BREAKFAST Comeback

Stacia and I have a previous tradition of weekly Saturday morning breakfasts - the two of us. We sometimes allowed Arielle or a visiting big sister to join us. We invited friends along two or three times. It was a time to connect with just her in the  midst of our busy ministry and household schedules. It allowed me to focus on her heart in the midst of preparing Arielle to fly the coop, Michael to retire and what we thought was our transition to the missionary lifestyle.

We've not done this weekly in the trailer. Sometimes we are traveling. Sometimes we are in strange towns and I don't want to venture out alone. Most recently, it simply isn't in our budget. Our retirement income is 1/3 of our former income and we aren't willing to guzzle our savings at restaurants.

We've had lots of time together. Full time RVing affords us much family time. However, as we're out and about she often comments on various breakfast spots. I talked with Michael and we agreed I would take her out this a.m. We've not done this since 31 Oct.

I tiptoed to the bunk room, pulled the curtain around her bunk and whispered in her ear,  "Would you like to get up and go to the shower house and out to breakfast or would you like to sleep in this morning?"

Her response warms my heart. Our slow-waker shot out of the bunk, grabbed her purse (ID for getting back on base) and said, "Let's go."

I suggested we visit the shower room first and she may want to change from her PJ's. We're a bit lax about this as we walk back and forth to the shower house in PJ's.

Waffle Barn was her choice. We've driven by it many times in our years in the area - never stopped. It was PACKED - a good sign.  It reminded me of an old time diner - or a cafe in Springfield, my hometown.

We had - are you ready? - waffles. They were good. Stacia's was loaded with chocolate chips and circled with whip cream. Mine had pecans in it - though the waitress kept correcting my pronunciation of pecan.

"Oh, you want Pee Can waffles."

I'd prefer pecan (puh - con) and we drink soda rather than pop - we've been in the south.

They only brought us one glass of water. We got tired of waiting for the second and decided to share....Stacia insisted on wiping the cup each time. 

 We headed to Marshall's and Michael's after breakfast. I'm working on building my perfect journal and wanted to see what they had which I might use. What we found were lots of Christmas gifts - which thrilled our little gift-giver.  We're preparing for our trip to Oregon. 

Lava Lamps Resurface

Nolan informed us he was making a lava lamp. Anything out of the ordinary engenders interest in the Trailer.

He filled his jar with water and oil - added red food color, dropped two alka-seltzer tablets and stood back to watch the reaction.

Being human, he was required to play with other colors after he'd "done it right."  It took on the appearance of things I've found lurking in the back of the fridge in our S/B home.

I'm proud of the kids for pushing through and getting oodles of school work done this week! We will do one more week and take 2 weeks off. 

#WYFF - The Adventure of "Normalcy"

I would love life to be all about beach combing, mountain climbing and lighthouse tours - but in this season we are grounded at Beale AFB Fam Camp. Our current life is pretty much what it was when we were assigned here - sort of! 

We are doing school. We occasionally get a visit from friends. We are no longer eye-ball deep in ministry or Air Force suspensions. We are enjoying lots of together time, undistracted ministry to family and making new friends at the Fam Camp. We are dreaming about life on the road in March.

#WYFF is meant to chronicle our adventures - and last week I just didn't do it. Life was so NORMAL. Normal is part of our adventure.

#WYFF - today our feet observed our favorite squadron push cars around the perimeter of Fam Camp. I'm not sure WHY - I'd love to know which squadron this is... I run into them at least once a week while Yuuki and I are walking. They often drop and do crunches in the middle of the road. This is the first time they've pushed trucks around the camp.

Let's go, Let's GO! 

  

 #WYFF - my feet PLANNED to attend PWOC Page Turners. I read the book and WOW did it speak to me.  I got side-tracked talking to a few folks up at the showers/office and Michael came to find me an hour after I was supposed to be at book club. I was ON TRACK....ready to leave and then  - life took a detour.  I don't regret talking with the people in my path this morning.

#WYFF  - after Michael pulled me from the group - we went to Yuba City to look for a trailer part for a needed repair. Our black tank is having a bit of a problem. Since we were in Yuba City, he suggested buying Papa Murphy's rather than me making homemade pizza. Yes, I've started making homemade again - Friday nights - in the trailer - because it fits our retirement budget better than eating out. LOL

 #WYFF - all of our feet are comfortably propped up as we eat pizza and watch movies in the Fam Camp lounge tonight. It's not a bad day - the adventure of normalcy.  

I'm plugged into the ethernet and I can get online.....which is a good thing indeed. I've wired some money for some Christmas travel. I've paid our bills and transferred funds - things I don't like to do from camp wifi. I've also been able to get online - check out FB, race through twitter, spend some time on Pinterest and update a blog. LOL 

#WYFF (Where's Your Feet Friday) is sponsored by Fulltime Families. View more of our Friday exploits by clicking the #WYFF tab above. 

Ode to Maria

I believe I met Maria on our very first Sunday at Beale AFB Chapel where she served as an usher. As time went on, we studied together on Wednesday nights and Sunday mornings, and I was a volunteer as she headed up our monthly hospitality potlucks. Maria is a gem.

Today, she met us at Fam Camp and we went out for lunch. Maria hurt her knee in basic training - and though she just ran a 5k to show she COULD DO IT - the USAF has decided she needs to be honorably discharged. We know God has good plans for Maria. During her three years in the military she's managed to be promoted to SSgt and earn a bachelor's degree in Criminal Justice.  She has many options open to her - and we're excited to see where God moves her..... yes, we plan on keeping in touch.  I have dreams of her buying a cute little trailer and meeting up somewhere down the road at a campground. ::snort::

I do not like "see ya laters" or GOODBYES - because I like to keep all my friends CLOSE....however..... all my friends are scattered and that makes for fun road trip possibilities. 

I was cooking dinner, Michael fell asleep, Stacia was busy in her bunk and Nolan mentioned the lightening outside was pretty. We headed out and enjoyed an amazing light show. It was great to share the moment with him.

Now, dinner is done, the kids are cleaning up and we'll read some Ishtar....and probably watch some Monk.

Our Grandblessing is growing!

We are so excited our little girl baby is growing and thriving in our little girl's womb. She's kicking, squirming and stretching.....good stuff.

21 weeks - Litte gal is the size of a cantaloupe

22 weeks - our little Spaghetti Squash weighs a lb!

Bre doesn't like people to rub her belly, but it's going to be powerfully hard for this granna not to hug that baby bump. LOL

We are in the process of planning for the 3 months between Michael's March and May neurology appointments. I have no idea where we'll land, but I can guarantee, to the best of OUR ability, we'll be in the Eugene area for the month of April....maybe May too. LOL 

All Intel Matters

Evidently, on an Intel base, all Intel - regardless of size or obscurity - matters.

786 cows - Thanksgiving weekend

We are happy to have the cows around the Fam Camp. I enjoy watching them on our walks.

It IS fun to know exactly how many cows are on base. The latest cow count is 956. 

Bread Woes/School at the Campground

I was thrilled when I heard I could grind wheat berries and knead dough in my Vitamix.

I ground the wheat berries. You can do 2 cups at a time and it takes a minute. I was happy. I'll have to think ahead and grind a day ahead to have what I need. I can only fit two pans in my oven at a time.

Actually pretty fine flour - couldn't tell the difference from others

The kneading seemed to go well - although it only made one very small loaf. I am thrilled with the almond butter!

Yummy almond butter - I need to make more today

The first try turned out a great tasting loaf, but it was flat. - dare I say brick-like?  AND I need more than one loaf at a time.

The next day (as the bread was gone) I made dough for two loaves and decided to hand knead it. There was no way the Vitamix was going to handle this much dough. After my arms gave out, I enlisted the help of ALL - we kneaded for an HOUR.......YES - AN HOUR! I am not exaggerating.

"The whole table moves!"

The guys put muscle into it

Serious work!

Everyone "earned" eating rights on this bread.

I could tell it wasn't "quite there" but surely an hour of hand kneading would equal 8 min in the Bosch? It didn't. It was a lovely, delicious door-stop.  I didn't take a photo.

I was voicing my frustration to Janey (Camp Host's wife - pronounced Ja Nay) as she bakes bread. I shared with her I'd used a Bosch for bread baking for nearly 20 years and I think I'd forgotten how to knead by hand. I told her I may need a baby Bosch. She arranged for me to meet this afternoon with Mary. Mary bakes her own bread and kneads it all by hand.  We met in the lounge today and baked bread together. Our goal was something more than bricks.

Kneading in the bowl is MUCH less mess too! Isn't the lounge nice? 

It turns out her recipe is the same as mine. I used Marilyn's famousbread recipe. My FAVORITE  recipe has far too many kinds of grains for trailer baking, and my second favorite is a Honey Oat bread from No More Bricks - but I sent the book to storage and didn't save the recipe.  Her kneading technique is new to  me - in the bowl - and it worked well. I had wanted to see if dough enhancer makes a difference....she made her loaves without and I made mine with....the ones with the dough enhancer did rise higher...same oven, same ingredients otherwise.

Top 2 loaves with dough enhancer

I enjoyed doing this with Mary and Janey. These are much closer to my normal loaves.... I'll keep playing with it. I'm keeping my eyes open for some bread pans at thrift stores. The ones I purchased are too wide and deep for what I want. I was desperate; it's all the BX had. I should have waited. Lesson re-learned. 

I'm still contemplating a Baby Bosch - I think it's small enough I can find a spot for it - maybe under the mattress or in the sock drawer? ::wink::  It says it will knead 2 loaves and it would be nice to have a mixer for cookie dough etc......but I'll keep trying the hand kneading and see if I can get some BIG loaves again. LOL