Another recipe or two...

We celebrated fourth of July in a lazy fashion (I fear the rain did not promote a feeling of irresistable calling to travel the time-consuming trip to a sardine-ish location in the Woodlands where the backs of our trousers would fare the worse, all for the express purpose of catching a glimpse of some lofty explosions.)

However, the trip to the Rathweg's inspired culinary emotions in me.

I tried out two new (ish) recipes and here are the results.

The first was a palate-watering success. (and I fear a bit less original since it is a long-forgotten recipe that my mom used to make when we were younger)

The second--also quite tasty, albeit rather filling.

#1. Bacon wraps--

(made about 36-40 munchers)

as many toothpicks as bacon wraps

about 12 slices of bacon (I used thickly sliced)

2 cans water chesnuts, whole

1 large chicken breast, cubed

1 1/3 or so c. of Teriyaki sauce

about equal or a bit less of water

Put the Teriyaki sauce and water (I used 2:1 ratio with the teriyaki:water and then added extra water because my bacon was not quite covered) in a large pan. Take a slice of bacon. Stretch it a bit and cut it into 3 equal pieces. Take a chicken breast cube (I had already cooked my chicken breast--apparently, my mom would cook it at the same time as the bacon, but I forgot and the chicken would have to be small enough pieces to cook quickly then) and a whole water chesnut. Starting at one end of the bacon, roll the pieces into the bacon and affix with a toothpick. As you roll the bacon wraps, place them in the sauce to marinade a couple of hours.

Broil on High for about 20 minutes. Enjoy!

#2 Feta and Pesto Tartlets

(made 18 tarts)

either puff pastry rolled out and cut into circles, OR

(what I used--as available, expensive but easy)

3 pkgs. (6 each) already formed frozen puff pastry tarts

about 3.5 oz. basil pesto about 20 cherry or grape tomatoes

4 oz. feta cheese

basil (I used parsley) to garnish

If you use the rolled puff pastry, add the ingredients before baking the pastry and bake all at once. You must leave half an inch all the way round the ingredients for the puff pastry to rise. If you use the already formed, frozen tarts, bake the puff pastry first according to box directions. Then, remove the "top" of the puff pastry and fill the puff tarts, as you would a pie crust. Add back the "top" as a garnish, if desired.

First, layer a thin spread of basil pesto on the puff pastry base. Then add 3-4 tomatoes, sliced. Then sprinkle feta on the top. Garnish with whatever. Can be eaten warm or room temperature.

Wood at last!!!

Well, one year later... As we are no longer considering a move, we decided it was now time for the wood install. Originally when we purchased this house, we were intending to tear out the berber carpet in the family room and install wood since as we soon discovered, that carpeting was filthy, heavily stained, and poorly patched.

Remember this?

Or this? Or this?

Or this?

Well, we decided it was about time to take care of those stains and many more.

Then, the thought came that we would put wood in the dining room and living room as well because after all, the dining room would be easier to clean that way and the living room, well, it just would look nice.

This brings us up to last year. The search for wood to match the front hall took me near and far but no sign of good quality, relatively inexpensive, matching wood.

That brings us up to this year. We decided on a different strategy. Why not see how much extra it would be to tear out the front hall and powder room and redo with an entirely different wood. That became my strategy. Well, one thing led to another and when I considered redoign every room downstairs except the study (and the master bedroom), I decided the small study might ought to be done in the same matching wood as well...

Which brings us to two weeks ago.

Unfortunately, we had to live like this as we waited for the wood guys to actually show up several missed appointments and days later.

But then, the good news...(and believe me it did not all magically happen, but the fact that I and the cats were holed in our master bedroom for many hours each day for a week does not lend itself to a progressive tale)

We picked out at Brazilian cherry which is rather light here in the pictures but will darken up in the next 3-4 months.

So now the choice. Help! Which one is better? Left (without the rug) or Right (with the rug)?

Third...and on a roll...

I don't want to wear myself out of topics lest you find another 3 months between blogging a bit dull...however...

On to the book I have been reading in light of our pending mission trip to Amsterdam. If you are reading this, please pray for us July 27th-Aug 3 as we interact with the Kurdish refugees in Amsterdam. We are going through our church...more specifically, the wonderfully passionate young married's pastor, David Upchurch. He is taking a group of just 5 of us to The Netherlands. Michael was keen on the trip because he values David and Chad (half of the other couple who are going) and desires to serve the Lord alongside of them. Chad and Dena were in our old Sunday school class...Cynthia, whom I have only met once, will round out our trip to 6 of us, including David. I am excited to be going on this trip because we will be spending almost all our time working directly alongside the missionaries already in place in Amsterdam. We will be prayer walking and "narrative mapping" the area. (this is a form of interviewing folks on the streets, in the common areas etc... with an eye to determine what makes them tick, why they meet together, where they live, etc...and possibly open doors to share the gospel with them.) This trip seems to be more actual mission work than all of the other trips I have taken in the past. Perhaps God will be setting the stage for future mission work for Michael and I?

OK, back to the book. It is called Just Walk Across the Room, by Bill Hybels, the pastor of WillowCreek in Chicago. The website: http://www.justwalkacrosstheroom.com/. It is not a new concept to me, but it has been very challenging!

I have been thinking about this very thing for a while. I grew up in a family where sharing the gospel with anyone and everyone or at least sharing God's love is second nature. Truly, thank the Lord! However, I was convicted again about my lack of intention in doing this when our Sunday school teacher, Cindy, mentioned her intentional effort to meet, greet, smile, and begin conversation with people in the grocery store, post office, department store or wherever. I was still mulling this over when my mom moved in with us for the summer. She immediately did just that! I wandering after her at many a location heard her greet every checkout person with a smile and a somewhat unexpected comment like "Lovely cross you are wearing. Is there anything special about it?" or "Are you from India? What part? Do you like it here in the United States?" or "You must be tired from standing all day."

Meanwhile back at the ranch, my mom (who stole a copy from Michael) and I began to read the book above after David gave us a copy to read before heading to Amsterdam. The book is under the same premise that merely starting a conversation with a stranger is opening the door to God's love to be passed on to others through a spiritual conversation. Bill discusses how it is the prompting of the Holy Spirit that leads the conversations and that there are times to keep it merely on an unspiritual level, but that God can use even those conversations at a later date as others (or even yourself) might reap and sow the harvest that God prepared long ago.

He challenges that we should so actually believe that others would be better off if they knew the Father that we live like it.

"The key is this: my objective is not to contrive ways to "get someone save"; rather, my objective is to walk when he prompts me to walk, talk when he says to talk, fall silent when I'm at rish of saying too much, and stay put when he leads me to stay put." Discover people's stories.

All this has put a new desire in my heart to seize every opportunity to ask questions to hear other people as they might or might not open up to simple questions. God can do what He wishes through those conversations.

Frankly, I was not sure I was expected much from the book, but it is on my recommended reading lists. I think it is a wonderfully challenging book. One that requires application.

Second...

Aren't I doing well to get two blogs posted in a day?!!!

As I mentioned last blog, things have been busy here...and a bit stressful too. After about a month of searching, praying and bartering, we purchased a car!

Michael and I had come to agree over the last several months on the model of car we would purchase. Michael, ever the hot rod, sportscar enthusiast, was eager to get a luxury car that had all the bells and whistles. I, ever the practical, unknowledgable car person, was eager to purchase an inexpensive but dependable Toyota, having had them in the past and knowing their dependability. We finally agreed on a Toyota Avalon! Michael got his leather seats, luxury car, while I got the dependability of the Toyota without the price tag of a Lexus or someother such.

Now to find one...

We found this more difficult than you might think, especially seeing how popular the Toyotas are. All the newer cars with the right mileage were higher than what we had set out to spend. The older, higher mileage cars might be within our price range, but many had far too many miles for what we wanted, even given Toyota's reputation to last 200,000 miles. When narrowing down our search, I had only one tiny stipulation. I wanted a sunroof. I have always wanted one and decided if we were going to buy a new-to-us car (far from new), I should be able to stipulate that at least. This narrowed the field even further. Despite ploughing through Autotrader, Craigslist, Ebay, Houston Chronicle and local ads, we found only about a dozen within a 100 mile range.

The pursuit is on...

We spent one long Saturday and pursued all the sensible options we had found in Houston. It took us all over Houston beginning quite close to home (in fact, 2 minutes away) to distant Katy. As for the search: too old, a squeaky a/c, bad used car dealerships where I wouldn't buy my cat, possible flood damage, accident on record, previous lease car, and the winner of them all--a car that had a "minor" rear-end collision but in reality had been painted all along the side, had a broken front light, missing rear end pieces and was a hideous shade of gold! With all these seemingly unsuitable cars, we did narrow it down to 1 car. This car was thankfully, the car that was parked 2 minutes from our house.

The offers...

We had the 2000 pearl colored Avalon inspected and discovered some minor issues but ones which added up to about 1K+ of work; it was already over Kelly Blue Book value. We made an offer. While the fellow had been trying to sell the car for 2+ months, he was not willing to budge much if any. We waited to hear his response after he was to take it to a mechanic. Next, we discovered another car-not previously posted...a recent trade-in, also pearl colored. We examined it once in the dark; the second time in the light and decided to make an offer. The car was very low mileage, but had a few cosmetic issues and was above our agreed on limit. We bargained for half an hour and could not come to an agreement with the sales manager.

THE CAR...

Michael had meanwhile been following cars on Ebay. I regularly nixed cars because I was not desirous of buying a car sight-unseen, and it would have to be a special car to be willing to travel and look at it. Michael agreed. This time though, Michael found a car at a Houston Lexus dealership. It was the right age, the right mileage, and the right price (oh, and the sunroof! :) ). We decided to check it out. It was, you guessed it, the pearl color...must be an affinity for the color (well, maybe not...it is, however, a pleasing color) The car was listed on the lot for 5K more than the Ebay buy-it-now. Michael and I had researched; it was below the KBB value and had been through the lecus inspection; Michael even looked at it under the lift. It had been a trade-in by an older gentleman for a brand-new Lexus. What an ideal position! and Michael and I were not only in complete agreement on the price we were willing to offer (that had been issues in the past), but the salesman came down another $800 from his asking price! We were thanking God for his provision as we drove the car home from what was to be merely another informative car shopping experience.

I am very thankful for the car, and even more so that God brought unanimity (our prayer) and peace to the decision so that both Michael and I were pleased to purchase this car.

Anyone want to buy a Hyundai?

OK FIRST...

If any of you are still checking this, Congratulations! Your patience and persistence has been awarded with another glimpse into the very busy life of M&M!

Since last I wrote, I have finished school...bittersweet. For all my desire to be done and never come back, cffff(thanks to my cat), I felt a few moments of sorrow that these lives that I invested in I would not see come to fulfillment.

I gave each of them, as a parting gift, a white stone (really a river rock spray painted white which could serve as a paper weight later) with a new name written on it (see Rev. 2:17)--One side contained their name, but the other the meaning of their name and the potential they could live up to since according to Jeremiah 1:5 "Before I formed you in the belly I knew you; and before you came forth out of the womb I consecrated you" There names were not accidents! I reminded them that "A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches; and loving favor rather than silver or gold." (Proverbs 22:1) It was touching to see several of the kids walk around proudly showing their name/meaning to others and bragging about their potential. What a wonderful experience! I know leaving that school that 90% of the kids are not Christians and so what a fertile ground to share the Good News. I prayed to be able to do that everyday and may never know the results. I was just the seed sower, not the reaper, but...just as importantly used.

Many had severe emotional issues, many were challenging middle schoolers, but as I know Jesus loves and died on each of their behalfs, so I came to love each one in a unique way. So, I say that while I am so busy I have not noticed that I am in school no longer, and very thankful for oh so many reasons that I do not have to go back next year, it was a bit bittersweet at the end.

7th Grade Bunch

8th Grade Bunch (plus my four advanced 7th graders)

(Oh, and my mentor, boss, friend and strong campaigner who took all the brunt for me this past year is the fellow with the grinning face and blue shirt in each picture, Coach Len Shelby.)

One a Month

I guess one post a month is not doing too badly. You see you have not missed much in our life in the meantime.

I am looking forward to this next week with a sense of anticipation I have not had in so long! This is the first time in months that I will have a break from the school schedule and not have company or activities to take its place. Yeah for Spring Break!

I am still furiously trying to finish the scrapbook...perhaps it will get done this next week. (I only have about 8 more pages)

Michael started sitting in on counseling sessions 2 weeks ago in the process of becoming a counselor at Carenet. This is in response to a vow he made several months ago to God. If the Lord provided him more time and freedom by passing the P.E. exam, he vowed to do a couple of things. This volunteering is one of them. Wow! How God has worked in my husband's life to bring him to this point!

I have also been challenged by the example Michael set. I have been thinking for a while about the concept of vows to the Lord as a fulfillment of God's promises. I have discussed this with my mom and Michael--ever careful to avoid making any vows myself because I know how seriously God takes our promises to Him. I have been avoiding making a commitment because I was uncertain I wanted to follow through consistently. Laziness. Last week, I felt that God was challenging me to overcome this and consider making a vow to Him as early thanksgiving for the promise he has given me of a child... I was not certain I wanted to make a vow before the Lord. However, inspired by my husband's example and desirous of allowing God to work in me, I prayed that He would reveal what I should vow before Him. His answer came. Unlike a usual vow that is acted upon in response to God's promise fulfilled, I decided that my vow was important enough that I needed to follow through to fulfill that vow in action and trust now, even while the promise has not yet been fulfilled. I am trusting that God will bring about his promise in His faithfulness.

For lack of cute children to use as an obvious subject filler on our blog, I will add a picture or two of our two little rascals.

This one wanted to go on the trip with us to Saudi... stowing away in the luggage. Think the border control would have minded?

Can you tell the two are fascinated by the gecko that is running along the bricks outside?

Well...back to the daily tasks... 10-4 Good buddies, who are reading this and have not actually given up on my lack of new posts.

I guess it is about time...

...to post another post.

We have had more than our share of fascinating but stressful things happen since I last posted--I have been very aware that our family is under spiritual attack! and we will not let satan take the upper hand!!!

On a lighter note, Michael received his P.E. stamps and seal this week. Now he can officially stamp/emboss off on someone else's work!!!

I have been attempting to scrapbook in a fury so that everyone not reading this blog can see pictures to prove that we actually did go to Saudi. (that feels like ages ago now)

We had a superbowl party with our Sunday school class. I have been in a cooking frenzy. (ask Michael, we have had new recipes about every other night recently) I tried 2 new recipes for the party, plus an old standby of stuffed mushrooms. (see recipe below) The picture to the right was awfully pretty, but not so tasty (in my opinion) I did not like the Asian seasoning that I put in the chicken recipe.

Stuffed Mushrooms:

1-16 oz. package of shrooms

1- 8 oz. package cream cheese

1/4 c. of bacon bits (I imagine this is about right, I just eyeball it)

1 T. of garlic powder (maybe a bit less...again just eyeball it)

Mix the cream cheese, bacon bits, and garlic powder together. Wash the mushrooms. Pull out the stems. Stuff the mushrooms with the cream cheese mixture. Broil for about 15-20 mins. Eat warm or cold! EXTREMELY EASY! VERY TASTY!