Yummy Bagels

I found a wonderful recipe website thanks to AHappyHome. I make as much as I can from scratch so this website is perfect and I always love to see recipes with the picture to know if something really looks worth the effort. Of course I can never leave a recipe as I find it and modify it to suite my tastes. So, today I decided to try making bagels. I have made them in the past and tried adding chocolate chips which made a big mess with the boiling but they did taste good.

Today I tried a recipe from Tammy's Recipes and modified it to make my favorite bagel of all time, Tomato Basil. Natural Ovens used to make one but they haven't for awhile now and I am unable to find any others. To the basic bagel recipe I did use part fresh-ground whole-wheat flour and then simply added pizza sauce, basil, and oregano. The boys couldn't wait for them to get out of the oven. George especially was oohhing and aahhing after the first few bites. (He can be quite the food critic at times). I thought I'd try other flavors another day but George says to stick with these "pizza bagels". They are so yummy but one batch doesn't last very long! So, if you are in the mood for yummy bagels give this recipe a a try.

Interesting Things About Me?

I was tagged by KindredHeart and Living4HIM and wanted to play along but it took awhile to come up with 7 interesting things about me. Here is how it works: Each player starts with 7 random facts/habits about themselves. People who are tagged need to write their own blog with their 7 things as well as these rules. You need to tag 7 others and list their names on your blog. Remember to leave a comment for them letting them know they have been tagged and to read your blog.

Here goes...

1.  When I am intently listening to someone speaking my fingers often start typing out the words I hear. This habit started when I took a speed typing class in college and had to type as the person spoke.  It drives my husband crazy and I don’t usually notice I am doing it until he puts his hand on mine to stop me or asks what I am typing. Occasionally I do the same thing but with music and my fingers move as if playing the piano.  (Odd thing is that my sister "types" also).

2. My neck turns red instantly if I touch it or if clothing irritates it. So if it ever looks as if I have a large red birthmark on my neck most likely I was probably just holding one of the children and they brushed against it or some such thing. My brother-in-law gets a kick out of this so will often poke my neck for the fun of seeing it turn red.

3.  I cannot stick my tongue out except maybe a hair past my bottom lip. I guess I am tongue-tied and the doctor had told my Mom when I was a child that they could clip it underneath if it hindered my speech but it didn’t so they left it alone. All it has hindered is that I cannot stick my tongue out at anyone but it is a good conversation piece. The children think it is funny.

4.  I enjoy art and cooking often feels like an art project to me where I need to have every piece in its perfect spot. For example I cannot just throw the pepperoni, mushrooms, and black olives on a pizza, I really like to have it evenly spaced with just the right amount of topping in each bite. Thankfully I have children to help me loosen up in this area and I “try” to let them arrange food as they see fit.

5.  I am constantly changing my mind and therefore have a hard time deciding on things such as paint colors because I know that in no time at all I will see something that I like better.  If I find the "perfect" thing then  I usually like it for all-time. But sometimes the "perfect" thing only exists in my mind.

6.  I have a problem with clothes that are itchy from tags to seams or certain fabrics. I always feel the seams in the sleeves before I buy a shirt to make sure they are not sticking up too far. I get goose bumps when my husband insists on drying his jeans outside as they get so stiff and the thought of them on my legs makes me cringe. There are a few pictures when I was a child where I am either crying from a lacy dress my Mom had me wear or from a robe with itchy seams so that I stood with my arms straight out with a look of “when can I take it off?” on my face.

7.  I have an associate’s degree in the computer field and worked at a computer helpdesk for a number of years. This seems so far removed from who I am now, especially since I am not technically- minded but it was something to do while I waited to get married and have a family. If I had it to do again I would choose a job working with flowers/gardening or interior design.

Tag...you're it!

Diane
EEEEMommy
AmyLu
Sahmto4orMore
Aligirl
Angellwaves

 

Our 10th Wedding Anniversary!

I saw this on another blog awhile ago and thought it would be fun to post today on our anniversary. Take a look at the short slide show I put together of just the two of us.

1. Where/How did you meet? We met in our Junior year of high school (we attended different schools) at Campus Life, a non-denominational youth group similar to Campus Crusade.

2. How long have you known each other? About 16 yrs. 

3. How long after you met did you start dating? John was interested in me awhile before I knew about  it. We hung around with the same group of friends from Campus Life and had fun together as friends. 

4. How long did you date before you were engaged? We dated for 5 years all-together, although I would have preferred getting married sooner.  John wanted to concentrate on college and graduate first which in the long run was a good idea.

5. How long was your engagement? Two years. He proposed in November of 1995 (partly because my grandma was dying and we wanted her to know) and got married in May of 1997 right after John graduated.

6. How long have you been married?  10 years

7. What is your anniversary? May 3

8. How many people came to your wedding reception? We had an average size reception but fairly simple held in the church fellowship hall.  

9. What kind of cake did you serve?  We had a wonderful cake that everyone commented on.  Each layer was a different flavor but the only one I really remember is chocolate with apricot crème filling. Yum!

10. Where was your wedding? A beautiful Reformed Church in a quaint town. We did not attend there but selected that location because honestly I didn’t like the look of my own plain church. It also worked well as they had a large fellowship hall to accommodate us where our church was not large enough.

 11. What did you serve for your meal? We had it catered by a lady who made everything so beautiful with baskets for the foods and such. Our wedding was a garden-type theme and I only remember a few things so I know we had orange chicken on skewers, tortellini salad, finger foods and salads. I was too nervous to eat anything and only picked at my food. I was so thankful that my Mom packed a couple of plates full of food to take along that night. I was starving by the time we got to our hotel!

12. How many people were in your wedding party? We had 8 people. My sister was my Maid of Honor and my Aunt and a good friend were bridesmaids. John had two friends and my cousin stand up with him. We had a sweet little flowergirl and my cousin was the ring bearer.

13. Are you still friends with them all? For the most part. One of the groomsmen moved away so we haven’t seen them in a long time.

14. Did your spouse cry during the ceremony? Yes, but not nearly as much as I did. 

15. Most special moment of your wedding day? The most special moment was my Dad walking me down the aisle. We had the song “Butterfly Kisses” (before it became popular for weddings) sung before I walked down. Dad and I stood in the back and he had a really hard time which didn’t help me any. As we stood in the doorway ready to go both of us had shed quite a few tears but he was all smiles and held me tightly as we walked together arm in arm.

16. Any funny moments? Not that I can recall.     

17. Any big disasters? The only thing that went wrong was that I didn’t get the cake design that I had ordered. I walked in the reception hall that morning and asked whose cake that was because it didn’t look anything like I asked for. Thankfully we had extra flowers to fill in for some color as it was more on the plain side. I had wanted lilac type flowers draping down the sides but it was just plain white basket weave. The flavors of the layers were correct for the most part except that they made one layer poppy seed which we hadn’t wanted since my Dad and Grandma cannot eat them.

18. Where did you go on your honeymoon?  We spent the first night at a hotel across from the airport as we had to catch a really early flight to Tennessee. We rented a log cabin in the Smokey Mountains in Gatlinburg. It was unseasonably cool that week but the sights were absolutely beautiful!  We did a lot of hiking and got to see two bear cubs and stood beneath a waterfall. We also stopped at Dollywood and one of those fun meals with a show.

19. How long were you gone? A week.

20. If you were to do your wedding over.... I would change the bridesmaids dresses as I didn’t like how they turned out (someone made them after looking at a picture I liked) as they didn’t look much like the picture.  I would have stressed to the florist to have a LOT of color in my bouquet. I love color and the bridesmaids had gorgeous bouquets but mine was quite plain.

21. What is your song? We don’t really have a song. When we started dating the Robin Hood movie with Kevin Costner was new so the love song from that reminds me of that time. The song we had sung at our wedding was by Steve Green, called “Til the End of Time” and that says it all.

22. Describe your wedding dress. It was fairly simple and elegant.  The bottom was a light chiffon that floated beautifully. The top was made of appliqué lace that covered the heart-shaped form of the simple top. My veil was a floral type thick headband.  

23. What kind of flowers did you have at your wedding? I had white tulips, lavender freesia, pink stephanotis with pearls in the centers and ivy flowing down. The bridesmaids had dark purple irises, pink daisies, a bright yellow freesia, purple statis, and bright pink kolanchoe. (I loved their flowers!)

Today we look much the same, maybe a bit older. My hairstyle has been in constant change over my lifetime so that we can tell what year it is based on my hairstyle so of course that has changed. My husband had gained a bit of weight over the years but has taken that off in the past year so he looks much the same but he gets more handsome with age to me!

Finally Walking!

She did it! Missy Blue Eyes is finally walking at 18 months! She has been teasing us with attempts for the past 4 months but has taken her sweet time progressing to actually walking on her own. Now while I know most children are walking much earlier (as 3 of my boys were) in no way was I in a hurry for this milestone. I do not mind having a baby who is not extremely mobile. Missy has taken her time in many of her milestones. Last summer we wondered if she would ever crawl as we could set her down in a room and she would not move from that spot but was content to just watch the world go on around her. That makes for a really easy baby! Missy is so proud of herself and no longer wants to hold our hands.  Watch out world, her she comes!

Another Blessing!

God has decided to bless us with another baby! Admittedly in the beginning it was hard to adjust to the thought as we weren’t necessarily “ready”. Mainly because I finally now feel normal after my previous c-section 18 mos. ago. While others may not share our thoughts we believe that God is in control of our family size. We do use natural family planning to try and space the children which some may say is taking control away but yet even in doing that God always does decide when we will have another child. As we see so clearly in scripture God will open the womb when He decides to.

Again I struggled with the thoughts of my sister who has been trying to have another child for almost two years now and committed this to much prayer. She had a difficult time getting pregnant with their first child also and I easily was pregnant with our Tank at that time. Why does God choose to bless us but not them or other friends who so desire a child? We may never know but I was so thankful that the Lord prepared her for my news and as I cried, she laughed.

The boys are thrilled with the thought of another baby, especially George who wants us to have at least 9 children! As we tell more and more people it helps to build our own excitement at the thought of another little life. I am nauseous and tired every day but never experience it as badly as other women that I know. Bland food is what we seem to live on at this moment but this should last maybe only a week or so more.  I am due around November 10th but will have the baby via c-section two weeks prior. (See info on our twins birth as to why another c-section).

Psalm 127:3-4  Behold, children are a gift of the LORD; The fruit of the womb is a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, So are the children of one's youth. How blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them.

Wear Your Love

As I read a post by my friend KindredHeart last year I was inspired to purchase something for myself for my husband’s birthday. I bought a t-shirt that expresses my love for him. My sister was equally inspired and decided to make the same type of purchase. They differed slightly based on the taste we felt our men had. (My sister bought an “I Love My Geek” shirt which is perfect for my brother-in-law).

The Saturday morning of my husband’s birthday I got ready and put on my new t-shirt and went to greet him. At first he didn’t notice but when he did really look at me he wore the biggest grin on his face and was ready with an immediate embrace. The rest of the day was enjoyable and I was thrilled to see how something as simple as expressing my love in a creative way made such a difference. While I am not typically a t-shirt kind of girl, I also have found that wearing it in the public eye really gives an extra burst of encouragement.

I have recently read the book “For Women Only” by Shaunti Feldhahn which is an easy and enjoyable read. It is about the things that we may not understand about men and so clearly explains what it is that men really desire from us and why. This was not based on her own experience or opinion but from a professional survey of hundreds of men. The biggest emphasis was on how we need to respect our husband which is the way they feel loved. There is a reason why the bible says in Ephesians 5:33 “Nevertheless let each one of you in particular so love his own wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband”.

Speaking of KindredHeart, she was nominated for two blog award categories so stop by and visit her site and be as encouraged as I always am! She really does “Live-what-she-believes”! A few other blog friends have been nominated also so stop in and visit them as well.

Hospitality and Willing Helpers

I love to entertain and have people over to our house whether it is having people overnight or a baby shower with a group of women. I remember all of the many missionaries and guests that my parents entertained while I was growing up and how I would take pictures of them to remember their visit. This left an impression on me.

While I may enjoy entertaining, I haven’t always kept it up being as it can be a lot of work to get your house in order when there are little ones going before you in seeming destruction mode. “Do you think the floor is a garbage?” I often mutter. I would usually get frustrated with the preparations not going as I plan and the last minute rush to get everything sparkling and smelling fresh. Lately we have taken to the thinking that the more we entertain the more our house will stay clean and in order so we continue to invite people. I have loosened up my expectations as it really shouldn’t matter to people if there happens to be dust on the lamp or that the windows are smudged full of sticky fingerprints. This after all is my life right now. Last weekend I was hosting a bridal shower for a young lady from church. As I told the children of the approaching event I explained how we all need to work together to get things clean and in order. This isn’t only a job for Mommy. George then says, “Why do you always have showers here? Don’t you know it makes more work for us?!?”

The week of preparation went so much smoother than I imagined. I didn’t yell once! The children were willing helpers which shocked me. George especially went out of his way to do anything he could to help me and I thanked him over and again. While my house wasn’t perfect, I know we all worked together to clean and did the best we could do. The boys were just disappointed that they couldn’t be at the shower. Why do Mom’s get all the fun? This month we are having some students from a Bible college up north who come down to help out at church on Sundays stay overnight. I enjoy this as the children are learning how to interact with new people and are starting to open up more. Now our youngest, Tank loves people and considers the guys to be his “friends”. The children are also learning to practice hospitality.

 

A Sunday afternoon of playing games with two college students over for dinner.

 

1 Peter 4:8-10  And above all things have fervent love for one another, for love will cover a multitude of sins. Be hospitable to one another without grumbling. As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.