Erin L'amoureux de Coop

"Selling" Jesus

2012-01-27T20:34:00.001-06:00

Don't worry - this is not a real advertisement

Lately, the topic of "selling" Jesus has come up a lot.

I was helping with a youth retreat a few weeks back, and they had us ask the kids why someone should become a Christian. Instantly they listed of things like happiness and that it makes things easier. Now don't get me wrong, these things can be true. But I couldn't help but think about all the people in my life that had been "sold" on the idea of happiness and then their faith was completely shaken when things didn't go well. One teenager in my group had just experienced the death of her best friend. Was she happy? I asked her if being a Christian met she was happy in the midst of this. Instantly she shook her head. So does this mean she is not a Christian? I challenged the rest of the group. Of course it didn't mean that. She is struggling so much, but she has a peace that God is in control and is still trusting Him, even on the difficult days.

So why do we try to "sell" Jesus as a great way for fire insurance, blessings and happiness. There are tons of places in the New Testament where it says trials and tribulation WILL come in our lives. Yes, scripture has mentions of blessing and happiness for the Christian, but it never promises these things on this side of heaven.

As a young child, I was "sold" on the idea of Jesus. I didn't want to burn in hell (who does?) and I wanted all the "good stuff" people told me about, so I prayed a prayer. I may have even walked an aisle. I honestly don't even remember the details, I was too young. When I became a teenager, I was surrounded with trials and felt hopeless many times. I realized that I had not made Christ Lord of my life, I just "bought into" the idea of Jesus. In my eyes, I was "saved" but had none of the peace that came with knowing Christ. And even worse, I didn't have the happiness and great blessings people wrongly promised came with being a Christian. It wasn't until I decided to begin a relationship with Christ that I really began to understand (as in start seeking Him for all my choices/attitude/actions instead of myself).

I've been growing in my relationship with God ever since, but I've noticed in my own sharing of my faith and in so many others we often try to "sell" Jesus as things we think people want. I shared with people who believed in Heaven and wanted to go. I told them how great my life has been since becoming a Christian (which is true, but I often left out the trials and struggles with sin) They wanted things to go well for them, so they make a choice to be "saved". Some of them to this day call themselves Christians but think nothing of their faith (after all, they are "saved") unless something bad happens. What would happen instead of approaching people with "be like me because you can have (fill in blanks)" we really explained our emptiness and selfishness without Christ. Being "saved" wasn't about my prayer I prayed, it was about realizing that I cannot and should not try to live my life for myself. I fail on my own and I need Him as my Savior AND my Lord (as in DAILY, not just at the pearly gates).

It's humility and repentance that brings us into a relationship with Christ. That is the entire reason for the cross to begin with. Jesus didn't die on the the cross just because He wanted us to feel comfortable in eternity. (Essentially, that is an effect, but not the real reason). He sacrificed Himself because we are sinners and had no way of making things right on our own. We were separated from God and He made a way. His death and resurrection is so much greater than "fire insurance" or blessings that may or may not come. He didn't want to sell "insurance"packages for a bargain of praying a prayer and walking an aisle - He wanted us to turn from our sin and seek Him daily. "Selling" people the message that they are sinners and fail on their own doesn't sound as good as "selling" Heaven. But it's the Truth. Praise God that we aren't the ones who are responsible for their belief. It is the Spirit that convicts, not us. And amazingly, the Gospel "sells" itself to those who He has convicted and called because bottom line is that it's the only Truth and the only way. We don't have to be the "salesman". We are just the mouthpieces.

What an incredible disservice we do the Gospel by leaving out the hard parts and/or trying to add our own sales pitch "act now and get this and this" type approach. Yes, a believer will be blessed, but we can't even pretend to know the ways God may work in their lives, be it trials or blessings galore. The blessings may not ever be seen on this side of Heaven.

One of my favorite songs for over a year now is Jimmy Needham's "Part the Clouds". Needham says it much more poetic than I ever could. It's time for me to stop "dressing up" the Gospel and start sharing the Truth.

Part The Clouds by Jimmy Needham on Grooveshark

Part the Clouds Lyrics:

I like, like to be liked
And no one likes to hear the truth
And I've seen what the truth can do
So I tried, tried to downsize
The part of you that's hard to tell
But the layoff didn't go so well
I beat around the burning bush
'Til that fire went away
God was once so palpable
Before the shades of grey

We might as well just fold our hands
If we can't call a spade a spade
'Cause we will miss the heart each time
If we won't ever shoot them straight
These pleasantries have shaded me
And you too long
Let's part the clouds and show the world the Son

We think, think we're helping
By giving you a little flare
But it doesn't matter what you wear
'Cause runways aren't your forte
You prefer the narrow road
Even though it's not en vogue
The Gospel looked so very cold one night as I passed by
So I gave it my best sugar coat and dressed it in a lie

This living water will not quench us if it's watered down
It's not our place to hide again this treasure that we've found

Homemade Bread

2012-01-26T23:03:00.000-06:00

This phase of my life includes no job. I'm looking, but living in a small town makes it difficult. However, it has been a hidden blessing learning how to make things from scratch to save money. I've made lots of recipes so far, but the one I was the most afraid of attempting was bread.

After much research online and delay for fear of how it might fail - I created this:

It looks like actual bread!

No holes in the bread!

I used the recipe on the back of my bag of whole wheat flour. (Gold Medal)

I read stories about how loaves turn out odd shaped and/or have holes in the final product. With some quick online research while my dough was in its first rise, I found this tip page. I rolled the bread just like she said and it turned out pretty normal looking. It was a little lopsided, but who cares.

It tastes great. It definitely tasted the best the first day. But it still tastes better than store bread even on day 4. Yes, it took a while to make, but time is something I have plenty of these days. Now that I've given it. Try, it actually would not be hard at all to make some loafs on weekend for the entire week (assuming and hoping I have a job someday soon).

The Better Milk Challenge

2012-01-24T17:39:00.001-06:00

This is a PKU post, so if you don't know what that is, you can skip reading this.

The past year I kept getting offers and bribes (win an iPad in a raffle) to convince me to try BetterMilk.

It claimed to be better for many reasons and it was "milk-like". I know for most PKU parents reading this, the "milk-like" sold them on getting a sample, but personally I think milk is disgusting. When I've grown up unable to drink milk for 30 years, a few accidental sips then and now were disgusting to me. No thanks.

But I love my Apple products, so at the chance of an iPad I agreed to try it.

I HATE change when it comes to anything in my diet/formula. Only a few years ago I changed to CaminoPro Fruit Punch and it took forever to get used to it. I managed to drink it only while chewing gum...but it worked for me just fine. Even after the samples were sent, I avoided them like the plague for months. Finally, my hubbie convinced me to try (I think he wanted the iPad too).

PROS: Easy to make. Easy on stomach. (I think because the GMP Protein is better for me- other stuff gave me stomachaches). Less smelly. Cheaper than CaminoProFruit Punch. Easier to travel with than pre-made liquids at the airport and full cans of powder. And I've noticed that the ProBiotics help like Jamie Lee Curtis always claims they do (much better than other formula for "digestion"in my opinion)

CONS: Still kinda smelly. Powder can be messy when I've been spoiled by pre-mixed pouches. Still has after taste (I still chew gum with it)

The bottom line: It tastes a little less like formula, but it still has a formula after taste (they all claim they don't). It mixes easier than any powder I've tried before. Other than the after-taste, the taste is creamy and mostly neutral. It needs a bit more than 4oz. water like it says- I use between 6-8oz. So far I've tried it with one recipe...but I'll post more about that later.

After a short battle with insurance and going through my 3 month supply of the old stuff first, I have finally officially switched over to BetterMilk.

But I didn't win the iPad :(

Coming soon - Reviews on BetterMilk Hot Chocolate and BetterMilk Fudgesicle Pops

Wedding DIY Veil

2012-01-16T22:28:00.009-06:00

This isn't really an original post at all. I found a DIY blog post and followed the steps. But I did want to share this post because there are so many DIY blogs that DO NOT work well, and this one did. We saved tons of money, but it also took a lot of time.

For the instructions, go here

Here is what we needed:

Tulle (we chose champagne color to match my blush dress)

An embroidery machine and simple design

Matching embroidery thread

Ultra Solvy to make the tulle stiff

Beading or other embellishments

Clip of some sort (mine was a comb)

We followed this blog pretty exactly, and things turned out great. We actually had a rough draft veil and a final veil - practice on tulle first before the final.

Here are the pictures of my finished product, made entirely by my grooms aunt and mother.

EDGE

COMB

FULL VEIL HANGING

so you can see shape/length

(ignore living room in background)

And of course on the wedding day

photo from Goode Photography- they're awesome. If your in the DFW area, use them!

Taming the Frizz

2012-01-09T11:45:00.000-06:00

Anyone of you who actually knows me knows I have crazy thick hair, wavy - not curly, not straight. It's been a struggle my entire life to tame my crazy mane. I have tried so many different products throughout the years and finally settled on the amazing. I found S Factor smoothing lusterizer for my straight hair. Now here is the problem...$$$$$$$$$$

Living in a small town I have found quickly that its hard to find my hair stuff and good deals. I used to buy via Ulta buy one get one free sales. Walmart has no such deals. Not to mention our budget has changed a lot, so pricey products are no longer an option. I went on a hunt for the perfect CHEAP product, a scary adventure considering the many bad hair days and wasted partly-used bottles these trials to. But it was all worth it.

Pantene Medium-Thick Straighten and Smooth Creme

Pros: price is a lot less and tames frizz well, doesn't leave glittery-looking stuff on your hands like S Factor does
Cons: Does not smell nearly as wonderful as S Factor (but it doesn't smell bad either)

Our "God-given" rights***

2012-01-05T14:49:00.008-06:00

***First off, let me tell you what this post is NOT. This is not an attack on birth control or fertilization techniques nor is it an attempt to convince people to be against abortion. I am merely using this as an example of how easy it is to claim the believe something until the issue really hits home. So even if your personal views differ, read on and hear me out. My point is that I don't know everything about these things and naively just assume they are part of my rights as an American woman. If I'm missing some info and/or wrong on my information, feel free to politely comment ***

My husband and I were talking about Christians in America and how we cling so strongly to our American rights. We desire to be conformed to the image of Christ, but we are Americans and we have certain "God-given" rights that we don't want to give up. Neither of us could find a place in scripture that promises us our rights. We discussed numerous examples, but the one that came to my mind as a female was the ballot issue in early November for an anti-abortion amendment in Mississippi that failed to pass, the personhood amendment.

A quote from a Washington Post article explained, "Mississippi would have become the first state to define a fertilized egg as a person, a measure which was aimed at outlawing abortion in the state but, opponents contended, would have led to all kinds of unintended consequences."

These consequences? A FEAR that it might criminalize birth control and some fertilization practices. Here is what bothered me. Many people who claimed to be anti-abortion did not vote in favor of the amendment because of these fears. Why?

So many Christians I know (male and female), said they were against abortion. They know what scripture says. (Not to mention, they personally would never consider abortion). But here is what happened with that issue. They may never consider abortion personally, but they will use birth control and might need fertilization techniques now or in the future. I'm not saying either of these are wrong...don't read that into my words. In fast, I haven't found conclusive info on either of those two result in harming and/or ending the life of a newborn. (I know some fertilization practices eliminate fertilized eggs, but that option is not required).

Voters against abortion (and those debating the issue in other states) did not want to possibly give up the right to birth control or fertilization techniques, even if it meant the legality of abortion would be re-examined. People who really wanted to see Roe vs. Wade overturned and abortion ended hesitated to vote for this extremely conservative view of "personhood"

In truth, the amendment would not be able to take away that right without some serious intervention from the supreme court and some scientific evidence proving that birth control ends the life of a fertilized egg. Maybe they could prove that? Maybe not...but as Christians how on earth can we claim to be against one thing (abortion) but then fear our birth control might be taken away. If by the legal battle, it is proven that birth control is indeed ending a life, would I use it? If so, why? Because it's my right as a woman? If science clearly showed that fertilized eggs were lost (aborted) from the body, then I'd have no way to take that form of birth control and yet condemn abortion.

To me, those debating the issue who were torn between ending abortion and yet feared losing the ability to family plan as desired. They desired to stand up against aborting an unborn child only in as much as it didn't affect their lives. The worst part it, it wasn't even certain it would effect birth control or fertilization - it was just a possibility. And it was only possible for a few forms of birth control and fertilization, not all forms!

As I said, abortion is not really the issue that bugged me here. The laws passed by our government will not always agree with God's word. Legal or not, it shouldn't effect my views or actions. The real issue is the reality that even I struggled with the idea of giving up rights to birth control options or fertilization techniques if needed. It is so easy to believe and seek God in one thing, but to fear to even learn the truth in another issue because I don't want to give up an option for something I might need or enjoy.

As a Christian, do I have rights? As an American, I do, but my citizenship is in Heaven. As I pursue the things I feel our my rights, I need to first seek God. It's very American to have the right to free speech, but how often does God desire I tame my tongue? It's very American to have the right to own property, but am I willing to give up that right if God calls me to? There are so many more "rights" and things I tend to think I'm "owed" as an American. Legal or not, I need to learn about what His word says about things. I need to learn a lot more about the character traits of a heavenly citizen and a lot less about what I feel entitled to here on earth!

Wedding DIY - Table Decor

2012-01-04T15:28:00.006-06:00

When it came to decorating our reception, my policy was simple and only if it's cheap...of course, I didn't want it to look cheap! Here is what we came up with (We being amazingly crafty friends and family). If you have a die cut machine or a friend with one, you can create all of these. The rest of the stuff is cheap dollar store or fabric store purchase.

Here is what we made:

TABLE RUNNERS - we purchased a few yards of lace per table and created table runners by simply cutting them into strips. We left the scalloped "lacy" edge off the end of the table. Hemming straight edges would create an even cleaner look, but we ran out of time. Even with rough edges, they looked great with our simple candle on top. Wish I had a great photo of the table not as close up, but all the other photos were crowded with people and food...a good thing for a wedding reception!

VASES - My friend with a die cut machine created these with our initial (N) and a few layers of fancy paper. She glued the ribbon in around the vases with a glue gun and then attached the "N"s for a personalized but cheap centerpiece. For the wedding, we had a purple rose in each. Later, I filled a vase with coral from our honey moon. I didn't have a good close-up shot of the flower, so hopefully you get the idea with the coral.

SIGNS FOR FOOD: She used the same paper and a larger die cut of the same shape to create signs for our drink and food stations. I can't find a good picture of those (if you were there and have one, send it please) but here is the same idea with one our smaller ice cream bar signs. The holder was a cheap photo-holder.

Hope these give you ideas. I didn't actually do any of these crafts myself, I had tons of help, so if I left out important info, feel free to comment with questions!

PKU Pasta with Mushrooms and White Wine Sauce

2012-01-01T12:54:00.005-06:00

Pasta with Mushrooms and White Wine Sauce

One of my hubbies fav new recipes comes from the Pioneer Woman Chicken and Mushrooms with Artichoke Hearts- he loves it and we make it often. I like my meals to "match" as often as possible, so of course I needed a great low-protein version. I highly recommend making the "real" version for your nonPKU family members, but this is a great variation for PKU. Depending on the low-pro brands you choose, it can be as low as 260mg PHE.

Ingredients:

3 Tablespoons Olive Oil
8 ounces, weight White Mushrooms, Sliced
2 whole Garlic Cloves, Minced
1/4 cup White Wine, Or More To Taste
1 cup prepared Chicken-Flavored Consomme and Seasoning or other type Chicken broth
1/2 cup Heavy Cream
8 ounces your favorite low-pro, weight Pasta - prepare and drain

Preparation Instructions:
Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add sliced mushrooms to pan with the garlic, and stir around and cook for a couple of minutes. Add wine and cook for a minute while it evaporates.
Pour in chicken broth. Stir. Put the lid on the skillet and continue cooking over medium-low heat. Cook for about 15-20 minutes, enough for most but not all the broth to evaporate. (This is a great time to cook the pasta)
Remove lid and reduce heat to low. Pour in cream and stir. Put lid on pan again and cook for an additional 10 minutes to thicken sauce. Stir; add salt and pepper to taste.
Pour over cooked pasta.

Some tips:

Use the Pioneer Woman's photos to help. You won't have the exact same ingredients each step, but her photos show you what it should look like over all.

Rinse your low-protein pasta well before adding sauce. I like to mix in the pasta in the pan over the stove, but make sure you have enough room to mix without overflow!

If your diet allows more PHE than 260mg, you can add the artichoke hearts to your batch as well. I cook with them in for the flavor but then take them out when prepared. You can also add real pasta or real chicken broth if needed, but guessing most of you don't need more PHE.

Hope you enjoy this recipe and hope your non-PKU family enjoy the Pioneer Woman's recipe!

2011 Reflections

2011-12-31T10:22:00.005-06:00

All in all, I'd say 2011 was a pretty amazing year...perhaps one of the most exciting of my life so far. I was very blessed this year. TONS happened, but here are the highlights:

got engaged and married

changed my name

added some great in-laws to my life

plus got niece and nephew

saw tons of family and friends I hadn't seen in years at showers and wedding festivities

got tons of new stuff via wedding gifts

quit my job that I had for almost 6 years

bought our first house

moved to a small town

made a lot of new friends

learned how to cook real meals (aka meat)

went to Romania

went to NYC

went to Colorado

went to California

went to Playa del Carmen for our honeymoon

AND got the most amazing husband in the world that at a little shy of 4 months of marriage, I still fall more in love with each day.

Last year, I was very content with my job, apartment, singleness, and just about everything else. God had other things in mind. Now that my life looks NOTHING like it did a little over a year ago, I have no idea what to expect in 2012, but looking forward to the unexpected!

Wedding Stationary - Door Hangers

2011-12-27T21:02:00.007-06:00

Somehow in the midst of pre-wedding stress, I went crazy creating anything I could. Suddenly cute water bottles and snacks weren't enough for my hotel guests. I decided that they needed to be able to find each other in the hotel and it needed to be a cute creative way. I found ideas for door hangers and many of them were complicated! Instead, I created my own using the same linen paper I used for the programs and borrowed a circle cutter and round edge cutter from a craft friend. These are pretty basic tools, so if you don't have them, I'm sure any scrapbooking and/or craft making friend will let you borrow.

All I did was create two columns in a page. I lined up our wedding logo then typed the guests name below. Each column had one persons door hanger. I even made one for our bedroom as our honeymoon suite for the first night was our first night in our new house together.

1. Create 2 columns in your word document

2. Place logo toward the bottom of each column

3. Type guests name below logo (Mrs. & Mrs. So-and-So, or full names)

4. Either on word or by hand, mark an x a few inches below the top of the paper for the center of your hole.

5. Print on fancy paper - something with a decent weight like cardstock

6. Cut in half with paper cutter

7. Use a circle cutter to cut using the X as the center mark. You may want to test this on scrap paper first to be sure its the correct size. Mine cut a hole only about 1 inch in diameter

8. Cut an angle from the right edge to the circle (see picture above for an idea)

9. Trim corners with a curved edge trimmer if desired

10. Hang on door(s)

Sample of word document with names edited/smudged for privacy:

I used linen business paper. It has a heavier weight than regualr paper and is a little thinner than cardstock. Up close it looks like this:

Wedding Stationary - Water Bottles

2011-12-27T20:33:00.004-06:00

For each of our out-of-town guests, we created a guest basket with some snacks, local maps and tourist info and a water bottle with our custom logo.

I really liked the pre-made waterbottle stickers I found at a craft store...but I was very disappointed! DO NOT BUY A WATER BOTTLE LABEL KIT. The labels were super-sticky and it was impossible to place them on a bottle without wrinkles, especially since almost all water bottles have some sort of ridges. I ended up using the FREE template they offered online and just printing them on regular printer paper. I cut them carefully to size and hid a piece of double stick tape at the end. For copyright sake, I'm not going to give you the company I got the template from b/c they want you to buy there sticky labels - but you can search for them online or even just set up your own template dividing a word document page into 4 equal parts. If you have more questions about how to do this, send me a comment.

1. Create an image in photoshop with your desired background (the purple for me) and wedding logo on top of it. Make sure to size it 8.25 inches wide and 2.5 inches tall - this may have to change a bit. Center the logo on the design.

2. Bring the picture into a word document and copy 4 of them (you can try to print 4 in photoshop, but that never works for me) Be sure to make the margins as small as your printer will allow you.

3. Print.

4. Trim each with a paper cutter. Keep in mind that depending on your printer may need to trim the top and bottom one a bit more to make sure the logo is still centered perfectly (only if your printer cut off some of the design)

5. Remove label from a bottle and replace with your label. Use double-stick tape to keep it in place.

The bottle label will last, even if in the fridge. It won't last if left in a hotel ice-bucket though...but I doubt the fancy labels would either :)

Here is what they turned out like. The picture is fuzzy, but they were perfect.

Wedding Stationary - Programs

2011-12-27T20:13:00.006-06:00

Creating our own wedding programs was the best choice we made stationary-wise. It takes some time, but it is worth it! We didn't have to worry about deadlines with printers and it matched the rest of our ceremony. We did splurge a little and buy linen paper to make it fancy, but otherwise we went really simple with the design. We just typed up our programs in word. Here are some pictures of how it was done and steps, but excuse the smudges, I edited out our personal info and wedding party names in case any of you reading this are the creepy-stalker type. If you need more help with setting up a word template, let me know in the comments and I can e-mail you mine.

Cover/Back

1. Divide into two columns

2. On the LEFT side, create the back of your program. My map is a clip art I created - you could create your own or just use written directions.

3. On the RIGHT side, add your wedding logo / date / and or anything else you might want on the cover.

Inside Program

1. Divide into two columns

2. Create headings on each page if desired

3. Set up tabs to have the words line up to the far left AND far right (use Word's help feature if needed - this can be hard to set up - I left my tabs visible so you can get an idea)

4. Add names as desired.

THEN -

1. Print on paper, try to find something heavier than printer paper but lighter than cardstock. I used linen paper. See the close up below for the effect.

2. Use a paper cutter with to create a crease and then fold each. I used some sort of fancy pointed thing I borrowed (I'm not crafty and had never heard of this - but it looks like the photo below) but some people just use Popsicle sticks to create the same effect.

3. Add ribbons, bows, jewels, etc as desired.

Wedding Stationary - Mad Libs

2011-12-27T19:46:00.007-06:00

Ok next up in the wedding stationary series of blogs is the one people were most excited about. We had a great photographer who took many post-ceremony pictures. This meant people waiting for us to arrive at the reception, possibly bored. I came across a "Mad-Libs" idea online and decided to customize it for our own story. I will include our stories below, but I edited out our names and last names of the guests for privacy. You are welcome to steal my words, but I really encourage you to write your own.

For this project you need a computer with a word-type program, printer, fancy paper and a paper cutter. I went with resume paper because it was fancy enough yet still cheap. One paper holds TWO mad libs. I typed each story up in word...here are the basic instructions and picture to help. If you don't know how to do this stuff on word and/or have more questions, feel free to ask in comments.

1. Set up page landscape (sideways) and divide into two columns. Add your logo on top if you have one. Create a title for your story.

2. Type up your mad lib story in the font and size you want to use (keep in mind you will need to double the lines once you add the parts of speech) I just wrote a story WITH all the words first, and took them out in the next step.

3. Take out any words you want your guests to fill in by replacing them with a line. I just drew the line the size I wanted by hitting SHIFT + the symbol right of the zero key and held it down until it was the length I wanted for ALL lines. Then I copied and pasted the line each time I deleted a word.

4. Once your blanks are all in place, push ENTER at the end of each line.

5. On the in between lines, you will tab /space over to the blank spot and use the same font to type the parts of speech, but write in SUPERSCRIPT instead of normal (this keeps the words close to the line).

6. Repeat for each missing word.

7. Have someone to practice on to make sure your phrasing works and your parts-of-speech are specific enough.

8. Repeat the same steps in the second column for another Mad-Lib.

9. Print on fancy/colored paper and cut in half

Here is what it will look like on word:

Wedding Stationary -Logo and Thank You Cards

2011-12-27T19:21:00.010-06:00

One of the best decisions I made in my wedding planning was to create my own wedding stationary. It was easy to do, but took some planning. So I thought I'd share a little about how it was done so others may not have to struggle as much in the future.

I decided all paper stuff other than the invites would be produced by myself...not because I'm crazy crafty (I'm not good with crafts at all) but because it would save money and ensure that things matched. I also realized very early on that this was the only way we could get programs in time since we made final decisions on music and scripture a week before the wedding. I'm going to break this into a few posts just for ease of searching, but we created the following with a computer, paper, a printer and in some cases paper cutting stuff and tape.

Logo

Thank You Cards

Programs

Door Hangers for Hotel Guests

Water Bottle Labels

Gift Tags for wedding party gifts

Mad Libs for reception entertainment

and more that I may or may not include :)

First up, the logo. We ordered invites from a company online as sim

ple as we could find, but one unique thing we did was put an ~N~ at the top instead of both

our initials (eNc). We decided to carry this out through the wedding stationary. So, I opened up photoshop and found the shape I wanted, added a border using wedding colors for both (light pink and dark gray-ish purple). Then I added the wedding date on the bottom. It took a while to line it all up perfectly, but we had a logo. All the wedding day stuff had this logo.

We also used it to create thank you cards. We bought blank printable greeting cards at our local office store and used word to place the logo on the front of the cards only. We changed the wedding date to a simple "Thank You" and we had custom thank you cards at very little cost. They were very simple, but people loved them and they matched the rest of our wedding perfectly.

The best of small town living

2011-12-05T11:16:00.008-06:00

So I was all ready to blog every single day...or close to it. I already have the next blog or two half written.But the holidays distracted me. And then I got sick. It was a nice reminder of how much my life has changed. I had text messages pouring in from family and friends asking if I was pregnant. It seems from now on, instead of compassion, any sickness I feel will now be met with excitement. (For the record, it was food poisoning, not a baby)

Married life has lead to many changes. Most have been easy to adjust to. The most difficult has been moving to a small town. But here are my favorite things about small town life.

5. High School Football - We only managed to go to one game this year, but the entire town seemed to be there. It's not just football too. We can go to any game, concert, play, etc and see tons of people we know. The kids are treated like celebrities in our small town paper.

4. Parades - My first weekend here was the 4th of July parade. I was actually in the parade! Since then, we have had many events. The school homecoming parade drew out a huge chunk of the town. The most recent, Christmas Stroll and Parade featured floats and shops with free hot chocolate and cookies. I can definitely get used to this. Each parade we head to the square just us and then run into tons of people we know. It's a great time to say hi to everyone and just enjoy a change in activities.

3. Quiet - The first night I lived in the house by myself, I just laid in bed amazed at the sound of...NOTHING. Literally, I could hear nothing. It was so strange. It was hard to sleep. I lived by the train tracks in the city for 10 years and no longer even noticed the train whistles. Car alarms constantly went off in my apartment complex parking lot. How on earth can one sleep in silence? Luckily, our ceiling fan makes a low ticking sound that helps for now. But I've now become accustomed to the quiet. We live in a cul-de-sac and hear no cars other than the neighbors. No headlights shine in our windows ever. We live close enough to the small airport that we actually hear more small airplanes overhead than we ever hear cars in a day.

2. Traffic - I have hit a few traffic jams since moving here in July (aka 4 cars in a line at a stop sign during "rush hour"). It is amazing how I used to be able to only travel from my apartment to the mall only a mile away in 30 minutes during the Christmas holiday. Here in my small town life, I can travel across town in 10 minutes even during "rush hour". The nearest mall may be an hour away, but that's only 30 minutes more than traffic in the city was.

1. The Sky - "The stars at night are big and bright..." deep in not-really-the-heart of Texas. Not even sure where the heart of Texas is, but I do know where I am the sky is amazing. We received a pair of binoculars for a wedding gift and learned that we are actually able to see Jupiter and its moons clearly almost every night. Thanks to star-guide apps for our phones, we have been able to see the Andromeda galaxy and other great things as well. With the help of our neighbors telescope, we have been able to see all the clear details on the moon (and even take this photo through the telescope). It's been a while since we ventured out with the telescope, but even with the naked eye we see amazing things in the sky each night - it is simply beautiful.

Marsala Cream Sauce for PKU

2011-11-12T13:19:00.004-06:00

This is a recipe for those with PKU...but if you have no clue what I'm talking about, see the previous post for the real recipe.

For those fellow PKU-ers out there, this makes a great sauce variety for pasta. I don't know about you, but I have eaten my fair share of low-protein pasta with tomato based sauce. If you need a little variety, try this. I estimated the PHE, but you probably want to measure it out yourself based on what you actually use. From what I could tell, it would come out to about 250mg PHE. Feel free to correct on comments if you know better...my food list is a bit out of date! Thanks, and enjoy.

2 servings of your favorite low pro pasta*
1 1/2 tablespoons margarine
100g white mushrooms, sliced
40g onions, diced
1/2 cup Marsala wine
1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme
1 teaspoons fresh parsley, chopped
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1/2 cup heavy cream

1. Cook the pasta according to package directions.

2 Melt the margarine over medium heat in a skillet. Saute the mushrooms, then set aside.

3. Add more margarine to the same skillet, if needed, and turn the heat down to medium-low. Add the onions, cover, and cook for 5 minutes.

4. Add the Marsala wine, thyme, parsley, and pepper. Stir until the liquid is reduced to 2-3 tablespoons.

5 Add the cream and stir constantly until reduced by half.

6. Pour sauce over strained pasta.

*For an even better taste, use Cambrooke Food's Low Protein Portabella Spinach Ravioli or Cheese Ravioli and/or top with Mozerella Shreds

Chicken Marsala with Mushroom Ravioli

2011-11-11T16:14:00.005-06:00

One of the first challenges in small town married life has been cooking. A close second is the lack of my favorite places with in an hours drive (shopping, food, movies). My absolute favorite restaurant meal the past years has been Mushroom Ravioli at Macaroni Grill. The ONE grocery store in town isn't anything special, but it usually carries these two products:

With these two essential products in hand, I set out to find the perfect recipe online. I'm not sure what the rules are about posting others recipes online, but I will totally give credit where credit is due. This brilliant person came up with the copy-cat recipe. I am simply sharing it and adding my tips...and adding chicken for my carnivore husband. If you like the recipe, go to the link and rate it for the actual creator. I'm just sharing it with the world so you no longer have to be deprived its amazing-ness.

My version:
1 pack Buitoni Wild Mushroom Agnolotti (or other ravioli, but this tastes best)
2 Chicken breasts
1 1/2 tablespoons margarine
8 ounces portabella mushrooms, sliced (I use regular white mushrooms b/c of cost and availability)
3 ounces onions, diced
1 cup Marsala wine
1 teaspoon fresh thyme
2 teaspoons fresh parsley, chopped
1/4 teaspoon pepper
3/4 cup heavy cream

1. Cook the pasta according to package directions.

2 Melt the margarine over medium heat in a skillet. Saute the mushrooms, then set aside.

3. Add more margarine to the same skillet, if needed, and turn the heat down to medium-low. Add the onions, cover, and cook for 5 minutes.

4. Add the Marsala wine, thyme, parsley, and pepper. Stir until the liquid is reduced to 2-3 tablespoons.

5 Add the cream and stir constantly until reduced by half.

6. Stir the mushrooms into the sauce, then spoon onto the pasta. I strain the pasta and put both the pasta and sauce in the same pan, place it back on the stove to keep warm until the chicken is done.

7. Using the same skillet (for flavor), cook chicken. Serve and spoon sauce on chicken if desired.

Enjoy. And don't forget to review the original recipe here

Finished product - looks a bit sloppy, but so does the plate at MacGrill :)

Teaser

2011-11-11T14:26:00.001-06:00

After a teaser about blogging again, I followed with nothing. This was not because I had no thoughts to share- I have so many. It was because I was trying to decide what of my life to blog about - spiritual stuff like I did in the past blogs, new cooking adventures, home projects, wedding planning ideas, small town life or PKU. I realize none if these will be interesting to all people- but they are all part of my life. So expect some super short blogs with links to recipes, some long blogs of spiritual thoughts, and some random commentary about PKU and small town life. Enjoy or skip as you please. Oh and I just learned I can update from my phone app, so no excuses now.

testing 1...2...3...

2011-09-27T16:02:00.002-05:00

So this is my first blog in a really long time, and life has changed so much that topics will look different. Mostly, I am just testing to make sure this DOES NOT upload to facebook. I don't need/want my 694 "friends" all reading every thought I type. So if this does upload, and you see it and want to read it, wonderful. But be sure to bookmark the real link because I'll delete it from FB. If you have been reading in the past, I still will update on mission trips here and on Facebook notes, but on here only I also want to share stuff from life in my small town adventures - learning how to cook, remodeling some of our house, shopping when there is NOTHING but Walmart near by - I really have no idea what I will write, I just know with no job and a lot more time, I want to write.

Update on my life

2011-05-10T11:00:00.005-05:00

It has been a while since I last updated.Things have changed a bit:

Wedding Tickers
Story coming soon...

Romania trip part two

2011-01-01T10:11:00.000-06:00

Thursday Dec 30
The day started out shopping after a bit of sleeping in. I went to bed earlier than past nights, but the sleep was needed because I was woken up in the middle of the night by some sort of whining creature, most likely a mouse. He had found his way between the wall and roof and was crying, perhaps because he was cold and stuck. A few times I heard him walking and sliding down the sloped roof. I’m not really sure what happened to him but he stopped making sounds after a while. Perhaps he gave up, or worse, perhaps he got inside the warm house. Either way, I was up for almost an hour dreading meeting my new friend. I never did see him, but there still are a few nights left.
In the morning we met Rebecca, Kiki and Dita to go shopping in town. As always, TM offered very little options for souvenirs, but the shopping was still enjoyable. Then we went back to the LOC houses for lunch and some hang out time. We played board games, chatted, watched a movie, took a walk to the local store and even skyped some people. I was able to give the kids the gifts some of their sponsors sent with me and it was great to see them open them (pictures and videos will follow for those that sent gifts). Sergiu even got to Skype Taryn to thank her personally for the gift, which was fun to observe. The time went by really fast and it was great to just hang out with the kids with no schedule at all. We followed it all with a nice dinner at The Atlantic with Jenny and then back to the house. I stayed up too late to work on the computer and write this blog, dreading a visit from my new pet creature living in the walls.

Friday, Dec30
Today was by far the longest and most emotional. The day started with the most fun I’ve had in a very long time. We went sledding at a place near the zoo with a ramp built for tubing…which meant amazing speeds. It was so much fun. I’m pretty sure I have not been sledding in almost 20 years, so it was great. The time with the kids was wonderful as well. After sledding, we had lunch at TipTop with the three youngest boys: Levi, Sergiu and Fanel. They were hilarious and seem to enjoy the special attention. We went back to the houses for some hang out time which quickly transitioned into our new years party. The kids had a cooking contest and then just hung out after dinner. During this time, I was able to have some really good chats with some of the girls and my father had some great times with the guys. The stories I was reminded of and the current struggles I was told about were hard to hear. It reminds me so much that even though by world’s standards these kids with their backgrounds of neglect and abuse have very little chance at success, God is fully capable of healing them and allowing them to live successful adult lives. I learned so many specific ways to pray for the kids. The party had some issues as some kids had attitude issues and did not want to participate. After all was said and done, only a few ventured out to the Center for music and fireworks. Only two girls came, Kati and Marga, both girls I had very little conversation time with the past years. We had some short but good chats on the van rides, which was great. Once in the center, somehow I ended up with Bela on my arm keeping me warm, and Levi by my side quietly enjoying the show. It was extremely cold, but a great experience to see a “traditional” (I assume) new years celebration. As I finish this blog at 1:40am Romanian time, I am still not tired (perhaps too much caffeine in preparation)

Romania Trip - first few days

2010-12-30T09:19:00.001-06:00

Sunday and Monday Dec 26-27
The flights started out eventful already- a 1hr 10 min delay for the flight to Chicago to Germany. Those of you who know me, this is no surprise. Somehow with the help of some encouraging prayers and text messages, I was able to not stress. The long flight was the same as always, filled with movies and not a wink of sleep, as I can never sleep during flight. I did, however, have an amazing view of the moon, a first. It was a half moon with the light reflecting off the wings…relaxing to gaze at while the rest of the cabin slept. When we arrived in Germany, we were late as planned, but should still of had an hour and a half to make our connection. We stood up, eager to stretch. We gathered our bags in the isles, and we stood some more…and kept standing. The “Cherry Picker” for the door was frozen and would not work. No worries, we would use steps out the back. We stood waiting somewhat patiently. The stairs needed to be de-iced first. We waited, and finally the back door opened…only to be closed again. The stairs were attached but were not yet deiced. Finally, somehow the original exit plan succeeded after at least a 30 minute delay. We made it to our gate on time and quickly loaded the bus to board the plane. Boarding went quickly and we sat and waited for them to load our bags…and waited…and waited. I said I cannot sleep during a flight, but apparently I can sleep on a plane- I took about a 45 minute nap while someone took forever loading the plane. I was awoken by the engines as soon as the plane began to move, my only sleep during all the travel. We were now delayed over an hour on what was a little over a 2 hour layover. When we arrived, we had to walk all the way out of the security and back in again at the ticket gate. Somehow, this also meant paying for our extra checked bag fee…again? Annoying. Only after paying were our boarding passes printed and we proceeded on a long walk to our gate at the other end of the airport. We went straight to the bus to board the plane. At this point, I was starving from all the travel. My brilliant father decided that the best way to make my medicine cold was to scoop up a quart size bag full of snow while we waited on the bus…and the ziplock bag was carried on the plane to act as my very own portable fridge. We had a long wait on the plane once again, and I was able to drink some of the coldest medicine I’ve ever had while traveling. Finally we arrived in Cluj, only a little late, and of course, missing one bag- my checked bag. This was no surprise to Emil, an expert at dealing with the Wedgwood team and our various travel issues. It was taken care of quickly and we were off to TM. A warm shower later, I was ready to crawl in to bed, stretching my legs as much as I wanted without the pain of airplane noise.

Tuesday, Dec 28
In the morning we went to a Gypsy village for a short kids program. I was so tired and really just observed more than anything. Dragos led and was great with the kids. It was good to see the village, but a hard start after so little sleep. From there we went to lunch at the LOC houses. The kids were coming in from sledding and were so excited. They chatted about random stuff and met my dad. Gabi took us from there to the baby hospital via bus. Somehow, I was able to fall asleep on the way there and back. It was nice, but now as I sit up writing this, I regret it a bit. The babies were sweet and as always it was heartbreaking to see them stuck in their cribs. Gabi knew each one by name and knew their personalities as well, which was encouraging to see how God was using her there.
She dropped us off at McDonald’s afterward for some fancy fast food. We then changed into warmer clothes to take the LOC kids down to the Center to look at Christmas lights. We saw two Santas (a bit confusing for young kids when there are two right next to each other) and took tons of photos. It was very cold, but a great time to just bond with the kids. We were anxious to get home to warmth and hopefully a good nights sleep before the next long but amazing day began.

Wednesday Dec. 29
Today we ventured out to a village a few hours away to see Maria, the LOC teenager I used to sponsor. She moved away with her boyfriend’s family and her sister and brothers had not seen her in a long time. Two of the staff members, Gabi and Dan, were able to take all of them for a short reunion. We had no idea what to expect from this family she lived with. They were so welcoming. As soon as we walked in, the served us a plate full of cakes and other treats, complete with Coke. We chatted for only a few minutes before her boyfriend offered for my dad to go hunting with him. He was in no way dressed for this (nor a hunter) so he declined but was then asked if he would like to see the guns. The next hour was filled with excitement as the guys posed for pictures with the shotguns and pistol. Apparently, guns are rare in Romania, so it was a treat for them to even see one. During this time, the siblings were each able to spend some time with Maria and hopefully have some quality conversation. Then the family fed us all a great Romanian meal..sarmalis and some pork (probably from the severed pig head hanging in the yard) plus some French fries added for my benefit ☺
Overall, it was a great experience and my first time as guest in a Romanian home. The family was obviously financially stable and treated Maria great, which is a huge answer to prayer.
After the trip back, we hung out with the LOC kids at the houses and watched videos and played with PhotoBooth on my laptop. Then Jeff took us in to town to an “authentic Romanian Italian” restaurant…aka some pizza and pasta. We finished the day with one of my favorite things, raiding the local grocery store for some Milka bars. We got in early in time to relax and even get to sleep in a little tomorrow.

Romania week 1

2010-07-25T14:08:00.002-05:00

A week in Romania has come and gone. Some of you kept updated via e-mail or facebook. I can not even begin to explain the spiritual struggles that the team and I have been through. I can't speak for my team, but this was the most difficult mission trip week I have ever experienced. In it all, God was so faithful. I have never before felt so clearly the prayer support of my church family and friends back home.

We lost bags, which meant lost meds for me and learned to share almost everything...and currently our team is continuing to be unified and patient while they wait in a nearby city, Cluj, hoping to get home after a canceled flight. There are so many other things that happened that are not for the blogging world to know...God worked through them all though.

In it all, I still had an amazing week. The morning group of kids was my Camp Week 1 group two years ago. The two I knew best and prayed for so often were not there...they moved back in with parents. But so many others remembered me as well. And new relationships were formed. The third day I shared a little about being adopted and my story and the kids on my team began to open up and share their stories as well. Two of the kids shared how God gave them the ability to forgive despite circumstances. The others in the group listened well, but it was evident that they did not understand. It was amazing to see two teenage boys take my story to the next level and share what it meant to surrender their pain and past to Christ.

The evening group was the LOC kids, a group I have now known for 4 years now. The time with them was fun but not nearly as deep. The first day I spent with the kids (before camp started) I was able to have some meaningful conversations. As soon as camp began, they seemed distracted. My prayer this week is that God will give me a chance to be bold and finish some conversations I need to have with them.

Monday brings another group of kids and new challenges. I have so much to sort through, but more than anything, I pray that I am aware and obedient to what God calls me to this week...each conversation and appointment I make will glorify Him.

p.s. sorry for any grammar/spelling errors. tried to spellcheck and its set to Romanian somehow...almost every word showed up as a misspelling.

Domestic Violence Awareness Month

2010-02-25T22:52:00.003-06:00

Today was a reality check for me. February is Domestic Violence Awareness month and we had a guest speaker from the police department come speak to the students. Normally when guest speakers visit, the students try to be polite, but nod off in boredom. Today was different. They listened intently. And they were vocal. They were sure of their opinions and shared willingly. Male and female both argued the same points. Overall, most the students said and agreed on the following:

1. Sometimes in a relationship, you deserve to get hit (Even girls deserve to get hit by guys sometimes).

2. Girls should know better to stay out of certain things and keep their place (one of the GIRLS said this, and many agreed)

3. It is ok to be jealous and keep tabs on someone you are in a relationship with because it shows love

4. It is ok to control things like cell phone use or who each hangs out with as long as you mutually agree to be controlling.

I don't even know what to say to this. I want to pull aside the girls who readily admitted they are in a relationship where they have been hit, about 10 girls whom I am close to and many others. They don't see any other way. No matter what was said by the speaker or us, they see abuse as a part of life. I can't imagine. It breaks my heart for them, and for many of their children that they will teach the same too. It never occurred to me that the same students who we see fighting in the school hallways as a means of problem solving take the same approach in their dating lives.

Throughout the month of "awareness" and today, it was said that if you are with an abuser you need to get out of that relationship. The cycle of abuse is hard to break and people do not change unless they want to. I realize now that for many males AND females in the room, they were actually the abusers and they did not see anything wrong. They have no desire to change.

Today was just another day when teaching grammar and literature seemed so pointless in perspective. Who cares if they can pass TAKS if this is the life the life they look forward to? So many more important lessons are needed. How does one even begin to make a lasting impact?

The Green Pen Self

2010-01-27T20:53:00.005-06:00

I haven't blogged in forever. So long, in fact, that my own blog is not even bookmarked on my browser. There are multiple reasons for why, one reason that I have realized the past months how many people from different areas of my life have access to my blog. I never blog about things I'm ashamed about, but for some reason the reality of it gave me writers block. The second being that I am "working" on a big blog. I have been "working" on it for a year now. Or shall I say God has been working on it. I'm waiting for the end of the story and it will hopefully arrive soon. Patience is difficult.

Since I'd rather not just blog about my not blogging (boring), I finally decided on a topic to blog on...The Green Pen Self...

The past years (post-college) have stretched my faith like no other. I journal every night and occasionally go back and read past entries. Sometimes it even amazes me how little has changed over the years. But the past few weeks I have had a slightly different experience.

For the new year, I decided to go back and finish a Beth Moore study on David that I never completed. I knew it was from years ago, but it wasn't until a couple lessons in that I figured out when. As I do the study each day, I use a notecard to cover up the green pen answers scribbled years ago and write in my new answers neatly in black. Then I compare.

The factual questions still produce the same answers, of course. But the questions about struggles-not so much. I am learning more from past answers than current. The study is from my very first year out of college- that first year in seminary. Each green answer is a perfect Sunday school answer. As the study examines Saul's jealousy and pride, it asks questions about my own. The "green" self says she doesn't really struggle with pride and is rarely jealous. The "green " self didn't even bother to finish the book that year because quiet times became non-existant in the seminary world. The "green" self became so jealous of friends moving on with life while she was still in school that she almost lost all friendships. The "green" self ignored all the probing questions about pride and jealousy...too prideful to even notice. And pride comes before the fall- the book remained incomplete as well as almost every other attempted quiet time material for a few years after that.

If only I could have seen that what so clearly leads up to the years of struggle I allowed myself to have. Those who know me well or knew me then no the huge trials through seminary and trying to figure out my call to teach and work with youth. God had to use such extremes to humble me- things that to this day people cannot ever believe happened. Every night as I "redo'" my study, I think back- how I wish the "black pen" self could have been there to tell the "green" pen self a thing or to.

This may not mean much nor make sense to those who have met me after this time period. But for those who knew me in the "green" years, I could not be more sorry for the way I treated others...so many great friendships were lost at my own pride . And for those who still are there, I am amazed and thankful that somehow our friendship survived...obviously through God's power and not my own attempts at friendship. More than anything, I am thankful for God's grace as He constantly draws me back to Him. I can't wait to see what else He has to teach me through my "green" self.