in search of sunlight

I think it's time

2012-01-31T21:45:00.002-05:00

...for new slippers!

Current thoughts:
1.
2.

Any suggestions?

Remembering Sammy

2012-01-25T15:02:00.000-05:00

Sammy passed away yesterday evening. But we are remembering all the life lessons that he taught us. He was a real friend.

Making a list, Checking it twice!

2011-12-28T11:17:00.002-05:00

I'm flying home today! Here are a few of the items that I'm packing.

The backyard produce includes:

Avocados

Oranges

Lemons

Green and red peppers

Blood oranges

Clementines

Guava fruit

Merry Christmas!

Backyard Color

2011-12-20T08:47:00.002-05:00

Early morning sun melts the frost on a rare California autumn leaf!

Ryan and Kristi - Part Two

2011-11-25T21:45:00.001-05:00

A few outtakes...

Ryan and Kristi (Preview)

2011-11-21T22:25:00.001-05:00

My friends Ryan and Kristi recently moved out to SoCal and it's been lots of fun getting to see them more. They are soon to be married and were brave enough to ask me (!!) to do their engagement pictures. Ryan even let me use his super sweet camera! We had a grande time at the Riverside Mission Inn and here are a few of my favorites. Enjoy!

This is only a preview for the following reasons:
1. It's bedtime and I'm tired
2. I work tomorrow
3. I need to learn how to resize for web and apply my initials in a much more streamlined and FAST manner (Note to self: must look up more info on Photoshop actions!)
4. To increase your enjoyment tomorrow (let's hope!) when you get to see the rest!

Thank you and Good Night!

Savor

2011-11-16T22:42:00.001-05:00

"We don't take enough time to enjoy our senses.

To savor tastes and sounds and textures and light.

The roughness of corduroy pants,

the shadows on the floor as the sun shifts,

the pink in a child's cheeks as he laughs.

This beauty, this unnecessary detail, is a mystery."

- Emily Wierenga

(From this website, sent to me by this dear friend. Pictures by me.)

Autumn Abundance

2011-11-06T15:41:00.001-05:00

I know that it's winter for many of you, but it's still Autumn here in SoCal. We have been super than excited to pick our first few tomatoes from our garden. For those that have hear our gardening woes, you will understand how awesome this is for us! And for those who haven't, yes - we should have had tomatoes long ago. But we are just now getting them and for that, we are very thankful! The other fruits include persimmons and either tangerines, clementines, or tangelos (we can't figure out which they are!)

On friday, I turned 20 pounds of this....

...into four loaves of this! We're enjoying it immensely!

Resolutions and Molasses Cookies

2011-11-04T13:05:00.001-04:00

Yesterday I made molasses cookies. And I was talking to my brother at the same time. He asked me if I was going to take any pictures of the cookies and post them on my blog. I said probably not. He asked why.

I said, "Because I have so many pictures just sitting around on my hard drive from last spring and this summer and I don't have time to get through all of them so why add more pictures to the pile?"

He said, "You should just post one a day and don't worry about making each post a massive epistle."

I said, "Yeah, you're right."

Here's to more posts but less length. Not every day, that's a bit much. Just more often. We'll see how it goes...

So, without further ado.... Here are some Molasses Cookies to kick off the season of snow and good cheer (unless you live in Loma Linda, in which the snow is missing. But we have plenty of good cheer! Barry and I already had a christmas present planning session. We can't wait!)

Molasses Cookies for Barry

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (try it with half white whole wheat)

2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground ginger

3/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1/4 teaspoon ground allspice

1/4 teaspoon cardamom

1/8 tsp ground black pepper

12 tablespoons (1 1/2 stick) unsalted butter, softened (try it with 6 TBSP of applesauce to replace 6 TBSP of the butter)

1/2 cup dark brown sugar, packed

1/3 cup granulated sugar, plus 1/3 cup for rolling cookies

1 large egg (I used 3 Tbsp apple butter instead)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/3 cup unsulphured molasses

Directions

1. Whip butter and sugar until light. (2-3 minutes) Add vanilla and molasses. Whip until mixed.

2. Combine all other dry ingredients and mix well.

3. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients. Mix well.

4. Roll small balls of dough in your hands and then flatten. Place on cookie sheet.

5. Sprinkle sugar on top.

6. Bake at 375 for 10 minutes. You want them to still be a little undercooked when they come out of the oven. They WILL harden as they cool.

Purple Bounty

2011-10-27T23:58:00.000-04:00

Birthday Apple Fritters (Vegan)

2011-10-06T00:10:00.001-04:00

Once a year on my birthday, it is tradition to make homemade donuts. This year, I made apple fritters, and they were blow-you-away good. I made two batches - one vegan and the other non-vegan. We then conducted a randomized and controlled study where we compared the vegan batch with the non-vegan. It consisted of Barry closing his eyes and me feeding him. He couldn't tell the difference and no one else could either. I'm including the recipe below, but I only recommend that you make these once a year. More often than that might get you addicted ;) I also suggest that you invite lots of friends to help partake of the feast. They are too good not to share!

Vegan Apple Fritters

Adapted from Lara Ferroni

400 grams flour (I used both cake flour and all-purpose. Next time I'll sub in some white whole wheat)
2 teaspoons baking powder
75 grams sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 tablespoons Smart Balance or vegetable oil
1 large or 2 small apples, chopped into small pieces (I used Honey Crisp and they were DELICIOUS!)
5 tablespoons applesauce
1/4 cup soy milk
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
High-heat vegetable oil (canola, safflower or peanut) for frying

cinnamon sugar, powdered sugar or doughnut glaze as desired

Combine the flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, and spices. Add the butter to the flour mixture and work in with your fingers to break up the big pieces. Add the apple pieces, and stir to coat.

Whisk the applesauce, soy milk, and vinegar together, and add to the flour mixture. Mix until just combined. (I had to add quite a bit of flour here. I indicated an additional 100 grams of flour in the directions but feel free to add more if the dough is still very sticky.) You should have a dough that resembles scone dough… so it’ll will hold together but likely be a little sticky.

On a well floured surface, with well floured hands, press the dough out into a 1/3-1/2 inch deep round. Cover, and let the dough rest while you bring the oil (2″ deep in a pot) up to 350F.

When the oil is hot, cut the dough into small rounds, about 2 inches in diameter. I just used a spoon and my hands. And I used plenty of extra flour here. Don't aim for perfection, they'll look great regardless!

Fry for 1 minute on one side, flip and fry for a minute on the other. Turn over and repeat if they are not yet turning brown. They should be a medium golden brown. Check the oil temperature often - it tends to cool off with each batch.

Drain the fritters on a rack above a paper towel, until cool to the touch. Then dust in cinnamon or powdered sugar or glaze with your favorite doughnut glaze (I used a cinnamon glaze. Yum!)

Glacier National Park, Part 1

2011-09-27T14:50:00.001-04:00

After an epic 24 hour drive from Loma Linda to Montana, we camped just an hour or so outside of Glacier National Park on National Forest Land. We really appreciated Montana's emphasis on the outdoors - all the National Forest Land access roads were well designated with clear signs. The next morning we pulled into Glacier, greeted by dark skies and imminent rain. We set up our tent and went for a hike anyway. With just two days to explore one of the most beautiful parks in America, we weren't going to lose any time!

The trails were lined with beautiful periwinkle and red wildflowers. The brightness of the colors was almost unbelievable! The grey skies only increased their beauty.

We hiked up to one of Glacier's famous rock Chalet's (sorry, no pictures. I tend to avoid human-made objects when I'm photographing landscapes!) Unfortunately, the longer route we had wanted to take (along those steep, snow covered slopes behind us) was closed due to the high snow levels. Instead, we headed back to our cozy tent and went to bed early :)

By the time we were almost back to the car, the skies had mostly cleared and blue sky shone through.

The incredible, iconic view of Glacier's impressive peaks. (I noticed upon leaving Glacier that our road map has this same view on it's cover.) Scroll right to see the entire panorama.

Someday

2011-08-28T18:18:00.000-04:00

Someday I will visit this incredible land. Someday I will take pictures like this incredible photographer. Go check out Patrick J Endres and his pictures of Alaska. They are breathtaking!

Photo taken by Patrick J Endres in Gates of the Arctic National Park, Alaska.

Home: New York

2011-08-22T19:28:00.001-04:00

Yep, still catching up from our time back East. Barry and I spent some incredible days with my family at Camp Cherokee hiking Mt. Regis in the rain and canoeing up to Polliwog Pond.

Overlooking Saranac Lake from St. Regis

Now for Polliwog Pond

Swimming and swinging in the rain!

Haven't found a better spot yet! Rope swing, sandy beach, beautiful views, silent waters - doesn't get better!

Elissa and Joel's version of canoeing!

Blackberries!

2011-08-20T12:14:00.000-04:00

Check out our blackberry post over at Barry & Christy to see what we've been doing with the bountiful blackberry harvest this year!

Included is a recipe for blackberry scones!

An Unexpected Visitor

2011-08-14T14:28:00.002-04:00

This Sabbath was a lovely day up in the mountains. And during potluck, we had a inquisitive furry visitor. A young black bear with beautiful white markings on his chest. No, he wasn't after my blackberry pie, delicious as it was. (Sorry, no pictures! It got eaten too quickly!) He was after the bird feeder. Our church has wide windows that we keep open during summer Sabbaths so I was able to get some close-up pictures while still being in the relative safety of the church. Needless to say, there were a few times that he was within 6 feet and could have easily jumped into the window had he wanted to. Thankfully, he was more interested in the birdseed, although I'm sure it was hard for him to resist the tempting smells of potluck that were wafting out the open window. We eventually scared him off because he was getting too comfortable being around humans. But even so, he just ambled off and laid down beneath a tree behind the church, no doubt making plans for another approach.

Howe Kids

2011-08-07T20:43:00.001-04:00

Storm Light

2011-08-06T09:12:00.000-04:00

My absolute favorite colors and lighting situation comes right before or after a storm. There must be green trees and blue water. Dark sky and bright sunshine. And wind. These elements create my favorite conditions. I cannot describe the awe I get when God creates scenes such as these. There was one such evening at the Howe home that was just glorious. Here are two pictures that attempt, but don't come even close, to the beauty that was present.

Home: Katahdin

2011-08-06T00:13:00.001-04:00

No matter that it is now August and we were back East in June, I am still playing catch up. Hope you don't mind!

Barry and I, along with his two brothers and sister-in-law, backpacked 18 miles the first day and 6 miles on the second day in an expedition on Mt. Katahdin, the highest peak in Maine. It was nothing if not epic, as all Howe expeditions are.

Shortly after this sunset shot, we saw two moose cross the stream, silhouetted against the sun. It was beautiful! Unfortunately, both my contacts and camera were out of reach.

Apparently the boys like to sleep in :)

A few minutes after chasing off a moose so that we could have the nice swimming pond to ourselves. (Not really... He lumbered off on his own accord:)

Friday Evening Supper on the Lawn

2011-07-16T12:19:00.004-04:00

Just a few snapshots from last night's supper with friends out in our backyard. In case you are wondering, we served the following:

Coconut Cream Trifle

Fresh zucchini and cucumber pasta salad

Rustic basil and walnut pesto with warm, homemade baguettes

Zucchini bread

Watermelon

Cherries

Coconut Cream

1/4 c sugar

8 tsp cornstarch

2 c coconut milk ( the rich stuff in the can)

1 tsp vanilla (or the seeds of one vanilla bean)

Mix together sugar and cornstarch. Whisk in coconut milk and heat over medium heat, whisking often until thickened. Remove from heat, whisk in vanilla and set aside for 5 minutes. Pour into a glass bowl and press plastic wrap or parchment paper on top to prevent skin from forming. Chill before serving.

Come join the fun at the My Baking Addiction and GoodLife Eats Holiday Recipe Swap sponsored by Beanilla.

Home: Sailing

2011-07-06T22:40:00.006-04:00

Time at home was beautiful. We spent much of our time outdoors: hiking, sailing, canoeing. Here is a glimpse of our time sailing with Barry's family.

Glorious Calm

2011-07-02T01:03:00.003-04:00

Such is life in the Adirondacks. But it was bittersweet. Glorious as it was, it's not the same without the beautiful noise of dozens of children at play, the hug of dear Lizzy, and the buzz, fatigue, and energy of a camp in action.

But life is nothing if not changing. Bringing twists and turns and new roads to travel. Maybe the greatest beauty takes time to see, time for our eyes to adjust to new shades and shapes of beauty. But I thank God for restoring times of stillness and calm that the wilderness can bring. It was just what I needed.

B+C Anniversary!

2011-06-06T19:30:00.001-04:00

Character over Behavior

2011-05-18T17:50:00.003-04:00

“So let me tell you a story about Pastor Richard Wurmbrand, the Romanian pastor who was imprisoned and tortured for 14 years by the communists – a truly seasoned saint.

On the evening of Easter Sunday in 1988 Pastor Wurmbrand was speaking to our newly planted church when it was meeting in our home. He finished what he wanted to say to us and opened the floor for questions. My wife Beverly was first to speak and asked him what we could do as a new church to grow, be healthy, and advance the kingdom. His response took us off guard – he said, “I do not have the answer to that question. Who has the next question?” He then took a question from a young man, a political activist, who wanted to know what we could do in America to prevent the same kind of persecution the church endured in Romania. In response, Pastor Wurmbrand said, “I cannot answer this question either. And now I want to tell you why. I cannot answer your questions because they are the wrong questions. To ask, ‘What must I do...?’ is like asking ‘What is the melody of a prune?’ A prune has no melody. As Christians we cannot ask ‘What must I do...?’ We must ask ‘What must I be...?’ ”

His point was that fruitful Christianity comes from the inside out – from who we are – not from what we do. It is the inside that must first be changed, and then the heart will give birth to healthy, genuine expressions. For example, a shortsighted question asks, “What can I do to showlove to my liberal, feminist sister?” Would it not be better to actually love her? The first approach is concerned with outside appearances – the second is based on what is actually in the heart, and will have far greater impact. At issue is not the appearance of love, but actually having it. With our children, when we preoccupy ourselves with what to do -- with following all the right steps and enforcing all the standards given us by homeschool veterans – we will merely be controlling the outside. It is as though we have nothing genuine to pass on at a heart level, so we do what we can from the outside in.

For many years I presented a convention workshop entitled “Creating a Strong Family Identity.” It was popular as a keynote address and generated great response from audiences. It contained various steps that parents could follow to strengthen family bonds. It was a good session, but it did not go deep enough. I created that session from observing families with strong family identities, but I eventually came to realize that their bonds did not entirely result from the steps I had documented. Their strong family connections were actually forged by theirlove for each other – not from the path they were on. The steps merely added to the bond created by the love. Many of those who listened to my suggested steps went home and implemented them, and I have heard back from many who were pleased with the results. However, significant family bonds are created by not by external controls and steps along a path, but are a fruit of love in a home. Our goal should chiefly be the cultivation of Christ’s love – first in our own hearts (Eph 3:17-19) and then in our families.

I once read an article written by a veteran homeschooler on how to raise children with a kingdom-minded worldview. The author had seen her own children grow up to be active in outreach, so offered the reader the many steps she and her husband had developed to cultivate a vision for outreach in their children. I appreciated the value of the suggestions offered in the article – they were truly inspiring. However, I am convinced that their own children grew up with a vision for outreach – not because they as parents did all the steps, but because they as Christians genuinely owned the vision and it was contagious to their children. It was not what they did – it was who they were. The steps she offered in her article she did not learn at a conference and then impose upon her children. They were simply expressions of what was already in the hearts of she and her husband. After reading the article I pictured multitudes of homeschool moms implementing all the steps in the process, thinking that that is what it would take to raise kingdom-minded children. I fear that many of those moms, even if they can implement all those steps in their homes, will be in for a rude awakening when their children reach their older teen years. Our children spiritually blossom, not from the controls we impose from the outside, but from what they catch from us on the inside."

-Reb Bradley, in an excerpt from his article about homeschooling.

Some of my other reading today:
Crazy Enough to Homeschool?
Shelter is not a place

Lost and Found

2011-04-27T22:27:00.001-04:00

Over Christmas, some friends back in Maine told us about a "lost" trail that they used to hike when they lived here about ten years ago. At that time, it had been closed by the rangers and was no longer on any of the current maps. Their stories of a beautiful creek, deserted trail, and cool summer weather really drew us in. But there was one problem, they couldn't remember exactly where it was; all they knew was the general area and the name of the creek.

Earlier this year (first 3 pictures) we decided to go in search of it. First, we did some research. But other than one obscure picture with a GPS coordinate and a google earth map of the area, we didn't come up with much. We decided to give it a shot anyway; the lure of a lost trail was just too much!

Once we were in the general area, we were discouraged to discover that there was much more snow than we had anticipated. This would make lost trail hunting rather difficult! We set off, wandering far beyond our actual destination and debating liberally about where this illusive trail might begin. Eventually we heard a rushing creek and began to follow deer trails along the top edge of a very steep ravine. We finally discovered an unmarked, well-traveled path that led down, down, down to the creek. It was a beautiful spot, and very chilly! We followed a stomped down trail for a short ways, but then the tracks in the snow gave out. We were at a loss to know where the trail continued. After searching around for a while, we concluded that this was definitely a possibility, but we would need to return when there was less snow in order to make sure. On the way back, we discovered a much more direct and obvious trail that led right back to the car. We had ignored it on the way in because we thought it was to soon to be what we were looking for.

Last Sabbath we returned to follow the trail further. And we can now say that we have "found" the "lost" trail! No, I'm not going to say where it is. But if you come visit, we'll give you a personal tour! It's an incredible stream with lots of small waterfalls and beautiful scenery. The trail was hard to pick out at times due to lack of upkeep and fallen trees but that made it all the more interesting. We definitely plan to return in the summer when we can enjoy the water more. Here is a few pictures from our hike.

Wholegrain Bagels

2011-04-22T17:28:00.002-04:00

Step One - Dough!

Step Two - Form the Bagels

Step Three - Rising Time

Step Four - Boil

Step Five - Toppings!

Step Six - Bake and Consume!

Notes:

100% Whole Wheat with sesame and poppyseed topping.
Recipe found in Peter Reinhart's Wholegrain Breads.
DELICIOUS and easy! Already planning the next batch!

Neat finds

2011-04-13T21:57:00.002-04:00

1. Wow...

2. Eagle Mom and Dad with their three eaglets!

3. This awesome wooden puzzle:

4. Beautiful wooden plates!

5. This Radiolab on the topic of music

6. An interesting blog about gardening and DIY. Check out these two posts:

Heirloom Plants

DIY Philosophy

Oh! And one more... You've got to check out this adorable, beautiful, priceless book. Barry and I are going to be just like that when we are 90! :) :)

Bob and Rose by Millicent Harvey | Make Your Own Book

Enjoy!

No-bake Strawberry Tarts with Vanilla Cream Filling!

2011-04-11T19:00:00.007-04:00

I had some leftover cream cheese from the Buckeyes, along with some fresh strawberries from the Redlands farmer's market that were getting a bit withered in the fridge. I had planned to make these little tarts to use everything up but I haven't been feeling well and was pretty tired. I don't usually make desserts when I'm sick (in fact, the last couple of posts about desserts are really an anomaly. I don't actually make desserts all that often.) but I needed to use the cream cheese and strawberries up. What's a girl to do? ;)

But then Becky Carlton showed up and provided more than enough energy to get the job done. The filling was so good that we were snacking on strawberries dipped in the extra cream sauce during the whole process! Once prepared, these are best eaten the day of making them. But the filling and topping hold well in the fridge if you want to prepare it ahead of time.

No-bake Strawberry Tarts with Vanilla Cream Filling
Makes 4-5 small tarts

Crust

9 graham crackers, crushed

4 Tbsp margarine, melted

(If you run out of graham crackers or don't have any, blend a mixture of nuts and skip the butter. It works perfectly and tastes wonderful. I happened to have some graham crackers this time so I used them instead.)

Creamy Filling

2 blocks tofu

4 oz Cream Cheese (that happened to be the amount I had left. Use whatever you've got or not at all.)

Scant 1/4 cup sugar

Juice of 1/2 a meyer lemon

1/2 tsp vanilla flavoring (or the seeds from 1/2 a vanilla bean pod)

Strawberry Sauce

1 cup strawberries, washed and hulled

Sugar, to taste (We used only a tablespoon because our strawberries were so sweet.)

Juice from 1/2 a meyer lemon

Garnish

Sliced strawberries

Mint leaves

Directions:

Mix crushed graham crackers and butter in a bowl and press into small tart pans to create a firm crust.
Blend tofu, cream cheese, sugar, lemon juice, and vanilla in blender until smooth. Pour into prepared tart crusts. Smooth with spatula or spoon.
Blend strawberries, sugar, and lemon juice in a blender until smooth. Pour over top of the creamy filling in the tarts.
Garnish with sliced strawberries and mint leaves.
Chill & enjoy!

Come join the fun at the My Baking Addiction and GoodLife Eats Holiday Recipe Swap sponsored by Beanilla.

Our Wedding Book

2011-04-04T21:35:00.002-04:00

Hi Friends!

I put together a wedding book for a christmas present for our families this year and I thought I'd post a full preview here so you guys could enjoy it too. Click the little box with arrows in the lower right hand corner to view it fullscreen.

Barry & Christy by Christy Howe | Make Your Own Book

My Buckeye Mess!

2011-04-01T21:42:00.001-04:00

I set out this afternoon to make Buckeyes for some friends. It seemed simple enough: simple list of ingredients, simple instructions = simple yumminess. Plus, I had gotten a large back of chocolate chips at Costco on sale for $2 off! I told Barry that the bag would probably last us at least two years, seeing as how little we partake of chocolate. He told me that he certainly hoped it didn't last that long and proceeded to request chocolate chip cookies within the next two weeks. But I had my heart (or stomach) set on buckeyes so I proceeded with my plans.

I first started to question things when the instructions stated that the dough should be somewhat dry and easily shapable. My dough was anything but dry - maybe that had something to do with my use of margarine instead of butter... ?? So I added some more graham crackers and flour but the wet dough just seemed to soak it up like a sponge! I decided to proceed, since they were somewhat shapeable.

Next I melted my chocolate, happily anticipating what should have been the fun part - dipping my peanut butter balls into the chocolate. The instructions said to use a skewer or a fork. But when I proceeded to dip, my dough ball broke in half! I tried every trick I knew to get those crazy buckeyes to dip properly but they just wouldn't have it.

Well, if I can't dip, I'll drizzle! But my high hopes of delicate lines of chocolate crisscrossing each buckeye were not to be. The chocolate wasn't the right thickness or temperature or something! for my drizzling needs. Did I mention we don't use chocolate very much?

Next I attempted the frosting method. I took a ziplock bag, cut a tiny hole in the corner, and tried to squeeze the chocolate out. It worked for a few buckeyes, but then the hole started to jam and all that would come out was globs. That wouldn't do...

Finally, after freezing the buckeyes in the freezer for a while, I was able to use my fingers to keep them together while dipping but it resulted in a rather sloppily covered buckeye. I peevishly glared at my mess - I wanted pretty buckeyes, not these ugly things!

Then, I ran out of melted chocolate. So I got out my huge bag of costco and started all over again - melting my chocolate in my makeshift double boiler. But I unknowingly got about a tablespoon of water in the chocolate and my nicely melting chocolate started to act funny. It got thick and sticky and wouldn't melt! I tried everything - I put it in the oven and tried to melt it that way but to no avail. I put it back on the stove and tried that again but that didn't work either. Finally, I got smart and googled my problem. Sure enough, I had made one of the cardinal mistakes with chocolate.

That was it, I wasn't going to try any more. I left the remaining dough balls uncovered and stuck the whole lot in the fridge where I didn't have to look at them any more.

I then went and attempted to take a nap to forget my woes*. To top it all off, I had been snacking on my mistakes and I could feel the threat of a sore throat coming on.

After getting up from my short and rather unsuccessful nap, I decided that life wasn't so bad after all. A few of my buckeyes were somewhat decent and besides, there's a lot worse things than a pile of chocolate to use up! If you give the recipe a try, be forewarned - make sure the dough is dry enough and DON'T LET ANY WATER GET IN YOUR CHOCOLATE!

The End

*I was planning to take a nap anyway since I have to work NOC shift tonight.

PS. There were a few that turned out nice :) Including this ONE pretty drizzled buckeye:

Seeing

2011-03-31T18:46:00.012-04:00

Words fail sometimes. And I felt like the words in my post Choosing Life were a bit of a failure. Let me try again. This time with someone else's words instead of my own.

Seeing

by Leland Foster Wood

Let me see

Thy beauty, O God

Let me not dimly pass

By flaming bushes
And by sparkling streams,

By mountain crag and peak;

Mid bursting of the spring

Or mellow autumn tints
Or winter's white solemnity

Let me not gaze at sunsets uninspired

Or morning skies unmoved,

Nor look in human eyes

With sharp unseeing sight of selfishness.

Let me see thy beauty, O God

In nature, and in thought

In sympathy and kindly deed,

And all the upward striving of mankind.

Bunny Spotting

2011-03-27T21:41:00.001-04:00

Some people are bird watchers. Others identify flowers. Me? I'm a bunny watcher :)

Choosing Life

2011-03-09T19:52:00.001-05:00

Today is an incredible day in California. Spring is here in full force. All the trees are budding, pristine white and pink, like curls of white chocolate, freshly shaved. A warm breeze floats over hills, rustling the palm trees above my head.

Spring is here, but am I present enough to experience it? Am I aware of the beauty and the wonder of life that surrounds me?

If I don't take time to truly see, the sun shines for nought and the trees bud in all their glory with no one to appreciate. If I don't take time to truly hear, the bird songs are lost to the wind. If I don't take time to experience, all this incredible beauty goes to waste.

And God, He tries to speak, but I shut my Bible too quick. He whispers truths, but I turn on the noise of my daily tasks. He beckons me to come and drink of His living water, but instead I start supper. He points to the flowers, the hills, the birds, asking me to stop and meditate on His creation, but I hurry along to the store.

But there comes a point when I can no longer ignore His invitation to truly experience, truly live, truly worship. His call pierces through the static like loons calling over the dark waters of my home away from home.

And I remember that I have a choice to turn off the static. Each morning I have a choice, as Allie so aptly put it, to climb the mountain with God, or stay huddled at the bottom. I have the choice to follow His voice in the direction of people, places, words, and feelings. I have a choice. So I choose, yet again, to turn off the static, to put away the clutter in my day, and to deeply experience life.

The thief comes only to steal and destroy. I have come that they may have life and have it more abundantly.
- John 10:10

Caitlin

2011-03-04T08:24:00.001-05:00

My dear friend Caitlin is, without doubt, one of the most beautiful people I know. She is certainly exquisite on the outside, as these pictures show, but her true beauty glows from deep within her soul, like a iridescent gem created by pressure and heat and with an overwhelming flood of God's cooling grace.

Recently, Caitlin has begun a battle with cancer. But what inspired me the most when I visited her a few weeks ago was her continual spark for life, beauty, and for exuberantly loving all of those around her. While many of the following pictures focus just on Caitlin with no one else in the picture, I want you to take note of the fact that in each one, she is interacting with other people. And truly, that is the best time to photograph her, because that is when the love of God shines out of her the most.

Lately in Our Backyard

2011-02-27T14:14:00.000-05:00

California at high elevations :)

2011-02-23T22:34:00.000-05:00

The church we go to is nestled in a very narrow valley (they call it a canyon) at the base of two mountain ranges. This is a picture of the southerly range.

This is the northerly range which sports (not shown) Southern California's tallest mountain - San Gorgonio. On this hike, we were hiking part way up one of the San Gorgonio trails.

This is the valley that we drive up every Sabbath to go to church. It's beautiful!

Grammie's Farm

2011-02-21T23:11:00.001-05:00

As many of you know, I just made a trip out to Tennessee. I have some great pictures I want to put up but I realized that I have about 5 blog posts from before that I have yet to post. So before I get to the TN pictures, here are some pictures from my time at my Grammie's farm over christmas. :)

Lost Photographs of 2010 - Part 6 (Nature)

2011-01-31T12:24:00.000-05:00

Alright friends, this is the last installment of the series "Lost Photographs of 2010", I promise (I think)! But thanks for letting me share. It was fun to go back through my pictures and reclaim lost gems. Here is the last category: nature.

And a few extras from a different category that I forgot to post earlier:

teehee :)

Lost Photographs of 2010 - Part 5 (People)

2011-01-30T13:01:00.001-05:00

I may have posted some of these before but that's ok. I like them enough to post them again! :)

What's so awesome about the picture above (besides the fact that it's Lizzy!) is that she had taken my sunglasses and given me her hat - a hat who she hated to have off her head!

Lost Photographs of 2010 - Part 4 (Haiti)

2011-01-28T21:36:00.000-05:00

Check out my other pictures of Haiti to see more.

Lost Photographs of 2010 - Part 3 (Kristin)

2011-01-26T18:52:00.006-05:00

Last spring, I went with some friends to Harrison Bay State Park on a lovely, breezy, sunny afternoon. I was just enjoying the sunlight and red sand so much that I couldn't help but get shutter-happy! :) Since Kristin and I were already planning on doing a senior photo shoot, I decided to take lots of pictures of her to see if I could get any good ones. The pictures from her photo shoot a few weeks later turned out so well though that I never revisited the pictures from Harrison Bay. I found them the other day, did a little editing, and here they are! :)

Lost Photographs of 2010 - Part 2 (Dad)

2011-01-26T18:36:00.002-05:00

Last January, I was home in Massachusetts recovering from my accident and surgery. My Dad came home from work and his collar was accidently popped up and the lighting was really stark. I thought he looked like he was modeling and the following is what ensued. My Dad is the best. He has an awesome sense of humor and was a great sport during my "photoshoot". We had fun :)

Lost Photographs of 2010 - Part 1 (Foggy Night)

2011-01-25T19:51:00.002-05:00

I took these pictures on a foggy friday night in March, 2010. The evening was incredibly moody - the mist hung in the air like a weighted blanket, and the street lamps struggled to cast their golden hues out into the encroaching darkness. I strolled along the promenade just reveling in the beauty of it all. For some reason, I never posted the pictures. Probably because the magic of the night just refused to be fully expressed on camera. But I tried, and it has taken until now to share. Forgive the blurriness - that's what 10 second exposures without a tripod will do.

Ice

2011-01-21T19:29:00.000-05:00

Maine: scenic

2011-01-14T13:18:00.000-05:00

Grammie's Christmas Tree

2011-01-13T12:00:00.002-05:00

This Christmas, for the first time in many years, my Grammie had a Christmas tree. I was struck by the awesome simplicity of it. She didn't go out and buy expensive ornaments and decorations. Instead, she used what she had and created one of the most beautiful trees I have ever seen.

Found on her tree were dried orange slices which looked like stained glass windows. She had cookie cutters that had been given to her long ago and the ear tag from Grampies favorite cow.

She used canning jar lids and old bells that she had collected. She had chimes that her elementary students had made many years ago. Atop the tree (not pictured) was a lovely doll from her collection (note: my grammie is a master doll maker!)

Nestled underneath lay a block village of toy buildings that she had for grandchildren to play with on their visits.

I just loved her tree and I wanted to share it. Not only is it simple and lovely, but it shares treasured memories - just what a my kind of Christmas tree is all about!

Lost Street Photographer

2011-01-10T17:48:00.000-05:00

See more images here: http://vivianmaier.blogspot.com/

Mt. Baden-Powell, CA

2011-01-01T13:01:00.001-05:00

Hiked on November 23, 2010.

Toasted pumpkin seeds and a new blog!

2010-12-21T16:20:00.003-05:00

We were given several big pumpkins last Sabbath. As I cooked them down for pulp, I saved the seeds to make toasted pumpkin seeds.

There are plenty of recipes out there for toasted pumpkin seeds. I just combined a few of them. Basically I cleaned the pumpkin seeds, then tossed them in a bit of olive oil, salt, sugar, and spices (curry powder, coriander, and black pepper). Then I toasted them in the oven for about 10 minutes. They are yummy!

- - - - - - -

I also wanted to announce a new blog to you: Barry and I have started a blog on living a simple, uncomplicated life that avoids getting caught up in the rat race for money and stuff. We want this blog to be a venue for sharing thoughts, ideas, projects, and more. It's still in its infant stage but we hope to post more thoughts and projects soon.

You can find it here or at http://www.barryandchristy.blogspot.com

(In case you are wondering, we changed from our wordpress blog for customizability reasons.)

Walnut Hazelnut Peanut Butter Fudge!

2010-12-19T20:25:00.000-05:00

I've always wanted to make fudge. I just love the texture; creamy, yet dense and thick. I've never made any before but the other day, I was at the grocery store. One thing led to another, and I ended up walking out with the necessary ingredients to combine these three fudge recipes I had recently looked at.

It turned out great! And don't worry, Barry and I did NOT ingest all that sugar! We gave some of it away and we're bringing home the rest!

Walnut Hazelnut Peanut Butter Fudge

1 can sweetened condensed milk

3 tablespoons butter

1 cup chocolate chips

4 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

pinch of salt

2 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 cup walnuts

3/4 cup peanut butter

1/2 cup nutella

Directions: Heat water in a small pot and then place a heat proof bowl over the lightly simmering water. Add first four ingredients and mix while melting. Add all other ingredients and combine well. Take off heat and pour in parchment lined pan. Place aside to cool and harden. (The fridge or freezer quickens the process!) EAT!

Chai-spiced Persimmon Cookies with a Lemon Glaze!

2010-12-17T19:51:00.004-05:00

We're still making and using up persimmon puree' and it's been a lot of fun learning what flavors it goes well with. The one I keep coming back to is combining it with a chai spice mix that I got to put in the prizewinning persimmon pecan pie!

On Wednesday, I made these cookies to take to Bible study. Everyone really liked them so I decided to post the recipe on my blog. I based it off of this recipe but (of course) put my own twist on things.

Chai-spiced Persimmon Cookies with a Lemon Glaze
1/3 cup butter (I used SmartBalance)
1 cup sugar
1 egg replacement (I used a tablespoon of flax seed in 3 tablespoons of water)
2 cups persimmon pulp (ours was made from fuyu persimmons)
1 tsp baking soda
2-3 cups flour (I used almost 3 because I thought the batter was too runny)
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp Chinese 5 Spice mix
1 cup craisins or fresh/frozen cranberries (I used craisins because I'm loathe to use up my hoard of frozen cranberries!)
1 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup chai spice mix (Note: if you're just using chai spice flavoring, not the mix, you probably need only a few teaspoons) + 1-2 Tablespoons butter

Lemon Glaze
Powdered sugar
Lemon juice
Soymilk (optional)
(Use whatever proportions you want to create a thin or thick consistency. I made mine pretty thin by adding a little soymilk.)

Grated lemon zest for sprinkling (optional)

Directions: On stove, heat 2 tablespoons butter and add cranberries, pecans, and chai mix. Only leave on long enough for butter to melt and the cranberries and pecans are thoroughly coated. In a separate bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Add the "egg", persimmon pulp, and baking soda. Mix well. Sift together all other dry ingredients and add to the wet mixture. Finally, add the stovetop cranberry and pecan mixture to the batter. Shape into cookies on a parchment covered cookie sheet. Bake at 350 F for 15 minutes. After baked and cooled slightly, dip tops into glaze or drizzle glaze on with a spoon. Sprinkle on lemon zest for an added festive touch!

My Wedding Dress/My Mom is INCREDIBLE!!!!

2010-12-14T22:09:00.001-05:00

It's been just over 6 months since I got married. And I realized, much to my dismay, that I never blogged about my dress. For all you men out there who read my blog and who could care less, this is not the post for you! BUT, for all you girls out there who DO care, read on!

First, my mom made my dress. Did you hear that?? My Mom MADE my DRESS!!!!! She is super talented and super gutsy and she did the impossible! Why was it so impossible? Well, I'll tell you why:

Barry once told me that I was a cross between an elfin maiden and a nordic warrior princess. So when we got engaged, I started looking for a dress that fit that picture in my mind. Here are several that inspired me: (sorry in advance, I don't have all the links for sources. If you have the source, let me know and I'll give credit.)

This Saja dress that, at the time, was no longer being sold. They have since revived it and it is now in their 2011 collection. To me, this looked like an elfin maiden dress. But I wanted mine long.

This nordic warrior looking dress. I liked the sharp edges of the neck line and sleeves.

I also liked the whimsicalness of this dress:

And the elegance of this one...

So you see - - my mom had a tall order! Besides that, I'm a P (perceptive, briggs-meyer) and I couldn't make up my mind. Even up to the final seams we were adjusting and re-evaluating.

Bottom line? My mom is a trooper! She is seriously incredible. We ended up taking elements that we especially liked from the dresses that I liked and making our own dress out of each element. We took the sleeves and fabric choice from the first dress. (Saja makes all their wedding dresses out of silk chiffon). We took our neck line (sort-of; it ended up being less stark) from the 2nd. And the 3rd and 4th were just inspiration. We didnt' really take any one element from them.

We found several different patterns that had the required elements and then my mom began the painstaking process of trial and error. She bought some cheap white fabric and began making practice dresses for me to try on. Note: she wasn't just using ONE pattern! She was using MULTIPLE patterns and PIECING them together!! She is just incredible! And all this time, I was away at school! She would send me a practice dress and then I would try it on and tell her over the phone how it fit. Too big here, not quite right there. And then my mom would change the pattern and try again! All in all, I think she made about 3 practice dresses before actually cutting into the real (and expensive!) fabric. Speaking of expensive though, we saved a TON of money by making our own. A dress with as quality of fabric and custom work as mine would be VERY pricey!

For those who are wondering, there were three layers. A China silk lining layer, the off-white main silk layer, and a covering see-through silk chiffon layer with tiny crinkles. It was b-e-a-u-t-i-f-u-l and oh so soft!

Last week I took my dress out into the early morning California sunlight and did a photo shoot of it. So here it is, minus me in it! For those, you can look back at our wedding pictures.

Details:

Thank you, Mom!

For Family (picture update)

2010-12-06T17:34:00.001-05:00

Oatmeal bread

Apple Cranberry Pie

Bow tie (we realized later that it was upside down!)

Just finished

With Uncle Ted :)

Pine Springs Ranch

2010-12-03T21:13:00.000-05:00

At the beginning of the school year (ahem - yes, that was a while ago), the school of medicine hosted a retreat up at Pine Springs Ranch. Early Sabbath morning Barry and I went for a walk and I took the following flower shots. I've been trying to experiment with bokeh, even though I have a small camera without a nice hefty lens that usually promotes the nice blurry effect. I think a few of these worked out quite nicely :)

Happy Sabbath!

I want to take pictures...

2010-12-01T12:04:00.002-05:00

....like this.

Prizewinning Persimmon Pecan Pie

2010-11-29T23:17:00.000-05:00

Well, it was actually Persimmon Cranberry Pecan Pie but that would have ruined the alliteration...

We've been drowning in Fuyu persimmons lately. And I haven't shared even the teensiest little bit of our numerous persimmon experiments with you. But don't worry, that will soon be remedied, I promise!

We weren't quite sure what to do with Fuyu persimmons. They are the type that are non-astringent (they don't pucker your mouth) and never get soft. We were told by native Californians that we should eat them like apples. So our next thought was, If they are like apples, why not make sauce out of them, especially since we have SOOOO many of them! So we did. And we were surprised to find that it tasted like squash! VERY VERY SWEET squash!

Now... what should we do with our SWEET squash-tasting persimmon sauce? Make pies of course! So I started experimenting with different "pumpkin" persimmon pie recipes. I took a persimmon tangerine (It was Barry's idea to add the tangerines and it was perfect! I didn't have quite enough filling and they bulked it up plus added a nice citrus burst in every bite!) pie to potluck and everyone loved it. The next week I took a persimmon cranberry crisp and that was also well received.

It was at about this point when one of the church members asked me to make him a pie to take to a Senior fundraising event. I told him I would, but I first let him know that it was going to be an experiment - because I don't know how to bake any other way. ;) I had been fiddling with an idea that I wanted to try out. A few months ago a friend of mine made a pumpkin chai pecan bundt cake. It was WONDERFUL, but more pie/pudding like than cake like. So I decided I wanted to try to adapt it into a pie recipe. But instead of using pumpkin, I decided to use persimmons!

So that's how it all started. I made a trial run with mini pies in our muffin tin when company came over on friday night. They were a success so I figured it would be good enough to send with the church member.

It wasn't until later that I found out that the reason the church member had requested a pie was because there was going to be a pie contest. And lo and behold, my grand experiment got 2nd place!

Here are the general directions and recipe suggestions. I know it's not like a normal recipe. But then, I don't claim to be a normal cook so.... :)

Persimmon Sauce
Cook down a bunch of peeled and chopped fuyu persimmons. Then place them through a strainer to make a sauce. Add a couple glugs of lemon juice and throw in some pumpkin pie spices.

Filling Recipe
Cook about 1-2 cups of fresh or frozen cranberries on the stove with either a couple tablespoons of brown sugar and a few teaspoons of chai spice OR a few tablespoons of already sweetened Chai Spiced Tea mix. Mix the cranberries into 4-5 cups of your persimmon sauce. Add 3-4 tablespoons cornstarch and 3-4 tablespoons tapioca powder. You can also add up to a cup of flour and a little baking powder. I can't remember if I did this or not. I think I didn't on the test run and did on the real thing.... So they both probably work! :) Add a dash of salt and mix together. Pour into already prepared pie crust of your choice.

Pecan topping
Chop 1 cup of pecans and place on stove in the same pot that your cranberries were in. Add some more chai spice mix and add a few tablespoons of margarine. Once the pecans are all thoroughly covered and warm, take off the stove and cover pie with them. Place cranberries around the edge for a pretty touch!

My Take on Black Friday

2010-11-26T19:18:00.002-05:00

I have never, NEVER, gone Black Friday shopping - unless it was accidentally, before I realized that there was such a thing as Black Friday. Sure, there are great sales, but I know what all the stores know - and that is that they are still making big bucks off of their "sales". Because you'll probably end up buying something that's NOT on sale and spending lots of money in the store anyway! So I CERTAINLY wasn't planning to go shopping today, especially since my unemployed newly-wed budget isn't too spending friendly these days.

But as I was trying to think of something fun to do with my friend Elissa, who is down here for the holiday, I thought of an idea. I certainly didn't want to go normal shopping. I don't like to do that very often even when I DO have money! But what about going to a thrift store? Not only do they have great prices already, but maybe, just maybe, they would have some type of a Black Friday sale going on and we'd get a double mark down!

So we went. Even Elissa, who doesn't like shopping that much and was still feeling weak from being sick. And sure enough: we arrived to see a big "50% off everything" sign at the front. We loaded our shopping cart with probably over 50 items to try on. Then we conveniently didn't notice the "3 item limit" sign in the only changing room (I promise, we really didn't notice! At least not until we were at least 3/4ths of the way through!) We both walked out with 4 or 5 items that cost under $10 for each of us.

So, in mentally calculating my savings, I estimated the following about my purchase (which consisted of a really nice pair of jeans, 2 pair of brand name, almost new PJ pants, and a dressy top):

Total Original Price if bought new: >$110.00
Total Thrift Store price if no sale: $16.00
Actual Total Price @ 50% off: $8.00

Plus, there were no crazy lines, pushing, shoving, or mobs - thrift store goers are much more polite than that!

Conclusion: I'm still not a Black Friday shopper. But Thrift Stores are definitely the way to go if you do decide to put down your hard-earned $$ on the day-after-Thanksgiving!

Playing Catch Up

2010-11-23T14:15:00.000-05:00

I've been taking tons of pictures lately and there are a lot of blogs on the back burner. But here is a collection of pictures that I took one morning when the sun was lighting everything with that late-sunday-morning-goodness type of a glow.

Our neighbor has a Yellow Lab named "Sammy". He's sooo sweet and keeps me company while baking or working on my computer. He often comes over to our door and looks in longingly, as if asking to be part of the family. He will nudge the door to see if it's completely closed and if it's not, he'll poke his head in, his dark brown eyes begging admittance. :)

These next few are more creative/artistic/abstract than anything else. I noticed that our wall of windows creates a number of reflections if one of the doors is open. This is a picture of probably 4 or 5 reflections all working together to create a "maze of mirrors" type effect.

A reflection of the backyard on a window/door looking in to our kitchen.

Sunlit handle with sunray reflections on the window.

"I hate stuffing" (and other ruminations about thanksgiving, food, and family)

2010-11-22T12:34:00.006-05:00

As in, Thanksgiving stuffing. Yep, you heard me right, I really, really don't like that infamous Thanksgiving favorite composed of mushy bread mixed with vegetables (usually celery. ugh...) and then baked to a crisp. Maybe it's the fact that vegetarians normally try to showcase it on it's own, whereas it's meant to be stuffed in something, like a turkey, perhaps.

Now, you're probably saying, "But she just hasn't tried my stuffing yet." Well, you may be right, but I haven't found one I've liked yet. Give me Sour-cream Gluten ANY day!

What? What is Sour-cream Gluten you ask? You mean you haven't heard of it?! Well, I must remedy that post-haste! It is only THE BEST THANKSGIVING MEAL YOU COULD EVER MAKE! That's right, the BEST!

My first memories of Sour-cream gluten are at my Grandpa and Grandma Kurtz's house in Walla Walla, WA. Because, don'tcha know, Sour-cream Gluten is a Kurtz family tradition. And when I say tradition, I mean tra-di-tion! I mean, seriously, my Grandma would start at least a week in advance. Why? Because she was souring the cream, of course! She was a die-hard, that's for sure! But boy-oh-boy, that Sour-cream Gluten was the most divine stuff you could ever eat! Chewy, tender gluten steaks drowning in the world's creamiest, tangiest (in the best way possible), most delectable gravy ever! Spoon that over fluffy mashed potatoes with a side of peas and cranberry sauce, and I promise you'll think you're eating inside the pearly gates!

Later memories of Sour-cream gluten involve begging and begging my mom to make it at EVERY POSSIBLE holiday! My mom, the ultimate experimenter in the kitchen, shortened the whole process to make it more user friendly (I mean, for real, souring your own cream?? The already soured stuff works just as well, I promise!) and turning out the most amazing versions, albeit not necessarily according to the age-old recipe. I remember Joel, Mom, and I hovered around the stove, spoons dipping in over and over again, because it was just that good! Joel: "It needs more LEMON JUICE!" Me: "It needs more SOUR CREAM!" Mom: "Donnnnnnnnnn, it's time to eeeeeat!" Ahh, such good times. I would inevitably eat the leftovers for breakfast, lunch, and supper until it was gone. I just wanted to enjoy the goodness as much as I could!

Then there was the time Joel was in Ethiopia. Mom and I made the meal all alone, with me adding in extra squirts of lemon juice in Joel's honor. But then Joel wrote back about how he had managed to concoct a version of Sour-cream Gluten using expired tins of..... (wait for it).... BABY FORMULA!!!!!! That's right, he is momma's boy through and through - always finding ways to make do with what's available!

This year we're scattered all over the globe. Joel is in Sudan, and I hope for his sake that he's able to scrounge up some more tins of baby formula from somewhere! Mom and Dad are in Massachusetts, and my Father informs me that he is going to work all of Thanksgiving. If Mom has anything to say about it, that probably won't happen.... Barry and I are in California, planning to go hiking and backpacking (and studying, of course) for our thanksgiving break.

Will there be Sour-cream gluten for any of us? Well, that's still to be determined. Because, to be honest, as amazing as Sour-cream Gluten is, it's more about who you're eating it with than the actual meal itself. This post is not really about my extreme dislike for stuffing, or my intense love affair with Sour-cream Gluten. It's about so much more than that.

So are you just dieing for the recipe?? Well, I'll have to give it to you later. Because, for one, I haven't gotten it from my mom yet. And two, it changes all the time, depending on where we are and what ingredients we have. And three, it involves a brother named Joel, a Mom named Janie, and a Dad named Donovan. If those three ingredients are missing, it's just not quite the same.

Autumn in SoCal

2010-11-18T16:57:00.002-05:00

Two weekends ago we decided to go to outdoor church with Advent Hope. One of my friends had picked out the spot near a beautiful canyon creek/river. As we drove into the mountains, it was so incredible to watch the landscape go from dusty brown to brilliant fall colors as we increased in elevation. In some places, it almost felt like we were back East. I tried to be good and didn't request that we stop every time a scene called out for a picture (especially during the drive... the little towns were SO beautiful!). But here are a few from our hike that afternoon.

Ok, so it's still pretty brown. But look at all that ORANGE! :)

My favorite:

That evening we were heading up to our regular church with a few friends and we were presented with a stunning stormcloud sunset. The smog really enhances the colors :)

The road less traveled

2010-11-10T12:45:00.000-05:00

Here's a list of 16 National Parks that are less-known. And did you know that all National Parks are free on November 11?? Pretty cool, I'd say.

I've been to 2 of the parks on the list, both of them during our drive out here to Loma Linda. But I'm definitely looking forward to going to more, especially with our parks pass. I love places that aren't well known. What about you? Have you been to any on the "unknown" parks list?

On the Bench

2010-11-05T11:50:00.002-04:00

My brother is in Sudan working on a myriad of jobs that God has sent his way, including building missionary homes, planting gardens, preaching sermons, giving Bible studies, and leading a choir. I am here in Southern California, looking for a job. Looking, looking, and more looking. Oh sure, I bake a lot too. And I run. And I try to be encouraging to Barry and those around me. And I've tried to find some ministries to get involved in: tutoring, prayer group, Bible study, etc. But it's not always easy to see that each of these is just as much a part of God's plan as what my brother is doing.

But don't get me wrong, I haven't been bowed over in discouragement. Yes, there are episodes of frustration, when I just can't see what the point of all this might be. But I know deep down that there have been huge blessings from my lack of a job, and that God is still leading. He led me to get married, after all, and He's led us here. And I know He is still leading. I trust that.

Because my brother is in Sudan, my mom has been following every piece of news item and/or blog about the area that she can get her hands on. She found out that there are some other Christian missionaries in Mundri and that led to her discovery of a blog which she shared with me. It's about two doctors and their family who are missionaries to Uganda and who are associated with the same group of missionaries who are in Mundri, Sudan (World Harvest Missions). The missionary family is currently taking a break here in the US before returning to the field, and the mother/wife wrote a profound blog today that I wanted to share a part of. It hits home to where I'm at right now and to where I know several of my friends are at as well.

I like being on the mission field too, in the game so to speak, running hard and working hard, right in the middle of the action around the ball. But I've been subbed out, and I'm sitting on the bench.

So what does a good bench-warmer do? First, I think, trust the Coach, who sees which players are tired, or about to be injured, or are dragging down the team's play, and need a rest. Second, cheer. When my kids are subbed out, they are still fully in the game, pulling for the team. Luke in particular impresses me in his all-out loyalty, as happy for a team mate's score as his own.

...I'm not a leader any more, but I want to be a good bench player. One who cheers on the other players, who cares about the game, who is ready with the water bottle or pats on the back to strengthen the starters as they take a brief rest, who trusts this out-of-the-action assignment and waits patiently, who does some warm-up exercises and stays ready to go back in. Because the only point of being on the bench is that one is waiting on the Coach, in faith. Not very glorious, but a lot of the Bible is about waiting. From the bench.

You can read the full blog here.

Nature/Sabbath

2010-10-27T16:52:00.002-04:00

"Jesus loved the scenes of nature. To Him each quiet retreat was a sacred temple." -DOA, p. 290

"In training His disciples, Jesus chose to withdraw from the confusion of the city to the quiet of the fields and hills, as more in harmony with the lessons of self-abnegation He desired to teach them. And during His ministry He loved to gather the people about Him under the blue heavens, on some grassy hillside, or on the beach beside the lake. Here, surrounded by the works of His own creation, He could turn the thoughts of His hearers from the artificial to the natural."

(Picking acorns :D)

"In the growth and development of nature were revealed the principles of His kingdom. As men should lift up their eyes to the hills of God, and behold the wonderful works of His hands, they could learn precious lessons of divine truth. Christ’s teaching would be repeated to them in the things of nature."

California's tiny bit of fall: the aspen groves :) :)

"So it is with all who go into the fields with Christ in their hearts. They will feel themselves surrounded with a holy influence. The things of nature take up the parables of our Lord, and repeat His counsels. By communion with God in nature, the mind is uplifted, and the heart finds rest." -DOA, p. 191

Details

Sabbath Hike with Nellie

2010-10-26T23:05:00.024-04:00

Barry and I have been attending Forest Falls church about a 30 minute drive from Loma Linda. The church is in a canyon (I'm actually not sure whether it's technically a canyon. Maybe more of a small valley between mountain ranges...) town called Forest Falls up towards the base of the mountains. It's small and friendly. The members love to sing and many bring their instruments, ranging from cellos and violins to electric saxaphone-like instruments. It's a lay-run church, so we never know what we're going to experience each Sabbath. We've really enjoyed the friends we've made, the enthusiastic singing, the real Christianity, and the weekly potlucks! Another thing we enjoy is the close proximity to the mountains. It's just another 15-30 minutes to some of the most beautiful hiking in the region.

Three weeks ago we went hiking with one of Barry's classmates who also goes to Forest Falls. She and her husband (a 3rd year medical student) live in the canyon. He was off on a medical rotation so we invited Nellie to go hiking with us. Or, rather, bushwacking. Barry and I have gotten in the habit of finding pull-offs along the winding, mountain roads and forging our own paths up the small canyons that we find. We've found several beautiful creek hikes that way and we decided to take Nellie to one of our favorites.

Nellie and Barry, trying to get me to come down from my precarious photography perch. There were dark thunder clouds looming....

The tree I was taking a picture of--

The valley we were traversing.

Driving back down the road, we noticed that the lighting was incredible. Sunlight was straining through the dark thunder clouds, casting an ethereal, yet ominous, glow. I was never able to get the exposure just right, but this is somewhat close.

While we were stopped to take pictures, a whole horde of mini's charged by. There must have been 20 or so, and I wish I had taken a video. Alas, this is what I got...

If you were to face the opposite direction from the ominous looking thunder clouds 2 pictures above, this would have been what you saw. The forested mountainside was enshrouded in glorious sunlight and fog. It was beautiful!

Sunlight filtering through a rain-drenched bush. I know it's fuzzy; I like it :)

Smoggy sunset on the way home.

The Art of Bread

2010-10-12T13:50:00.000-04:00

Mmmm....
I want to become a bread artist.

Christmas wish list begins now: Tartine Bread

Rain

2010-10-09T13:20:00.002-04:00

"If it rains here, like once or twice a day

I would never play in the mud,

I would never stomp in a puddle,

I would probably sit in my room,

and watch through the window

'Cause I get detached if I know too much, and I get too complacent if I think too hard

You come out of the rain and your coat is sopping, your wringing out your socks, and your boots got muddy."

-It Rains Here, Scott Kabel

Squash, beans, and life as a newly married couple on a budget.

2010-09-28T17:24:00.001-04:00

We've been eating a lot of yellow squash from our garden lately. Squash. And beans. I made a huge pot of chili and we have it in some form or another for most of our meals. Oh yes, and corn bread. I made a bunch of that too. Squash, beans, and cornbread.

We had squash pizza, squash sandwiches, and most recently, I added a large batch of squash to the chili. Poor Barry - I'm not sure if he liked yellow squash to begin with. I'm trying to make it appetizing, but I'm not sure if he's convinced; I happen to love the stuff.

You see, we're at the end of the month. Which means that most of our food budget is used up. Yes, there's about $10.00 left but I'm saving that for flour; I used up all our flour in my many baking experiments. Because you see, I don't have a job. No job + husband in medical school = wife in the kitchen a LOT. Here's another addition problem for you: 1 wife in the kitchen + $150 food budget = many creative cooking/baking experiments.

It wasn't so hard to stay under our budget this month because for most of it, we didn't have a car. The beloved Corracle was in the shop getting its back bumper fixed (that's another story for another time) and so I got to experience the joys of carless commuting. I biked to Walmart to pick up a prescription. I ran to the post-office, library, and grocery store, arriving home with an overloaded backpack filled mostly with books. I enjoyed it. But I am glad to have our friend the Corracle back with us.

You may wonder why I'm telling you all this. Two reasons. One, I've been posting way too many blogs without words. I'm trying to remedy that. And two, it's basically just another excuse to put up even MORE pictures of food. I know it seems like that's all I've been posting lately. Mainly because it's most of what I've been doing. And reading. Oh yes, and running. I've been doing a lot of that too. 50k, here I come!

California Garden

2010-09-24T13:52:00.001-04:00

Our garden has been flourishing under the California sun. We've already harvested LOTS of basil, several yellow squash, and a few green peppers. Tomatoes and melon are on their way.

Before Now

Details

Sabbath Hike / Yellow

2010-09-12T16:42:00.001-04:00

What did you think the first time you knew that Barry was interested in you?

2010-09-10T14:41:00.001-04:00

I thought: OH MY GOODNESS!! what in the world!!!! NO WAY... This can't be happening to me! BARRY HOWE!????????? This must be some kind of a mix up. He must like someone else. Who else could he like?? There is NO way on earth that BARRY HOWE would like someone like me!

Those were my initial thoughts. Then, when it finally had time to sink in, (actually, I'm STILL not sure if it has sunk in!) I began to think: hmmm... Barry Howe... You know, he's a really, really, REALLY incredible guy and I respect him a lot. But I don't really know him that well. And it's not like I have a crush on him or anything. This is so totally unexpected, I'm not sure what to think. Maybe I should just tell him no. (I realized he liked me about 1 week before he talked to me. But to be honest, I still thought I was making things up until the moment he called me and asked to talk).

I almost decided to tell him no, but then I started rethinking. I had been praying that God would lead in my life, not thinking that it would have anything to do with a guy. But who says that just because I wasn't in love with Barry at this point didn't meant that God wasn't leading? So I decided to see what God was up to and follow Him in faith, even though I wasn't sure. So I said yes.

In addition, even though I hadn't spent a lot of time with Barry and I didn't really know him that well, I did know that he was the kind of guy I could respect, admire, and grow to love -- deeply. And that's exactly what God did :) :)

Ask me anything

California Roadtrip Videos!

2010-09-07T11:38:00.003-04:00

Mammoth Cave National Park:

Great Sand Dunes National Park

Zion National Park

Thousands of miles

*Contrary to the fact that Barry was driving every time we passed each thousand mile point, I DID do my share of the driving, I promise!

California Roadtrip Panoramas!

2010-09-03T12:46:00.001-04:00

Sorry this took so long in coming. I was having some hardships saving such big files into small enough formats that blogger would accept them. I have succeeded with all but one which is so huge that my computer automatically converted it to RAW format and now I'm having a beastly time trying to save it as a JPEG.

A few of these are only a few shots wide but some have more than 15 frames in them.

I specifically wanted to post this before my brother left for Sudan so if someone down at Southern sees him, please tell him to check my blog before he leaves! :)

Great Sand Dunes
Sunrise on the dunes

Moab Canyon
Sunrise over the canyon

Sunset light on the canyon

Arches National Park

Barry

Bryce Canyon

Barry

Zion National Park

Sorry this one is so washed out. This is from the top of Angel's landing. I'm including it not for it's photographic merit but just to give you an idea of the place :)

Our mesa-top campsite

Mesa sunset (this picture is incredibly wide and a lot more detailed than you can see here. Unfortunately, there is no way I can post the large version. This is one of my favorites from the whole batch :) )

Yosemite

Frozen Eton Mess

2010-08-31T11:49:00.002-04:00

via sevenspoons

Doesn't this look INCREDIBLE!???? To answer your questions: no, it's not particularly healthy and no, I didn't make it! But seriously.... I'm thinking that it's going to be my next post-marathon treat whenever I get around to running one...

You can find the detailed recipe and directions here. Note, I would recommend eating this only after some hard exercise!!! :)

Happenings

2010-08-25T18:30:00.004-04:00

We've been in Loma Linda for a month, and in that time, we've done a lot of cooking, too much buying, and some fun exploring. We've made some new friends, became reacquainted with old ones, and are continuing to discover that our best friend is the one we wake up next to each morning. :)

In general, California has some nice things to offer. Warm weather, a long growing season, fresh oranges from the backyard tree, lots of fresh fruit and produce, and our first home.

But let me tell you, I've never seen a place with so many streets called "Orange Ave", "Orange St", "Orange Blvd", etc. And "Citrus St" with all it's variations is just as bad! I have yet to come across "Lemon Lane". When I do, I just might look for real estate along its delicious curbs.

One thing we've noticed is that Loma Linda rarely has clouds. In fact, it had been several weeks and we hadn't remembered seeing any. That's right, not a one! So imagine my surprise one morning when I was walking out to water "the babies" (That's what we call the plants in our little garden.) and I was faced with this:

Not only were there clouds, but they were separated from the clear blue sky in a very straight line. It was amazing! I couldn't get a full picture but the line of clouds went across the whole sky!

Food
I've been experimenting with several of types of breads. Our toaster oven, wonderful though it is, is too short to tolerate fully risen breads in a normal bread pan. The top comes out scorched because it's so high. So I've been experimenting with artisan free-form breads. This was my first attempt. The texture and taste needed some work but at least it looked nice! :) If you have any bread suggestions, send me an e-mail or leave a comment and I'll be sure to try it!

We can get lots of fruits and veggies for pretty cheap. The avocados on our tree out back haven't ripened yet, but we are eagerly awaiting the day that they do!

Our little oven can make a pizza! Yaaayyyy!!!

Yesterday I wanted to make a special treat so I assessed our limited supplies and found this recipe for Blueberry Crumb Bars. (Don't worry mom, I made the recipe quite a bit healthier). All in all, it was pretty tasty. If you decide to give it a go, I would recommend ice cream or something creamy to go with it. It can be a little dry (but that's probably because I didn't follow the directions to a T.) I also got a chance to use the awesome grater that Aunt Lyn gave us.

Garden
There are raised beds in the back, and we decided to start a garden. God blessed us with 8 free tomato plants to get things started. (I went to a nursery to get some vegetable plants and they only had a few withered ones left. The nice lady said I could have them for free!) We weren't sure if all the tomatoes were going to make it but they did and are now doing splendidly!

Here is our garden before planting and one little withered tomato plant!

We also got this little peppermint plant for free. Barry and I affectionately called him "Pepper Baby". We planted him in a pot outside our door and tried to take meticulous care of him. But he didn't make it, and we were very sad. Wasn't he pretty though?

Here is our garden now!

We have 8 tomato plants, 4 basil plants, 1 pepper plant, 1 mint plant, 1 yellow squash, and 1 melon plant. There are a few more raised beds that aren't being used so we are hoping to plant an herb garden too!

Hiking
An old friend of mine from Southern lives here, and she has gone overboard in making us feel welcome and showing us around. We went hiking with her two Sabbaths ago and found a neat spot for further explorations (as long as one has a semi-off-roadable car....). We've also had fun going to thrift stores and canning pears that were on a ridiculously good sale.

Orphan Words

2010-08-20T20:48:00.001-04:00

Jackie posted about this awesome project that Oxford is conducting to increase the usage and comprehension of English words that are quickly becoming extinct.

In their words, "Each year hundreds of words are dropped from the English language. Old words, wise words, hard-working words. Words that once led meaningful lives but now lie unused, unloved, and unwanted."

I have adopted two words:

1. Antipelargy - reciprocal kindness or love (especially the love children have for their parents)

2. Phylactology - the science of counter-espionage

By adopting a word, participants agree to try to use these words frequently in written and spoken conversation. I think I'll be able to use the first one but the 2nd one??? How often do you need to discuss "the science of counter-espionage"?"

Would you like to adopt an orphan word? You can go to www.savethewords.org to get started!

Yosemite

2010-08-15T23:22:00.002-04:00

Apparently Barry and I have an addiction for traveling because after a few days of settling in Barry said to me, "Christy, it's time to go somewhere. I'm tired of being in one place". So we packed up and headed north for PUC in Angwin, CA. We spent Friday evening and Sabbath visiting Barry's Aunt Margo and Grandparents. Then we spent Sabbath evening with my Aunt and Uncle and cousins in Sacramento.

After getting some good family time in, we decided to head to Yosemite National Park for a day. We were only there long enough to get a feeling for the place but the feeling we got was good, very good. We plan to head back there for some extended backpacking. The backcountry is spectacular!

Here are a few pictures :)

Barry in front of El Capitan

Half-dome on the left

Peaches and Barry

2010-08-12T17:56:00.002-04:00

Barry is doing clinical rotations right now so he's actually home quite a bit without a lot of homework or studying to do. It's been really nice because we've been able to do a lot of things together such as canning and gardening.

It's peach season here and we've been enjoying it. We found a place to get good deals on fresh fruit and produce so we got 2 boxes of peaches and a box of nectarines. Two days ago we canned 11 quarts of peaches and this evening we're going to can some peach and nectarine sauce.

Isn't he handsome? My grammy and I especially like the crinkles around his eyes. They go nicely with my Grampie's bow tie :)

Arrival!

2010-08-09T18:38:00.003-04:00

We left Zion National Park on a Sunday morning, the 25th of July. We traveled through Nevada but my camera was on a funny setting when I tried to take a picture of the welcome sign so I decided to create my own out of the blurry picture that ensued :)

Aaah... the sign we've been dreaming of for 4,000 miles...

Traffic on I-15 was ridiculous so we took a back road to cross over to I-40. Along that back road we found this little Post Office so we dropped off some thank you letters that we'd been writing. We wish we'd taken pictures of the other Post Offices that we stopped at along our way because most of them were literally in the middle of NOWHERE. We liked them :)

When we arrived, we were so grateful to be home that we didn't even think to take a picture or check the mileage! We felt terrible about this afterwards but I'm sure you can understand our plight. Instead, Barry put together this awesome map detailing our trip. We realized that, if you include our honeymoon, we have traveled from the most northeasterly location of North America to almost the most southwesterly spot of the U.S.

This route is 4,458.96 miles long but we ended up traveling much more than that because of our travels at each location.

Here are the stops we made:
A= Meat Cove, Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, Canada
B=Harpswell, Maine (Barry's home)
C=South Lancaster, Massachusetts (Christy's home)
D=Mount Airy, Maryland (Christy's Grammie's home)
E=Mammoth Cave National Park, Kentucky
F=Wewoka Woods Adventist Center (Oklahoma campmeeting with the Fisher Family)
G=Great Sand Dunes National Park, Colorado
H=Arches National Park (Moab, Utah)
I=Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah
J=Zion National Park, Utah
K=Loma Linda, California!!!!!!!!

Here are pictures that correspond with each stop.

And all the welcome signs (we missed some between Massachusetts and West Virginia)

We had a great time and saw many beautiful places, but we're very glad to be here! Barry started Medical school last Thursday and I am looking for a nursing job. Stay tuned for two more posts on our trip: a panorama picture post and a video blog!

"We interrupt these messages to bring you...

2010-08-05T17:16:00.001-04:00

...some thoughts on creativity"

via thedonutproject

Zion National Park

2010-08-05T12:00:00.002-04:00

We spent 3 nights at Zion and absolutely enjoyed it. Thursday and Friday nights were spent in the campground because all backcountry permits have to be made by reservation. This was our view :)

On Friday morning we awoke early to go stand in line to try and get a backcountry permit for Sabbath night (you can get them a day in advance). We arrived at about 6:20 am, which we thought was pretty early since the permit office didn't even open until 7 am. But there was already a long line at the window. Thankfully, most of those in front of us were trying to get day permits for slot canyon canyoneering. We only wanted a permit to backpack the West Rim, which is apparently much less popular, so we got our permit without a problem.

After securing our permit, we decided to day hike the Narrows, which is a famous and wildly popular slot canyon with the Virgin River running through it. Most of the canyon is very narrow, wide enough only for the river to flow through. Therefore, the only hiking path is the river itself. We certainly picked the right day to do it; temperatures outside the canyon reached well above 100 F. Apparently that's what everyone else decided to do as well and the canyon was quite packed for a while. However, once we got a ways up the river, the people thinned out and we enjoyed a wonderful cool hike sloshing through the Virgin River. I (Christy) slipped a number of times and managed to get myself thoroughly soaked.

After our return down the river, we found a really awesome swimming spot with small waterfalls on either side of it that dammed it up. It was quite deep and there were nice large rocks in the middle to sit on. We were too busy climbing up the waterfalls and jumping off the rocks to take pictures, which I now regret. Sorry!

The next morning we awoke early to catch the 6:30 shuttle bus to our trailhead and to avoid the heat of the day. We climbed over 50 switchbacks (yes, I counted. And the reason I don't know the exact number is because Barry and I couldn't decide on the exact definition of a switchback.) up the canyon wall to reach the base of Angel's landing, a large tower of rock that reaches out into the Canyon. We dropped our packs at the base and scrambled up the rather precarious trail to the top of Angel's landing. Thankfully, metal cables had been installed and they were very helpful. We don't have a picture of Angel's landing itself but we do have some pictures from the top. Here's one of Barry and I. (More panorama pictures are coming in a later post).

We got back to our packs to discover that some rather nosy Chipmunks had gotten in to my (Christy's) pack in search of food. Instead of taking the easy route through the openings, they had decided to do things the hard way and chew their way through. Thankfully the holes weren't large and will be easily repaired in all of my spare time while I look for a job here in CA. :)

We continued on past Angel's landing for about 5 more miles. Once the sun broke through the clouds which had mercifully hid the worst of the heat since sunrise, things began to really heat up. We had brought lots of water though and we stopped often for water breaks. Part of the trail had been blasted right into the edge of the canyon wall. It was the only way up and quite impressive.

At the top of the mesa was a spring where we filtered some water to replenish our almost depleted water supply. This was the only water source in the area so we filled up with as much as we could. We hiked about 3 miles further to our campsite. Despite the fact that the hiking distance wasn't actually very far, the hike took us well into the afternoon due to the heat and amount of elevation we were gaining.

We were super glad to arrive at our campsite and, after eating a hearty meal, we set up our tent to ward off an approaching thunderstorm. Mind you, we were on top of a mesa on one of the highest points around. It was quite spectacular, to say the least. From the opening of our tent, we watched thunder and lightening converge on us from three sides. Thankfully, it seemed to skirt around us a bit, and we both fell asleep in our tent while waiting for it to pass.

That evening we enjoyed a beautiful sunset before hitting the sack for an early morning hike out.

The next morning we hiked out (which took noticeably less time) and started our final day of driveing to Loma Linda, CA.

P.S. We've been here in CA for about 2 weeks now and Barry posted a blog over at www.barryandchristy.wordpress.com showing some things we've been up to :)

Bryce Canyon National Park and Capitol Reef National Park

2010-07-29T15:01:00.003-04:00

We drove to Bryce and found out that there was some BLM land that was open for free camping if we drove down a long dirt road that paralleled the National Park. Turns out that this was the best camping find of the trip. We drove along a creek that emptied into a reservoir, and the water created a fertile green valley amidst the dry rock and sand that dominated the landscape. We camped on a grassy field punctuated only by a few fisherman coming to try their hand in the crystal clear waters of the meandering creek.

Utah appears to be prime hummingbird country. This was the only picture of one that I could capture but they were buzzing all over the place at Zion. They would fly right up to us, attracted by the colors of our clothing.

The next morning we packed up and headed over to explore Bryce Canyon. The spires are called "hoo-doo's" and were pretty spectacular. We spent the morning hiking down into the canyon and then hit the road that afternoon for Zion.

Barry

Along the way we discovered that the route took us right through Capitol Reef National Park. Apparently there is a large "reef" called the Waterpocket Fold that stretches 100 miles from North to South. See a cool picture of it here. We didn't take time to explore it much but we did stop to see ancient pictographs etched into the rocks. We also ate lunch in one of the public orchards that are located in a narrow valley that the road goes through. Visitors are allowed to go in and pick fruit at their leisure in these very old orchards. Nothing seemed to be ripe so we just picnicked under the trees :)

Barry

Moab, Utah: Arches National Park and Negro Bill Canyon

2010-07-28T15:04:00.002-04:00

After traversing the desolate sand dunes in Colorado, we traveled to Moab, Utah, which is right between Arches National Park and Canyonlands National Park.

Traveling in the Colorado Mountains:

We were going to try and get a backcountry permit in Canyonlands but because of a delay regarding the shipment of our stuff from Massachusetts to California, we weren't able to get there in time to get a permit. Instead, we found the local Library where we posted a blog, sent a fax at the local grocery store, and went to the Moab Visitor's center where we learned about some primitive campsites along the Colorado River in a nearby canyon. So we headed there and set up camp, determining to visit Arches National Park in the morning.

Sunrise from our campsite

Our little Coracle

Arches National Park in the morning. (Note: From here on, I will put Barry's name under the picture if he was the one who took the photograph. If there is no name, then I took it. Barry started taking more pictures and I want to give him due credit :)

Barry

That afternoon, we hiked a canyon called Negro Bill's Canyon that was near our campsite. It was a really cool hike in a narrow canyon with a perennial stream, which is quite rare in this part of the country. At the end of the hike is the world's 5th longest arch: the Morning Glory Natural Bridge.

Barry was playing around with his filter settings and took this one. I think it's cool :)

Barry

Arches National Park in the evening after a storm:

Barry

The next morning we were going to go to Canyonlands National Park but we had another delay at the library and we ran out of time. We decided to head to Bryce Canyon National Park that afternoon and then head on to Zion National Park the next day. We had heard that Zion was pretty amazing and we wanted to spend a maximum amount of time there.

Next up: Bryce Canyon National Park

Great Sand Dunes National Park

2010-07-22T16:26:00.002-04:00

Sunrise on the dunes

There is still life in desolate places

Next stop: Arches National Park in Moab, Utah

Travel - Day 12

2010-07-20T12:14:00.000-04:00

July 18, 2010

Left at 5:45 am, 77° F

Average Miles per gallon: 35.34

Miles traveled today: 635 miles

Total miles traveled: 2,788 miles

We left campmeeting early Sunday morning after taking cool showers to refresh us from the hot, humid dawn. Barry was especially excited to see that the speed limit on back roads was 65 mph!

We crossed the panhandle of Texas traveling on back roads and enjoying the scenery.

That's when we saw this sign... Needless to say, Barry was even more excited :)

Not only did we like the Colorado Welcome sign the best, but they also have the fastest speed limit for back roads! Don't worry Moms, we're only going between 60 mph and 65 mph because we're taking good care of our little Coracle :)

We drove through a cool lightning storm in the plains of Colorado. For most of it, we were able to drive in a clear patch that lay between two very dark storms. The lightening was fantastic!

Approaching the Great Sand Dunes, where we spent the night. :)

Travel and a Sabbath Sojourn - Days 10 and 11

2010-07-19T19:42:00.003-04:00

Barry

The humidity and heat of the night created near sauna-like conditions, and we awoke Friday morning with high hopes for a refreshing dip. Unfortunately, we discovered a wide ditch of reddish muddy ooze where we had expected to find an emerald tributary of the Green River. We were dismayed not merely for selfish reasons. The next stop on our travels was to be the Oklahoma camp meeting, where we planned to camp and fellowship with estimable Fisher clan. We could only imagine the stifling impact of our arrival! But there was nothing for it.

We disembarked the Coracle and sailed down 65 south into Nashville Tennessee. It felt a bit odd to be within easy striking distance of Southern Adventist University, but at Nashville we struck West on I-40.

We were now deep into our trip, more tangibly beyond the point of no return than ever.

Then we crossed the Mississippi and entered Arkansas. We saw a fantastic pyramid as we crossed the bridge. An undisclosed number of brownie points to the first person who explains what this pyramid is all about.

Arkansas passed without fanfare. I think we would have noticed more if we hadn’t been listening the final chapters of Around the World in 80 Days. Perhaps we were just too enthralled by the story—I’m not sure—but for whatever reason, we missed the Oklahoma welcome sign. Well we sort of got it…

The final miles through Oklahoma were exhausting, in large part because of the oppressive heat. Strange to say, the Fisher’s warm welcome was exactly what we needed, despite the heat:). We showered quickly and soon joined into the camp meeting activities.

There were two notable things I remember about our Sabbath in Oklahoma: the tremendous heat and the mind boggling size of the wonderful Fisher clan. Aunts, Uncles, 3^rd cousins, great aunts and ever other imaginable relation sprouted from everywhere. I met so many relatives that I privately concluded that approximately 50% of all camp-meeting attendants were relatives of the Fishers.

On Sabbath evening we repacked the coracle with great application of scientific reason and brute force, and hit the sack around 10:30pm, ready to reengage our voyage early in the morning.