage

This was new. I've had bags come in late before, but they magically arrive in the middle of the night and are waiting for me when I rise. This time was different. I was that girl again, waiting at the baggage claim carousel thinking "am I in the right place?" Matt had gone to get the car and I was put in charge of the bag. I wandered between three different carousels, every time a new red light flashed and made that awful noise I would hurry over like one of Pavlov's dogs. Soon I found myself in the Southwest Baggage Claim office with a handful of other fliers and filed the report. Missing. "I'm sure it will come in later today" the attendant said with such assurance that I felt comforted. Well, that was Saturday and today is Wednesday and they still have no idea where it is. They called yesterday to say they were actively looking for it. What does that mean? Are they walking the tarmac and scouring the baggage claims of airports across America. I doubt it, but the gesture was appreciated. So a few lessons learned from this experience:

1. Carry your jewelry with you, especially if it is the pearls you got for your engagement

2. Carry your medication with you, especially if it replaces a necessary hormone that your missing thyroid used to produce

3. oh..just carry it all whenever possible :)

Bigger and more important lesson learned: it is all STUFF! I am not allowed to enter heaven with it, so why fret that I don't have it now. The bible doesn't say I can bring one bag with me with everything I hold dear...no, it says in Matthew 6:19-20 " Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal." At least on my way to heaven I won't have to worry about whether or not my bag gets there...