Food Glorious Food!

Joel always laughs at me because I hate working out, but I LOVE food! Cooking and baking helps me relieve stress. Some people sit in front of the TV to go into no-man's-land, I cook. And I'll be the first to admit that I eat what I cook. (I'm one of those girls.) So, in order to keep my girlish figure, I've been working out. (boo!)

Here is just a sample of what I've been cooking recently.

Homemade Lasagna -It looks a bit different because I layered the cheese, sauce, and noodles differently this time. Mom's suggestion to make it "prettier" when you cut into it. It worked. Definitely pretty.


Homemade Rolls


Homemade Peach Cobbler- It was yummy! It looks like cinnamon rolls because you take dough, roll pecans, sugar, and butter in it, and put it on top of the peach mixture. Of course, I served it with icecream. :)


Mandarine Orange and Almond Salad with Poppy Seed Dressing


Garlic Roasted Chicken- This is my first attempt to cook a whole chicken. My observations, 1.) It takes forever to thaw, 2.) I don't know how I feel about taking the insides out myself, 3.) I think it's gonna be worth the price...$5.87. The before picture is to show everyone how proud I am that I trussed it myself :)


The finished product. We didn't actually eat this one. We gave it to a family who just had a baby. We get ours on Sunday! MMM.

Rock of Ages

1. Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
let me hide myself in thee;
let the water and the blood,
from thy wounded side which flowed,
be of sin the double cure;
save from wrath and make me pure.

2. Not the labors of my hands
can fulfill thy law's commands;
could my zeal no respite know,
could my tears forever flow,
all for sin could not atone;
thou must save, and thou alone.

3. Nothing in my hand I bring,
simply to the cross I cling;
naked, come to thee for dress;
helpless, look to thee for grace;
foul, I to the fountain fly;
wash me, Savior, or I die.

Wash me Savior or I die. Wash me Savior or I die.
Wash me, Wash me, Savior or I die.
Wash me Savior or I die.

Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
let me hide myself in thee;

Wash me Savior or I die.

more thoughts

"This is a very central concept if we are to have any understanding or any real practice of the true Christian life or true spirituality. I can take lists that men make and I can seem to keep them, but to do that my heart does not have to be bowed. But when i come to the inward aspect of the Ten Commandments, when I come to the inward aspect of the Law of Love, if I am listening even in a poor fashion to the promptings of the Holy Spirit, I can no longer feel proud. I am brought to my knees. In this life I can never say, "I have arrived; it is finished, look at me-I am holy." When we talk of the Christian life or true spirituality, when we talk about freedom from the bonds of sin, we must be wrestling with the inward problems of not coveting against God and men, of loving God and men, not merely some set of externals."- Francis Schaeffer.

The inward aspect of the of Law is coveting. It is the negative to the positive, love the Lord with all your heart. Our desires become coveting/sin when they fail to include the love of God or men. We find ourselves in this struggle daily.

Coupon Day

Well folks. I'm sorry to day that my total percentage was 10% savings on my groceries yesterday. I had a coupon for most everything I bought. So, I'm wondering how those ladies do it...I have a friend or two that I think I'm going to ask. I am a bit bummed and a lot determined. Couponing is shaping up to be a fine hobby, which is good because I'm in need of one.

Couponing

I decided this week that I need to start clipping coupons. It all started because this past week I've had many conversations revolving around couponing. I felt a bit convicted and a lot curious. Besides, what else do I have to do. Some of my friends were saying that they save 30-40% on grocery bills. I was shocked. There is a new show on TLC called, "Extreme Couponing" that has everyone up in arms about saving money by using coupons. I've never seen it, and probably won't ever. We don't have cable. But the concept is awesome.

There are these huge bins at the commissary(on-base grocery store) full of coupons, separated into categories like, food, cleaning supplies, etc. The other day I spent about 30 min. searching through the many coupons to find my treasures. I got lucky with some of them. As I was looking through a woman came up and started a conversation with me about the coupon show. She said, "I just got so inspired." She looked in the bins for about 5 min., gathered her 5 coupons and proceeded into the store to shop. My thinking was, good luck lady. Five coupons probably equals a savings of about $5, if that...oh boy. Maybe it was wrong of me to think that she isn't as dedicated to this as I am. If you're gonna do it, then do it right...right??

The hardest part of this whole ordeal for me is actually finding the coupons that I need. We don't really have the Sunday paper option over here. We can, however, use coupons that have been expired up to 6 months past the exp. date. Awesome. I asked my mom to send me some. I'm also looking online to find deals that I would use here.

I haven't gone shopping yet with my pile of coupons. I'm still trying to find more. My technique isn't going to be to go shopping often. But rather to find coupons for most everything I buy, especially the items I buy on a weekly basis. I don't plan on stockpiling food. 1, there is no where to put it, and 2, its just Joel and me.

I'll keep everyone updated as to how much I save on my first shopping excursion. We shall see if couponing is worth all the hype.

What a great weekend.

This weekend was truly awesome. I don't know if it was awesome because of the amazing people that I got to share it with or because it was just so full of life.

On Saturday Joel and I participated in an island wide scavenger hunt with the youth group kids. There were about 15 kids that showed up (not as big of a turn-out as we'd hoped for). Most of these kids were jr. high students. We split the kids into 2 teams. Joel and I were leaders along with our dear friend Jessica. We had snacks and adventures and of so much fun. There was a car portion and an on foot portion. Here are some pics of our team.









The rains came.



The kids didn't mind though.














My favorite Japanese baby.


I think they played for about an hour. They provided entertainment for Japanese and American onlookers waiting out the storm. So fun!

Then on Sunday after church, Joel and I went snorkeling. Here is what the day looked like yesterday...



I saw TONS of different of colors of fish and coral. And I swam right up to an octopus... totally on accident. It freaked me out! But it was super cool.

All in all, this weekend was jam packed with great fun and friends. Ahhh. :)

My anthem this week

I Surrender Lyrics
Verse 1:
There is no love, sweeter than the love You pour on me.
There is no song, sweeter than the song You sing to me.
There is no place, that I would rather be,
Than here at Your feet, laying down everything.

Chorus:
All to You, I surrender,
Everything, every part of me.
All to You, I surrender,
All of my dreams, all of me.

Verse 2:
If worship's like perfume, I'll pour mine out on You.
For there is none as deserving of my love like You.
So take my hand and draw me into You,
I want to be swept away, lost in love for You.

Bridge 1:
I surrender...

Bridge 2:
No turning back, I've made up my mind,
I'm giving all of my life this time.

Bridge 3:
Your love makes it worth it,
Your love makes it worth it all,
Your love makes it worth it all.