Sourdough Pancakes

2 C Sourdough Starter - room temp, fed night before
2 T rapadura (or other sweetener)
1 egg
4 T Olive Oil or melted butter
1tsp vanilla or such 
1/2 tsp salt


1 tsp baking soda
1 T warm water 


Preheat griddle or cast iron pan. 


Add first 6 ingredients to a large bowl and mix well. 

In a small bowl mix baking soda with water. ADD THIS TO THE MIXTURE IMMEDIATELY BEFORE YOU ARE READY TO COOK....gently fold in. Let mixture foam and bubble for a minute or two.

Cook as typical. If batter is too thin, add a bit of flour. Starter consistencies vary.  We ate them before I got a photo...but liked this better than our first try, sort of merging recipes from online.


Choosing Joy!
©2012 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Yuuki Photo of the Day

Yuuki the snowdog

Choosing Joy!
©2012 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Sabbath Play-Rest

Michael stepped out of the 11:00 service while he's acting wing chaplain and preparing the chapel for the upcoming UCI.  This was the first week out. As he's been working 7 days a week for a few months....he declared we were going to have a family day at home. This was a RARE day when neither he nor Jared were working. It seemed a bit radical to me for a Pastor's family on Sunday....but we already knew we'd not be going to the 11:00 service...so we went with his vision. 


It snowed quite a lot on Saturday and Sunday We played and played and played...until all were worn out. Then we watched a movie and talked...and went to bed. I think we had a Sabbath. 

Will he deter the snow plow?

View from the top of the snow fort

From Yuuki's window....fort complex and two snow guards

In the interest of full disclosure the wimp prefers to be TOASTY warm and stayed inside to ready hot chocolate and put soup in the crock pot...and read....and watch from in front of the heater....though I
 er the wimp, did venture out to take photos of all the activity....resulting in near frostbite! 


And as soon as that last photo was taken a rip-roaring snow ball fight ensued!


Choosing Joy!
©2012 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Baking Marathon

If this Tuesday was a meeting marathon than Thursday was a baking marathon. I was co-hosting MOCA (Moms of College Aged) with Anna for the month. We used her home. She made two big pots of soup and I brought some fixins.  Grain mill seized on me again...had to fix that...what a mess.

Blueberry Streusel Muffins

Cupcakes - full of junk 

Jodi's Garlic Pull Apart Rolls 

These meetings always go long, but I love this group of women. Most are working or unable to attend PWOC and so it's nice to touch base with a group where I am NOT the oldest in the room. ::snort:: It's a joy to share our hearts for our older kids and to pray for each other's children through the month.  But my poor boyfriend was a tad bit tired of waiting and we had a LOT of snow that day. I appreciated the ride home. 

Choosing Joy!
©2012 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

MEETING MARATHON

Base day.....Tuesday...Marathon day.....

I'm amazed at how much can get done in one day if one is content to stay locked in a building and have back to back meetings for 8 hours. Not really the way I want to live my life...but it did free up the rest of the week. LOL

The day began with a new study session of PWOC. I'm leading e100 and it looks to be a fun class. We will cover 100 essential Bible passage (aren't they all) but this is meant to be a Bible survey - to cover 50 old and 50 new testament passages...survey the Bible and lay a foundation of a strong Biblical Worldview. It's a spectacularly  fun group.

The monthly Parish Advisory Committee meeting followed closely on PWOC....in fact, we overlapped a bit.

A PWOC finance meeting was next. Lisa and I set and decided how much money we wanted to take from each line item in our budget to leave for a summer/fall start up for the new board. This included money for the new board to attend WILD and to subsidize women who would like to go to  International Conference.  10 minutes after that.....

Local Retreat team meeting....we brainstormed, I shared all I know about planning one of these things, we actually got a LOT done and I'm excited about the vision and the shape of this year's retreat. Susan, Tara, Kristin, Lisa and team members yet to join are going to rock this.

Quick meeting with my favorite chaplain.

45 min to sit at the chapel before I was picked up to go to PWOC Book club where we discussed "One Thousand Gifts" and enjoyed Chinese food.

Tara drove me home after it all - and it was nice to visit with her too.

I did lose another camel back in the midst of the day.....but was able to spend the rest of the week at home double timing on school, play and mommy time.

Choosing Joy!
©2012 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Presidents Day 2012

A day off! 


Jared had to work....and Nolan and Arielle went to Api with the youth group. This meant an early a.m. for Michael to ferry all to base. 


He came home and caught up on some more sleep. 


Later the Stacia, Zander, Michael and I went to look for fun. EVERYTHING we tried seemed to be closed...but the Weasel's Den was open. Since we don't live on base, we aren't tired of going to the Den.  We played some mini-golf.....

We enjoyed Stacia's unique golf swing...

And discovered Zander is good in the batting cage 

13 out of 15 or 16!

Jared finished work and heading to the Mazis to visit. Meanwhile, we continued to look for something to fill an hour before we expected the kids to be back. It seemed silly to drive 20-25 min home, sit 20 min and drive back.....The bowling ally was open..... Michael bowled against himself and I hear rumors of 202 or 220? Whatever it was he said he has bragging rights - so I'm bragging. ::snort::

The kids got home and I cringed as I heard their stories. They and Mackenzie  went snowboarding. I assumed there would be a bit of instruction or chaperons staying with total newbies....but apparently not.  The three of them tried snow boarding for a bit...then decided to go to the top of the mountain - ended up on the professional slope and took 3.5 hours to get back down....but they all survived and seem happy to try it again. I was happy no one died on the mountain.


Choosing Joy!
©2012 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Five Minute Challenge

I've taken this challenge. It's only FIVE MINUTES A WEEK....Open Doors will send you a weekly email which focus' on one of the countries on the World Watch List. This will contain info about the country, the challenges and the religious persecution in the country. You agree to pray at least 5 minutes for the country. By the end of the year each country will have been prayed for at least once.  You can read more about this at Open Door's website. 


Choosing Joy!
©2012 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Hirosaki Christian University Students

These gals were FANTASTIC! As you can tell from the title  - they were from Hirosaki Christian University. They played several numbers for us at chapel.....I could have sat and listened to them all day. I would love to find out more about this university and maybe I will. I'd love to visit their campus, maybe attend a chapel service...wonder if they'd have a spot for a retire Air Force chaplain. ::grin:: 

Choosing Joy!
©2012 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Misawa's First Spouse's Dining In

Active duty members often attend "dining ins". Spouses aren't included; though they can attend dining outs. Probably easiest to include this definition from wikipedia which seems to be fairly accurate, "Dining in is a formal military ceremony for members of a company or other unit, which includes a dinner, drinking, and other events to foster camaraderie andesprit de corps."


This year Misawa celebrated the first ever Spouse's Dining In.  It began with all the various "groups" (military division) choosing a storybook. Our tables were to be decorated according to the storybook theme and our costumes for the night were to be characters from the book.  Each group brought ingredients for the grog bowl....alcoholic, non-alcoholic and water. 


The Wing Staff Agencies (of which the chapel is part along with Public Affairs, JAG etc) chose "Alice in Wonderland" as our theme. I wasn't able to participate much in the organizing but Susie and Jen did a great job. Muna and Tiffany and their crew did an amazing job with the decorations. We all met early on Saturday, got to pick our table based on lottery, and then had an hour to decorate!  Then we went home, got ready, and met back in the evening. 


The decorations were great.....Percy Jackson, Willie Wonka, South Pacific, Princess and the Pea, Beauty and the Beast, Hansel and Gretel, God this is me Margaret and more. 


My favorite tables were How to Train a Dragon (and their customs were fantastic too!).....

And Willie Wonka in the Chocolate Factory

The generals chose the winning table. I'm not sure how they chose...but was pleasantly surprised when Team Alice went home with the prize basket of goodies! Here are some shots of our tables.  One was the Queen of Hearts and her court; the other was Alice's tea party. Check out the flowers on the back of the chairs. Everything was made by hand and the attention to detail was simply amazing. 

Note the cakes are made from paper as we weren't to use food

Queen's Table chairs were covered with playing cards

Note all the little trays of food were made from clay! 

Stephanie makes a great Alice!

Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum - I love these gals! 

Alice and the Hatter

Chesire cat - member of queen's court

Do remember members of the Queen of Heart's court had to have a abnormally large body part....note the ears above. Michael and I spent a date night searching high and low for "enhanced body parts" - imagine pantomiming THAT in a foreign country...and finally....settled for some batting and dive caps.... It was amazing how many gave me a squeeze. 

Chaplain Spouses all - me as a lady of the court, Jen as the Queen of Hearts and Coralia as the sweet bunny! 

Our group 

Here are a few more random shots of the night.....

Nice to have Terri here in Misawa 

Bimbo of the court? Reminds me of a photo of Gpa Earl

Choosing Joy!

©2012 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Happy Anniversary to Us

Choosing Joy!
©2012 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

GROCERIES!

Groceries! The kids love to see piles of boxes.... I find it funny so many of those boxes are barely filled. 

Choosing Joy!
©2012 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

EXPLODING the code!

As I've mentioned before, part of Zander's uniquely quirky personality is that he takes life VERY literally.

This leads to some fun conversations from time to time....consider this table school scenario.

"Zander can you READ these to me?" He does.

"Do you want to reconsider your answers?" He doesn't.  I'm wondering if we have comprehension issues.

So we go sentence by sentence to see what may be going on.

Will Tom smile if he is sad?

"You marked, yes. Does a person smile when he's sad?"

"I do to hide my sadness."

OK - I can count that correct.

Can Jane drive home?


"You left this blank. You need to check yes or no."

"I don't KNOW if she can drive home. How old is she? Does she have a driver's license? Has she learned to drive?

OK - I can see that.

Can a cat slide into home plate?


"I'm not sure why you would let a cat have the plates from our home."

OK

Will you get a snake as a snack?


I plan to buy an anaconda after I leave home, because you will never let me have one....and five minutes later I interrupted...."BUT WILL YOU EAT THE SNAKE?"

"I might - if it's not a good pet."

Choosing Joy!
©2012 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Blueberry Streusel Muffins (Heavenly Homemakers)

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour (I use freshly ground hard  white wheat)
1/3 cup rapadura  (you can use brown sugar or honey if you prefer)
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1 egg
1/4 cup melted butter or coconut oil3/4 cup milk
3/4 cup blueberries, fresh, frozen or freeze dried (gently toss berries with flour to keep them from sinking to the bottom of your muffin)

Mix dry ingredients together well.  Add egg, butter and milk, stirring until all ingredients are mixed.  Gently stir in blueberries.  Scoop batter into 12 paper lined muffin tins.  Sprinkle with Streusel Topping and bake in a 400° for 20 minutes.

Streusel Topping:

3 T. rapadura or brown sugar
1 T. butter, softened
2 T. chopped nuts (optional)

These are quite good. They aren't very sweet at all (which I like, but you could add more sweetener if you want a typically sweet muffin.)

Why do I re-post recipes I find on the web? Because I've learned sites that SWEAR they'll never quit publishing often do. I suppose it's my way of pinning my favorites...without actually joining the pinterest craze quite yet. LOL 

Choosing Joy!
©2012 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Yuuki's Antics - Video

 I heard an UNGODLY barking and howling...came out and saw Yuuki on the back of the chair in our reading nook....and JUMPING to her kennel - to the left of the nook...lunging at the window...doggy slobber everywhere...turns out there was a CAT in the neighbor's garbage.

Choosing Joy!
©2012 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Learning New Tricks?

Well....after seeing the following video clip....Stacia (6) ran upstairs, grabbed her dog and told me she wanted to teach me to "balance your wrist." Evidently, I'm to practice speaking with the dog balanced on my wrist...keeping him from falling.....Guess SHE noticed the stray fingers flying into the screen shot? 

I'm not sure this old dog can learn the trick of speaking without flailing my arms

This week's attempt at a video clip for PWOC Asia Regions TnT....getting better....but gotta figure out how to EDIT music and video CLEANER....still....it's an improvement over last week. Volume is so high it will blast your ears if your computer volume is up. ::snort:: 

TnT: Watch Your Heart

I'm believing God to bring a lady with tech savvy on to the regional team. I need her...but I'm not letting a little thing like "know how" stop the vision. ::snort:: 


Choosing Joy!
©2012 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

I AM

"Do not be afraid of them; YHWH your God himself will fight for you."
Deuteronomy 3:22, NIV


The above is a verse someone sent me "out of nowhere".....really straight from Abba's heart to mine.  I got the message and it was good.  I had just been thinking "I AM" is I AM over every situation when I checked email! 


I was up at 01:30 and worked until I felt sleeping at 06:30.  I got a lot done...then I crawled back into bed and woke up about 08:30.  I don't think this is a good plan for most days...but it worked today. 


When I got up I had some local and regional PWOC stuff to "tend to."  We got school done. I'm working on an outfit for Saturday's Spouses Dining In. 


Due to miscommunication Jared had no ride to work....but he's resourceful! 

Mike dropped by and we took the van to Big D's for some work. He took the older kids and a neighbor girl to youth group and I enjoyed watching Rio with the younger set....and blogging. LOL

I also packed up for our "base day" tomorrow. I need to go to bed now that I hear everyone coming home....sort of tired and tomorrow will be early too.  OH more candy - more bags to work on - then bed. LOL


Choosing Joy!
©2012 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Dogie Curtain

We discovered last week that Yuuki takes an active interest in the soundtrack from Lady and the Tramp. She chases around and looks for Tramp in the song "He's a Tramp." 


Sunday was one of those busy Sundays. We made it to two services, the kids went to Sunday school and we attempted a hospital visit, then Michael took the kids to lunch and bowling while I attended a baby shower....and we decided not to go to the 3rd service....we came home and played Ratuki and entertained ourselves watching Yuuki react to cats on you tube. LOL 

Yes, I need to buy curtains for the patio door. I'm cheap and didn't want to spend the $ when they can't be used in other homes - unless we never leave Japan.  I like the sun...but I really do like a bit of privacy - I guess. We've lived without curtains at all for 2 years. When Jim and Twyla moved they gave us their curtains...so we put some up......now that we are extending I really do think I'll drive to the town south of here and find some to fit the door and maybe a matching set for the window above the table....I may get carried away and buy black out curtains for our rooms too. ::snort::  BUT Yuuki really seems to like having the window clear. It's a dogie (spell check insists this is correct) curtain. LOL 

Choosing Joy!
©2012 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...