Prayer Request

Our good friend, Cat, in California just lost her 3 week old nephew, Nathan, today. He was born with a heart defect but they thought he was turning a corner and getting better. He coded today and didn't make it. I know they have a couple other kids as well. Please keep them in your prayers.

Home for Dinner

Every year, Cedarville has "Home for Dinner." Alumni open their homes up to current students for dinner. It gives the different Cedarville "generations" a chance to interact and gives the current students an opportunity for a home cooked meal. We had four students come this year. They were so much fun! They came around 7 and didn't leave until midnight. We were talking and laughing and having a great time! Here they are with Ralph from left to right: Chelsea, Everett, Christine and Jeff.

We had a great dinner! My friend, Penny, came in the morning to help me prep all the food. Praise the Lord for good friends! It made that evening go so much smoother! We had:

• Antipasto Platter (Weight Watchers)
  
• Rollover Pork Loin Roast (Rachael Ray)
  
• Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes (PioneerWoman) (I actually roasted the garlic, too)
  
• Homemade buns (family recipe)
  
• Classic Roasted Vegetables (Weight Watchers)
  
• Citrus Tomato Bisque (Colorado Bed and Breakfasts Cookbook)
  
• Dense Chocolate Loaf Cake (Nigella Lawson "How To Be A Domestic Goddess")
  

I, of course, made enough cake to send home "doggie bags" with them. It was such a great time! We have enjoyed every year but this group was extra-special (did I mention the girls were both junior nursing majors?). If any of you are Cedarville alum living in this area, we HIGHLY recommend you participate in this great opportunity!

Wonderful Trick!

I learned the most amazing thing today! If you cut a little X in the bottom of a tomato, drop it in boiling water for 15 seconds and then drop it in ice water it practically peels itself!!!! Why has no one told me this before???!!!!! You have been holding out on me. I actually enjoyed peeling tomatoes today!! Who knew? Anyway, I'm off to bed. Just had to share that. I will tell you all about our most wonderful dinner party when I get up tomorrow afternoon. ;-p

What A Wonderful Day!

So today my friend, Amy, and I explored the wonderful world that is Ikea. Wow. That's all I can say. It was doubly fun because there are so many cute nursery things and I just happen to be in the market for cute nursery things. Yeah! It was an extremely overwhelming experience. Unfourtunately, we forgot about spring break and there were kids and families everywhere! I got lots of good ideas and can't wait to go back and spend some $$. I didn't come away empty handed, though, I found some handy new tools for my (what else?) kitchen. Yeah! Love new toys--even simple ones. :-D

What a Weekend!

I hope you wonderful Easter weekend! I did not. I have decided that none of my patients are allowed to have bowel movements again. Ever. We had one get up, use the facilities, go back to bed and code. At. shift. change. It always happens at shift change. The next evening I had a patient preparing for a colonoscopy, get up, sit on the toilet and pass out. At. shift. change. I basically put in 40 hours in 3 days. So this is my lesson to you all, be wary of going to the bathroom. It is a scary place--especially for your nurse.

It's For the Baby

So, maybe not exactly for the baby, but it will benefit the baby. All babies need alert, clear-headed parents, right? Well, I have found the thing to do it! Check this out! It's beautiful. Now we have an espresso machine, but it is a semi-automatic one. We use it every day in the fall/winter time frame. But this one is completely automatic--it does it all! It has a touch screen! A milk island! Two brand new, blurry-eyed parents will need this! All that to say, it can go on the registry, right? We're only thinking of the baby and we want him/her to be well cared for by alert, clear thinking parents. This definitely goes on the registry. ;-p

BIG NEWS!!!

This almost trumps baby news (well, not really, but it is BIG). Right this minute I am listening to a noise I have not heard in my own home in over 2 years--a dishwasher!!! It is music to my soul, people! The portable dishwasher that was in our home was never used by the previous tenants. We had no luck in figuring the thing out. Then I saw in the base paper this one for sale last week. It was MORE than reasonable so we snatched it up. It is currently washing my dishes. I am so thrilled I don't know what to do with myself! Praise Jesus for modern technology!

Terrilbe, Rotten, Horrible, Very Bad (But Funny) Day!

Just over a week ago, I was working on a somewhat normal (though snowy) day. I received a call from my husband towards the end of my shift stating "Kenya locked me out of the house!" It seems our friends, Jeff, Sarah and Izzy, came to borrow a cup of beef broth. Izzy is scared of our huge ball of love so Ralph left her inside while he met them on the front porch. She was understandably upset at being left out so she repeatedly jumped on the front door and window while barking. When Ralph went to go back into the house, he realized at one point in time she had tripped the dead bolt! Picture it with me--most snow we've had all year, Husband on front porch in socks, no shoes, no wallet, no keys. Well, our friend Jeff checked all the doors and windows and reported our house was very secure--Ralph was locked out. Because we had not intended on leaving Kenya alone in the house, it was not so much doggie proof. This made Ralph very nervous, so Jeff drove him to the base so I could give him my keys. Well, as I was running out the door I dropped the keys somewhere along the way. We all spent the end of our shift looking for my house keys! AHHHHH! Turns out someone had happened by very shortly (almost immediately) after I dropped them and took them to another unit's nurses station. That person just happened to see one of my coworkers obviously looking for something and let her know where they had taken them. Whew! After all that stress, I got home found she HAD NOT destroyed our home, put her out and let Jeff and Sarah feed us dinner. What a crazy day!


P.S. Did I mention NO ONE has copies of our dead bolt key because we've never been able to get one to work? I also don't always take my keys to wok, I just happened to drive myself that day.

One Word...

November 16th can't get here soon enough.

Delightful Day

I love how friends can make the most dreary day warm and cheery. We had lunch with this family yesterday. It was a cool, foggy day. We had a wonderful time eating hot tomatoe soup and grilled cheese sandwhiches followed by gooey chocolate brownies and peanut butter chocolate chip ice cream and coffee. These are just the most precious friends. We were reminded that we need to make time for dear friends like this more often. It was a wonderful afternoon of laughter and sharing.

When we got to church last night there was a great treat waiting for us--Target Dayton Minitry's Choir. Target Dayton is a ministry that works with the homeless in downtown Dayton. It was a most precious time of worship together. Check out the website for the sermon. Their pastor, Mark Stevens, brought the message last night. It was a terrific challenge on Acts 1:8.

After church, we went out with friends for dinner. It had been a long time since we spent time outside of house church. It was so fun! We had such a wonderful day!

Snow Days

Ralph and Kenya took advantage of all the snow this weekend to have some fun! Our "little" girl refused to come inside for 3 days in a row because she was so excited!

California Gave Us A Lot To Chew On Today

Home school ruling

And The Baking Continues

I have not cured my craving for cupcakes. Last night I made Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting. The cake recipe came from here and the frosting from here. They were really good. I think I will make all four types of cupcakes. I am in a huge baking mood right now! Too bad I have to work all weekend.
Dinner last night was wonderful! It a "Weight Wathchers" meal. I wish I had taken a picture before we started eating. It was so colorful! It looked just like a healthy meal should. We had "Broild Tuna with Corn Relish." Here's the recipe if anyone is interested.

Makes 4 servings

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1 1/2 tsp Dijon mustard
1/2-1 tsp crushed red pepper
1/4 tsp salte
1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper
2 tablespoons water
1 1/4 lb tuna steaks, cut into 4 pieces
2 cups cooked corn kernels
1 cup chopped roasted red pepper
2 cups torn curly endive or chicory

1. To prepare the marinade, in a large aip-close plastic bag, combine the vinegar, mustard, red pepper, salt and pepper with the water; reserve 2 T of the mixture in a medium bowl.
2. Add the tuna to the bag and seal, squeezing out the air; turn to coat the tuna. Refrigerate, turning the bag occaisionally, 1 hour.
3. Spray a nonstick baking sheet and the broiler rack with nonstick spray; preheat the broiler. Arrange the corn in a thin layer on the baking sheet. Broil 6 inches from the heat, stirring often, until the corn begins to brown, 2-4 minutes. Add the corn and roasted red pepper to the reserved marinade in the bowl; set aside.
4. Drain and discard the marinade in the zip-close bag; place the tuna on the broiler rack. Broil 6 inches from the heat, turning once, until browned on the outside but still juicy inside, 6-7 minutes on each side.
5. Divide the endive among 4 plates; top with the corn relish and tuna.

from "Weight Watchers New Complete Cookbook"

We used romaine lettuce instead of endive and I omitted the water from the marinade. We both really liked it! We are trying to add more fish to our diet. We both love seafood but it rarely occurs to us to cook it at home. Do you have any favorite seafood recipes?

Dishes, Dog Training and Cupcakes

Shannon at Rocks in My Dryer is having a Spur-Of-The-Moment-Dish-Carnival. Since I love dishes, I had to join. The first set is the set we received for our wedding. It's a four place setting of Pottery Barn's Sausalito Collection. We love these dishes and would like to add place settings in another color.The next set was my husband's when we got married. Someone a long time ago had given him a four place setting of Pfaltzgraff's Heritage Collection. We added a lot of plates from various second hand stores to have enough to serve dinner at house church each week. Then we found out that the grandmother I'm named after (middle name), had a complete 8 place setting complete with serving pieces. She recently gifted the whole set to me!The third set are my "winter dishes" that parents gave us for Christmas one year. They are from Kohl's, the "Lodge". I have 8 place settings but very few of the serving pieces so I am always on the look-out for some to add to my collection.

Does anyone have any great ideas for teaching a dog to roll over? I don't think I'm going about this the right way. I taught her to sit and lay within half-an-hour. I think stay and come are ongoing. ;-p Anyway, we started to work on rolling over yesterday and she.RAN.AWAY.from.TREATS! This does not bode well for me and teaching her to roll over. I had her sit. I had her lay. I said "Roll over" and used the hand signal I had decided to use. Then I "helped" her to roll over. Then I gave her a treat. I don't think she was having much fun because she started to run away when we got to the roll over part--despite my handful of treats. Normally, she won't be more than a nose away from a handful of treats. This is not going well.

Last night I finally gave in to the craving I had been having--I made cupcakes. I made these cupcakes and frosted them using this frosting. I got the idea from this new favorite blog. I'm not sure what is wrong with me! I love to cook and bake and am always looking for new recipes. However, until recently, it has never occurred to me to check out food blogs! Seriously! Anyway, they are delicious!!! I'm thinking about eating one now with some espresso. Yum mm.

Prayer Requests

I just read this blog (she is Beth Moore's daughter). Please go here and here and pray for these families. Babies and tragedy. Unfortunately, we are too acquainted with that scenario. I know that these families would really appreciate your prayers and a note of encouragement if you have the time.

Jesus and Godly Friendships

That was the sermon title last night. It really got me thinking. Here is a synopsis of his points so you can understand where I'm going with this. The text was Mark 2: 1-12. You will be able to download the sermon here (it usually takes a few days). His main points were:

YOU KNOW YOU HAVE GODLY FRIENDS . . .

• WHEN THEY GET INVOLVED IN YOUR PARALYSIS v. 3, Js 2:14-16, Ro 12:15
  
• WHEN THEY ARE DESPARATE FOR YOU TO BE IN FRONT OF JESUS v.4, 2 Ti 2:10, Col 1: 28-29
  
• WHEN THEY ENTRUST THEIR LIMITE ABLITIES TO THE UNLIMITED POWER OF CHRIST v.4-5 (there was a lot of expounding on this point, I suggest you listen to the sermon—it'll be worth it!)
  
• WHEN THEY CELEBRATE AND WORSHIP JESUS FOR HIS REDEEMING WORK IN YOUR LIFE
  

Anyway, he ended with a challenge to be involved in godly friendships—challenging us to be godly friends. He asked who our four friends were. I was so blessed to see that during the "trash dump" time (in our service anyway) there were a lot of men dealing with stuff. Women usually see the importance of deep (though not always godly) friendships and men can struggle with that more.

All that to say, it has made me think of my friends past, present, and (with a possible move) future. First my past. I had 4 best friends in high school—my sister, Kim; Sara, Lisa and Jess. We went through a lot together and spent a lot of time in prayer together. We walked through all the drama of high school, the terminal illness of one of our cousins, Kim and I lost two uncles (one who knew the Lord and one who didn't), losing our youth pastor to a church plant, and early in college the loss of Sara's father. Our lives have gone separate ways but we stay in touch. Kim and Sara have both lost sons. Lisa is expecting her first child. Jess and her husband adopted 3 Russian siblings who didn't know English at first and have lots of baggage from orphanage life. We all married wonderful, godly men. I would be a different person if not for them and how they lived those points out in my life.

Also past are my friends from college—Natha, Amy, and Leanne. They are such amazing women, striving to live lives that honor our Lord. I am in constant amazement every time I hear from one of them. They were there when my cousin finally went to meet Jesus; when I was overwhelmed with working full time, being a full time student, and still not making ends meet; when Sara's dad died; when I broke up with my first boyfriend; and all the drama that comes with being young and in college. They loved on me, encouraged me, kept bitterness at bay, and pointed me to Jesus.

My present has two facets. First, my family—my mom, Kim, Nikki, and my SIL, Tiffany. These women are a-maz-ing! I know that they will always be there for me. Just by their example alone I am pushed in front of Jesus. My mother is living proof that Jesus can change and heal anyone. Kim has walked through overwhelming grief with more grace than anyone I have ever met. Nikki has taught me so much about perseverance through real physical, draining pain and did it all with joy and purpose. Tiffany teaches me about the redemptive power of our Lord—how to accept forgiveness and to live in dignity and humility afterwards. I would be lost without them and long to have them a part of my daily life. I am also "wise" enough to just be grateful to have them at all.

My other present—Amanda, Sarah, Amy, Marisa, Penny. Amanda has walked through so many things with me. I have seen Jesus get a hold of her heart and change her in so many beautiful ways. It makes me get on my face before the Lord and ask Him to work in me the same way. Sarah is new to my circle of friends—she's only been around for a year or so. She teaches me so much about loving others as they are and about intentionally bringing them Jesus. Amy is daily becoming like Jesus. I want to be like that. Marisa I don't talk to near enough but whenever I do I know I am in a safe place—I can share my most intimate struggles with her and know she will love and pray for me. Penny is my hero. She loves Jesus, loves nursing, gets me in trouble (and vice versa), and has walked the "marriage without children road" much longer than me with such amazing grace and peace. She is willing to go to dangerous places to care for those who are sacrificing so much for us. She is light in a very dark place. For a "quiet" person who is not a "social butterfly" she constantly shows me how to get inside people and really know them. There are so many more from my house church (past and present)—Kristi, Kelly, Holly, Amber, Amy, Tracey; but this is already a small novel.

I left the sermon challenged and praising God. I pray you, my friends, have such a list. If not, go out on a limb and make some. They may not look like you. They may be a lot older or younger than you. You may get rejected a few times—try anyway. We are to be known by our love.