All Aboard!

School is done. 


We are taking school with us. Is it too optimistic to expect we'll get school done in the a.m. before we reach OR?  Thirteen hours in a seat - may as well redeem the time. I DID check into Southwest it was 4x the cost to get us to OR.  

Stacia and I are packed. 

I need to find some food to take as I simply refuse to pay $17 for a snack on a train. 

I have on my tie dyed skirt and my fuzzy Crocs. Michael says I'm ready for Eugene. 

Bags....pillow...blanket....train leaves at midnight....praying for BORING fellow passengers on this trip. ::snort:: 

We're going to spend a couple of hours people watching at the train station before our train leaves....no need for the men folk to stay up to wave at the train at that ungodly hour. ::snort:: 

Choosing Joy!
©2013 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

The MONDAY after Winter Break

We have today and tomorrow before Stacia and I hop a train to OR. My plan was morning routine, school and Christmas clean-up.

We did it. We are focusing on table school this week....we're hitting it hard after having the month of December off.  Once again I've seen the kids' reading has jumped by leaps and bounds with a month off. I think sometimes a brain just needs to focus on something else until new tricks seep deep.

As the day wore on, it seemed we'd be lucky to get the nativities put away  and maybe I'd get to the tree after school tomorrow, before leaving for Sacramento. Nolan finished school and joined the work party right when our energy was lagging.  We got it all done. It will be nice to have the house in order as I leave.

Michael walked in as we were vacuuming and moving boxes. I commented I hadn't taken a single photo all day, therefore, I couldn't blog. He snapped one. ::wink::

Nolan won! 

We threw together a quick dinner of left overs and mushrooms....talked about the significance of Jesus declaring Himself to be "The Door" (John 10).... Michael and the kids are enjoying a round of Monopoly Empire and I am blogging...and LOOK - I found two more photos to take. ::snort::

I wasn't sure whether I should laugh or cry when the UPS man dropped by with a new package from Vistaprint....YIKES I'm committed to getting "New Year" cards out! I doubt I get them done before train time.....but maybe I can work on the letter during the 13 hour ride to OR. I also need to make some sort of computerized data base so I can print labels. That ought to fill my  midnight hours on the train.

And now Stacia is starting a sewing project....and I've still not finished the elastic on the skirts I was trying to make. I think I'll take it to OR with me and have Krista give me a hand's on demo. I've bent several pins and shed many drops of blood in my attempts. ::snort::

Choosing Joy!
©2013 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

WHY do Wisemen Seek Him?

Simplicity.

The wise men sought Jesus to worship Him (Matthew 2:2).

When they entered His presence they fell to the ground and worshiped Him (Matthew 2:11).

They opened their treasures and presented Him with gifts as an act of worship (Matthew 2:11).

Why do I MOST often seek  Jesus? What do I MOST often do when I enter His presence? Often I seek Him to relieve my stress, to meet my needs, to FIX IT.  I enter His presence with desperation to have Him DO SOMETHING.  This is not wrong - but....

Via Google Images

Do I worship?

Worship seems a nebulous, hazy concept.  However, worship is a verb in the New Testament.  It involves concrete action. We learn a lifestyle of obedience is at the heart of worship from Abraham in Genesis 22.  Worship is more than 60 minutes on Sunday morning. It's more than the 15 minutes of songs sung during those 60 minutes.  Yes - worship is all that. But more.

Looking up the word worship in a Bible dictionary provides a beautiful word picture.

Worship is to kiss towards another, to adore, to show respect, to fall prostrate and throw a kiss in a token of respect. 

Worship - to throw a kiss at God. Sounds flippantly casual?

 In the ancient oriental world one would greet equals by kissing them on the lips (stay with me). If one met someone of lesser rank they would kiss on the cheeks.  If, however, one met someone and was much inferior to that person, they would fall to their knees, touch their forehead to the ground, WHILE THROWING KISSES AT THE SUPERIOR.  THIS is the greeting New Testament writers used to express reverence and worship.

The wise men came, humbled themselves and gave of their treasures - all in worship.

via Google Images

Do I open my treasures before God and freely offer all to Him?

 Do I clutch that which is most precious to myself in stubborn imitation of Gollum?

Do I resemble most the Wisemen or Gollum?

Worship involves seeking Jesus, humbling myself before Him and freely offering Him total access to all that I treasure.

My heart desires to seek Him to worship Him.


Note: Worship - Strongs # 4352 - Proskuneo  Sources: Strong's Exhaustive Concordance, Vines Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words, and The Complete Word Study Dictionary by Dr. Spiros Zodhiates. 


Choosing Joy!
©2013 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Cashew Banana Ice Cream

Arielle and I like this one a lot. It is from Dreena Burton at Plant-Powered Kitchen. I've had SEVERAL recipes I pinned turn up with broken links when I go to use them. I've been disappointed several times lately so I'm going to transfer some recipes I have pinned to the blog. 

Ingredients
3 cups frozen sliced bananas (4–5 medium bananas) (see notes)
1/3 – ½ cup cashew butter (raw cashew butter is especially good; also try a combo of almond butter and
macadamia nut butter)
1/8 tsp sea salt
3-4 tbsp pure maple syrup (or less/more as desired)

My Notes: We used this to make an "ice cream cake" at Thanksgiving and loved it. Dairy Free....but not sugar free. Makes about 3 cups. I add in vanilla - as much as I want. ::grin:: I've never had cashew butter and have used almond butter. 

Instructions
In a food processor, process bananas until they are roughly chopped.

Add cashew butter, salt, and syrup (starting with 2-3 tablespoons) and purée until very smooth, scraping down sides of bowl as needed.

 Taste test, adding remaining syrup if desired.

Serve immediately, and store leftovers in the freezer. (This ice cream freezes well, being easy to scoop again within a few minutes after removing from the freezer. In fact, I prefer to freeze it to reharden the ice cream somewhat before digging in!)


Notes from Dreena:
When I have overripe bananas, I slice them, measure 3 cups to a container or ziploc bag, then store in the
freezer so they are readily available to make this ice cream.

The more overripe your bananas, the sweeter this ice cream will be. Also, softer ice cream is sweeter to
our tastebuds than hard, frozen ice cream, so you can adjust sweetness to taste with the maple syrup.
(don’t omit the salt, it enhances the sweetness and also rounds out the overall flavors.)

You can modify this ice cream as you like. I prefer the simplicity of bananas and cashews, but you could
add vanilla extract (or paste), almond extract, cinnamon, and/or nutmeg. Also, try pulsing in some raw
cashews or macadamia nuts, or some chocolate chips.


Choosing Joy!
©2013 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Lazy Saturday

Today is Jared's 20th birthday! He's had quite a year! He's currently working two jobs and preparing for the winter/spring term of college. I hope he found a bit of time to celebrate the big 2-0. Of course, if this is Jared's 20th...it can only mean this is my birth month and I'll be turning the big 5-0. ::snort:: I mark my age by Jared's age +30.

The house is strangely quiet with only three Gherkins home.  We had no  BIG happenings today. We cleaned out the hot tub. I worked out. I updated the blog and made little graphics with our "words of the year." 

Michael and I had lunch at New Earth. It was a fun spot to sit and visit in between a Sam's and Target trip. I did find they have hard red wheat berries for much less than Whole Foods Market in Roseville. We were on the hunt for lamps....and we found some. We couldn't believe they were NOT a matching set! The had the same code number, same box and description, same price -but  different lamps....though similar. We kept them.  The two lamps light up the family room and will provide much needed reading light - though they are officially called "task lamps" these days. ::snort:: 

 

These three decided the day called for dressing up. The boys are doing their best to keep Stacia occupied.  They're good big brothers.

Yes, that IS my wedding bouquet and veil - though it's not my dress. LOL

Let's not rush things!

Michael spent the afternoon working on the finishing touches of his sermon. It will be interesting to see how the text he told me will lead to the Chapel's theme for the year.  

I won't be wearing this to church in the morning! 

I planned to write an end of the year blog post. I planned to write posts on our family's yearly vision and prayer verse. I planned to write a post on my personal word of the year...instead I made those little chalkboard graphics and put the info on them.  
I WAS working on this skirt, but I finally screamed Uncle with the wide elastic waistband. It all seemed so easy when Krista explained it. 

Stacia has filled much of her day sorting "rubber bands" for her "bandaloom."  She has spent HOURS getting all the little colors separated....and just now she decided to throw them all together as it will take far to long to sort. ::snort:: 

Thousands of little rubber bands

Michael came out of the room, geared up for a war. He had Zander bring all his army men and animals downstairs....they set up battle lines and catapults. 

They moved on from catapults to Nerf guns...

Meanwhile in Oregon - it's wet and cold - 35 degrees. Sunny and in the 60's here. Krista and Arielle thought it would be great fun to go geocaching. They chose one with twelve puzzles to solve and then the caches....at one point they decided to walk in to a hotel as if they belonged and warm up. That's my girls!

We are enjoying the photos they are sending. I had told Arielle to be sure to text me at least once a day. They are going one better. All that rain IS making it pretty and green in Oregon. 

Pretty good for a camera phone

We needed a lazy day - we had one. Tomorrow we'll get busy and get some things done - maybe. 

Choosing Joy!

©2013 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Yakisoba - Our Comfort Food (From Scratch)

Akikosan first taught us how to make Yakisoba. We used the little packages for seasoning....and it was wonderful. I can't get the packets over here. I need to know how to do it from scratch. I've tried a variety of things. This is good. I found Kikoman Katsu at the commissary and I'll be adding some for a bit of a flavor kick - but this is fine. The yakisoba we grew to love in Japan was NOT spicy...more of a bland food. 

Yakisoba is a street food. It's made on big grills. I'm going to share the "non-meat" version my family has come to enjoy - and the shortcuts I use. I found the original recipe here. 

Ingredients: 
1 lb lean pork, chicken, tofu (we don't use this)
1/3 C soy sauce
1/3 C mirin
1 1/2 T rapadura (sugar)
12 ounces Chinese wheat noodles 
3 T olive oil
1 onion sliced thin
1 lb napa cabbage or savoy cabbage sliced very thin
3 carrots grated
1 T ginger

*Note: I buy two bags of coleslaw mix from the store (already chopped ::snort::) and skip the chopping when I'm in a hurry. I triple this for my family - but can only fit two bags of slaw in. I slice a few carrots to add to it and I use 3 packages of fresh Yakisoba or Udon noodles from the commissary.  The cabbage REALLY COOKS DOWN. Believe me, I can serve this totally vegan meal to my family as many times a week as I want...and my MEAT loving boys eat it. In fact when given a choice they say to leave the meat out. Score. 

Directions: 
Mix soy sauce, mirin and sugar. Stir to dissolve sugar.

If you don't have fresh noodles cook 8 min, drain and rinse under cold water.

In wok or large skillet, saute onion for about 3 min.

Add the cabbage, carrot, ginger and cook until cabbage is softened - (3 - 5 minutes). We left this out as Bre was here and gets ill if she eats ginger.

Add the meat and cook until done - yes - this is the order it is done in Japan. I don't know why. I don't use meat.

Cover the veggie mixture with noodles and pour the sauce over all.

Cover and cook 3 - 5 min, toss the mixture together until combined.

Melinda reminded me that Yakisoba is grilled by street vendors in Japan. I got out our electric grill and fried the whole thing before I served them up.

Bre's first plate of Yakisoba in Misawa

Choosing Joy!
©2013 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Roasted Delicata Squash Recipe

We love this! Even those who don't eat veggies. ::snort:: I found it at Summer Tomato. 

Via Summer Tomato

Ingredients:

• 2-4 delicata squash, depending on size (~1.5 lbs)
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• salt to taste

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Cut delicata in half lengthwise. This should be easy and not require any crazy hacking. With a spoon scoop out the seeds and discard (you can save these and prepare them like pumpkin seeds if you wish). 

Cut each delicata half into 1/2 inch segments, creating moon-shaped pieces that have slight bumps around the curve.

Arrange the pieces in a single layer in a metal baking pan and coat in 2 tbsp olive oil. Too much oil can make the squash soggy. Salt gently. It’s okay if the pieces are a little crowded, but try to maximize the surface area of the squash touching the pan. The browning only occurs where the squash and pan meet.

Place in oven and roast 10 minutes. Turn the squash in the pan so that the light sides are now touching the pan and the brown sides are facing upward.

Continue roasting, turning every 7-10 minutes until both sides of the squash pieces are golden brown and the texture is creamy to the teeth all the way through, about 25-30 minutes. Adjust salt.

Choosing Joy!

©2013 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...