Monday, June 15, 2009

2009

Is FLYING by. It's really amazing. I can't believe the year is half over... and I can't believe we've been here 9 months. Wow.
Anyhoo... so we've been keeping busy with work and non-work work. I have many aspirations, it's just finding the time to accomplish them. So I really need to get organized.... have a game plan, ya know?
We went to the library a few days ago..... ohh how I love libraries. The Lewiston library has a particularly delightful selection of cook books. =D I got one about pasta-making... not just throwing the noodles with the sauce... but the making of the noodles themselves. I'm so psyched.... I really need to try it soon. Then there's a beautiful bread book... but Manda's pretty much got the bread department covered. She's been concocting some pretty amazing things recently. Sourdough bread-making... like, the fun way. The Panera way. =D I've also been craving granola on yogurt, so I think I need to make some granola soon. And then of course, there's the Southern baking cook book.... over which one can't help but drool profusely. The desserts are just... tantalizing. But, ya know... I don't know what's been wrong with me recently. I can hardly put together a good dessert! My cookies turn out retarded, and my brownies.... oh my. The brownies were..... amazing... in the worst way possible. Just ask Josh Hackler (haha, he was the first to test the brownies).. or John, for that matter, who actually ate a WHOLE brownie AND swallowed it. I warned him. See, what happened is this... as I was measuring the dry ingredients I mistakenly measured 2 1/4 cups of SALT rather than sugar. Our salt and sugar are in identical containers, aside from the labels, of course. Doy. So yeah, you can imagine. Salt in that proportion is just.... indescribably.... horrifyingly... disgusting. So I dumped them out and made a new batch... which turned out beautifully, thankfully.. otherwise I probably would've just thrown the brownies with the pan out the window. There's something about making disgusting food that just enrages me. *Sigh* I need to get a grip. lol.
I have been succeeding at something, though! Astounding as that may be. ;) I've been knitting a scarf with... cables. An idea I find extremely intimidating. Of course it's pretty much the most basic simplistic cable ever... but again, it's a big deal to me. I had started crocheting a sweater... I got the back done and realized... it was ugly. There are some things crocheting cannot do. In this case, it was make the sweater pattern look pretty. It's kind of annoying to undo the work I put into it, but at least it's being unraveled into a pretty knit scarf. =D I'll have to take a pic and post it. But that's for another day.
As an ending note... here's this: "Unto Thee lift I up mine eyes, O Thou that dwellest in the heavens. Behold, as the eyes of servants look unto the hand of their masters, and as the eyes of a maiden unto the hand of her mistress; so our eyes wait upon the Lord our God....." Psalm 123: 1-2ish. I so need to remember to keep my heart and mind fixed on the Lord... in everything I do... and remember His presence at all times. How else can we trust in God, but when we're looking to Him? Peter couldn't trust the Lord when he turned his eyes from Him to the waves... neither can we. It's such a constant choice... either to look to the Lord, or not. And it's so easy to become lazy and let our eyes drift... it doesn't even feel like a conscious choice. But every moment is. C.S. Lewis said something similar in his book Mere Christianity... every moment we have the opportunity to step closer to the Lord, or farther away from Him. There's no step that leaves us neutral, that doesn't take us in some direction. We have to make the deliberate choice to believe the Lord, to love Him, to obey Him, to keep our hearts and minds in check and be faithful... consistenly! Oh boy. I know I don't. But "Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift" and "Who is a God like unto Thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of His heritage? He retaineth not His anger forever, because He delighteth in mercy. He will turn again, He will have compassion upon us; He will subdue our iniquities, and Thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea." Amen. Praise the Lord for His mercy!
Have a good evening, all! Or good morning... or whatever time of day it is when you happen upon this post. ;)
Oh, Ken Ham is pretty awesome by the way. Just watched one of his lectures yesterday. Loved it!


Here are some relatively recent pics from the thanksgiving party we had.




lol, Why? I do not know. Just cuz.






Dodge ball is an evil game, despite Josh's vote of thumbs up.

4 comments:

Kristie said...

Cookbooks are awesome, aren't they? So many things to make, so little time. Even one recipe can be a thread to a whole new way of cooking and enlighten one's culinary knowledge so much. You can apply one recipe or manner of cooking to a whole host of foods. It's just so fun and experimental. OHHHH, to have the time to have a test kitchen (maybe during a different season of my life, or little by little). Way to go Manders on the bread. I'm so glad I'm not there being tempted by sourdough aromas. TORTURE. And man, I wish I was there or coming soon, I have a pasta maker. You know, the pasta roller. I made home-made pasta and home-made spaghetti sauce when you all lived on Moyer. It was A TON of work, but fun!This summer we're going to be working on some recipes that are actually typed out so that the kids can go in the kitchen and prepare more than eggs and toast and tuna. I just throw things together and have never written anything out that our fam. uses. So go girl on cookin'. Ever think about becoming a nutritionist or dietician? I'd LOVE it if my girls did that. Thanks for the paraphrase from C.S. Lewis and the verses, Gal. Always a great reminder. OH, to everyday,think of the Lord throughout the day and not get soooo busy to forget Him when we need Him most. And not to forget to ask HIm for His help in daily temptations, even before they happen. He's there ready and willing. May the Lord's blessing on you rest, Love!!!

Ben said...

I wanted to email you something you'll probably like but don't have your address. Could you email me so I can respond and give you the 'goodies'?

benjamin.hart1@gmail.com

Unknown said...

Hi Anne,
I just read your last post and I thought it was very funny when you mixed the salt and sugar quantities up. I would have thought that since Kris, you, and Dad are salt-aholics (I hear) I would have thought 2 1/2 cups of salt in anything would have been perfect for you guys! HEHEHE.
Love your B.I.L.
Murray

worstedoptimist said...

Yeah, I don't have a pasta maker, Sis... so we'll see. The pasta dude said it'll turn out better if you hand knead and hand roll and hand cut eeeeeet cetera. Hopefully I'll get to that sometime next week. =D

Thanks for the music, Ben! I really enjoyed it.

Aaaha, very funny, Murray! Maybe 1 cup would be nice, but certainly not 2 1/2! ;)