Wow

I have just spent the morning living vicariously through someone else's mission trip. As if it's not hard enough to learn everyone's names and faces (together, correctly) on your own trip (where you at least already know yourself—kind of)—try to start from scratch on someone else's trip! It's tough. Compassion has sent bloggers to Uganda. They are there seeing the work Compassion does and then sharing it on their blogs. Please join me in following their journey, praying for them and if you can, sponsoring a child. Just reading their blogs, looking at their pictures and watching their videos makes me "homesick" for Africa. I can see the faces, feel the air and smell Africa through their blogs. This is a good thing they're doing. We were challenged at Apex last night by Shane Claiborne to evaluate what we are doing for "the least of these." This is an excellent way to start! Here are Compassion's bloggers:

Carlos Whittaker

Chris Elrod

Doug Van Pelt

Heather Whittaker

Phil Ware

Randy Elrod

Shaun Groves

Sophie "BooMama"

Anne Jackson

Shannon "RocksInMyDryer"

David Kuo

Tom Emmons

Spence Smith

Keely Scott

Brian Seay

Stop in and let them know what a great thing they're doing and that you're praying for them. Better yet, share your Compassion story if you have one.

A Preview of Coming Attractions

Tomorrow is a big day. The nominations for The 80^th Academy Awards are coming out. As many of you know, Ralph and I host an Oscar party every year. This will be our 5^th Annual Oscar Party. We many have to do things a little different this year as it looks like it's just going to be a press conference due to the writer's strike. It would be a travesty to not have any dresses to "Oooh" and "Awww" over, so I am planning a post soon to present some dresses I feel would have made an impact on the red carpet. We may even have to have a poll and have some reader input while I'm at it. Stay tuned for more details!

The Visitor

We have had a visitor at our house this week. His name is Dooce. He is an adorable Australian Shepherd/Lab mix. I am now convinced I want a second dog! Kenya has been so good the last three days. I have not even had to walk her. I thought I was going to have to figure out how to walk two dogs at once when Kenya is often more than I can handle alone! They played so hard together that they wore each other out every day. I loved it! Now I just have to convince Ralph!

My sister's farm

My sister has this great farm in ND--it is the only house on her road, surrounded by pine trees. We had such a nice time visiting with them. We took a tour the first morning that we were there. Here are our the "landmarks" from our tour:
The outhouse (not in use)
The fire pit-during the summer it's a cozy little hollow surrounded by trees and leaves.
The tire swing she was so excited to have for the boys.
The pond--perfect for ice skating
I missed a big one, though. They have this neat spot they call "Sunset Road." Kim has gotten some of the most precious pics of Todd and the boys.
We had a good time of fellowship, played Loaded Questions and Apples To Apples, ate and laughed. Family is so precious.

Dinner for 6

As many of you know, there is nothing more dear to my heart than throwing a dinner party. So, when my cousin announced her engagement on Christmas Eve I began thinking, "THIS calls for a dinner party." The best part is that my bro and sis-in-law have this great apartment that just screams "Throw dinner parties here!" So we did. I planned the meal, Tif and I went shopping and then we cooked the meal together (while Bobby and Ralph played Xbox 360-with occasional pauses to help us out). We invited Holly and Adam (the cousin and fiancé) and tried to get Heidi (other cousin) to come but all those serious couples are very intimidating to an unattached college student apparently. We had a fine menu planned it consisted of :

• Tomato, Basil and Bacon Crostini's and Pomegranate Mocktinis
  
• Caesar Salad with Pizzetta's with Olive Tamponade and Provolone Cheese
  
• Carbonara
  
• Cheesy Garlic Bread
  
• Smores Pizza with homemade vanilla ice cream and hot fudge
  

 

The crostini recipe comes from this wonderful cookbook I found my first year living in Dayton. We love the cookbook and the crostini's! The Caesar dressing in that particular recipe was disappointing, no one liked the flavor. The presentation was a lot of fun, though! Carbonara, specifically Racheal Ray's is an old stand-by for Ralph and I, it's our go-to meal. The garlic bread recipe came from my mom and is a family favorite (as well as super easy). My bro and Tiff make really good homemade ice cream so obviously we had to have some of that!

It was a great night of food, conversation and fun! Bobby and Tiffany have such a great place for hosting and are great hosts themselves. Thanks for a wonderful night all!