All Things New

Yesterday, I was doing something or other around the house, when Eric came up to me, beckoned me with his finger, and said expectantly, "Come 'ere...I want to show you something." He led me to the front door and pointed to a spot in the front yard where three tiny crocuses were peeping up from the grass, stretching their thin purple necks toward the sun's rays -- the first ones to show themselves in our yard this spring.

Premier blossoms of spring always fill me with excitement -- not only excitement for the numerous other green and colorful things that are awaiting their debut from the cold, brown, earth, but also the excitement that comes with the newness of life, the resurrection of things that once seemed dead. In the spring, like no other season of the year, I'm reminded time and again of joyful promises like, "If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" (1 Corinthians 5:17) and "Behold! I'm making all things new!" (Revelation 21:5). Simple things like the first crocuses of the year remind me of the hope we have in Christ, not only for "the next life", but also for this one. Just as crocuses are little glimpses of the wide array of beauty that we will soon enjoy in late spring and summer, so too, little events throughout our days are reminders of the great peace and joy we'll one day experience in their fullness: a welcoming hug from a friend, a happy chat with one's spouse, a kind word from a coworker, a helping hand from a stranger. These types of things are indicators that life is not full of death as we often feel that it is, but instead, glimpses of life are actually all around us, pointing us toward that day when Life will reign supreme. And the more we share that life, the more evident and powerful it will be.

"Your kingdom come, Lord, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." May I be a crocus to someone today.

(75%) Success!

Many of you know that I've been trying to perfect a whole wheat bread recipe for many months now. It all started when I bought a honey whole wheat loaf from Breadsmith and realized that 1) it was made from all normal kitchen ingredients (no preservatives or dough conditioners), and 2) it was delicious! Not a brick at all! The problem was, it was $4 a loaf. Eep. This got me to thinking: "Hmmm....maybe I can make my own organic whole wheat bread, save some money, AND it'll be healthier than the organic stuff I've been buying from the store because it won't have all that crap in it!" Light bulb moment!

So I started searching for good recipes. I tried several of them. One in particular involved me practically having to prepare days in advance, do a few incantations, run around a crazy obstacle course, and finally....end up with bread that was still solid as a rock and wouldn't rise. Back to the drawing board.

I finally consulted the guru of all that is food: the Joy of Cooking, particularly my wonderfully basic 1967 edition. It had a half whole wheat, half white recipe that looked promising as well as easy, and I decided to try it "in the meantime" until I could get a good whole wheat recipe down pat. Well, it was so yummy (with a few healthy modifications on my part), that I just kept making it instead of trying out new recipes. Eric was eating so much of it that I had to resort to economic logic to get him to slow down on his bread consumption: we were spending more grocery money on bread (ingredients) than we were when I was buying the store-bought kind. Oops.

Add that experience to another: I was perusing the flour selection at my local Meijer, looking for good quality flours (as any good cook knows, it's all about the quality of the ingredients), and after trying several of their middle-of-the-road products, I took the plunge and bought the king of flours: King Arthur's Organic Whole Wheat flour, which comes in at $6 for 5 pounds. Yep, ouch. But hey, it was worth a shot.

And the shot hit the bulls-eye. Folks, this is REALLY good bread flour, even though it's whole wheat. After using it in various baking adventures, I gradually started increasing the ratio of white to wheat flours in my bread recipe, and lo-and-behold, it's still delicious! Moist yet firm, flavorful but not woody, sweet but not too much so. We love it! And Eric figured out for me that it's costing us $2 a loaf, which is actually comparable to most of the whole wheat breads in the store, but a heckuva lot healthier.


I haven't gone "all the way" and used 100% whole wheat flour in it yet; I guess I'm nervous that we won't like it and I'll have wasted $4 worth of bread ingredients. So I'm still slowly adding more whole wheat and less ultra-processed white to the mix. As of today, I was at 6 cups of wheat to 2 cups of white -- 75%! And it's still absolutely scrumptious! My next batch will probably only contain 1 cup of white flour, and we'll see how that goes. At any rate, I'm pleased with the outcome so far.

So here you are....drumroll, please.....The Bread Recipe:

Mostly Whole Wheat Bread

Ingredients:
2 tsp. yeast
1/2 c. hot water
1 T. sugar
1 beaten egg
1/4 c. melted butter, still warm
2 c. hot water + 1/2 c. milk
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 c. sugar (or 1/2 c. honey)
6 c. King Arthur’s organic whole wheat flour
2 c. King Arthur’s organic white flour

Directions:

1. Mix yeast, 1/2 c. water, and 1 T. sugar in a glass bowl and let sit for about 10 min. or until foamy, while you mix the other wet ingredients.
2. Mix together egg, butter, water, salt, and sugar; add the yeast water. Add the flours and blend well.
3. Let rest for 10 min. Knead on a flat surface (or in a KitchenAid stand mixer with a dough hook) until smooth and elastic, about 10 min.
4. Place into a greased bowl and turn over. Cover w/ a damp towel and let rise in a warm place for 1-2 hours, or until just doubled in size. (I put it in a slightly warm oven that has been turned off.)
5. Punch the dough and place it on a flat surface. Knead again for a minute or two.
   
6. Roll out the dough with a pin or your hand until about 1” thick. Fold the sides up, then fold the ends up to form a loaf pan shape. Place in 2 greased pans, sprinkle w/oats and cover with damp towels. Let rise another 45-60 min., or until almost doubled in size (again, in a barely warm oven).
7. With the bread still in it, turn the oven heat to 400 degrees. After 15 min., reduce heat to 375 degrees, rotate the pans, and bake 20-25 minutes longer. Test for doneness by removing from pan and knocking on the bottom; if a hollow sound emerges, the bread is done. Let cool completely on a wire rack before storing. (I refrigerate one loaf, and freeze the other.)

Good luck!

What the Bugger-Boo is NOT doing right now

This picture is taken from a week or two ago and is the opposite of what transpired today during nap time. Instead, this is the wide-awake face that greeted me following this afternoon's nap time:
Sigh....What's a mother to do?

First post

Should this be our new blog home?

RIP, Audrey

176,141 and 4,872.

That's the number of miles our old 1996 Pontiac Sunfire clocked and the number of days she "lived" before she passed away yesterday on a routine shopping trip to Walmart.

"Audrey," as I affectionately called her (in remembrance of Audrey Hepburn), was a sleek, dependable, low-maintenance coupe that we acquired 6 1/2 years ago for a very reasonable price from Eric's brother Rob, who bought her brand-spankin' new on November 3rd of 1995. She lived a full, mostly well-cared for life (modulo the many years she sat outside in the wintery driveways of both of her owners), and died quickly and painlessly at a stoplight, never to run again.

(Note: She probably could run again; we just don't want to pay more than twice her worth to fix her when we were planning on selling her anyway.)

So, alas, she will spend the rest of her days in various pieces in a junkyard, and we will go on living without her....which is what our plans were in the first place! We were kinda hoping to get a couple hundred bucks out of her before this happened, but oh well! We're thankful for the many years and miles she's given us and will always think of her fondly.

R.I.P., Audrey.

Eric and I sitting in the car together for the last time. The purple flowers and Hebrew character necklace that used to grace the rearview mirror were also celebrating with us and will be put away in a memory box.

Things That Could Potentially Be Stressing Me Out Right Now...

1. My unmade bed
2. That gunky stuff on the bathroom sink
3. The pile of dishes on my kitchen counter
4. The dust bunny on my hallway floor
5. My still-awake toddler who is supposed to be napping
6. The amazing quantity of holey socks in my sock drawer
7. The fact that I'm not adding anything to the family finances this semester
8. The piles of yet-to-be-paid bills and stacks of paper to "deal with" on my desk
9. The unfinished detail painting projects around the house
10. Questioning whether we'll be able to make the budget this month
11. Wondering if my toddler will ever learn how to obey (and joyfully!)
12. Wondering if I'm cut out to be a parent at all
13. Trying to find the intersection between discipline and grace
14. Hoping I'm a good enough wife/daughter/friend
15. Considering the many children in the world starving to death and wondering if I'm doing enough to help them
16. Speculating about whether God loves me as much as He says He does

But, ironically, they're not.

At this moment, I'm at peace. At this moment, I'm finding rest. And those are things I haven't been allowing myself to experience enough lately. Instead, these past few days, I've been letting Satan tempt me to despair over all these silly things. Thankfully, I have a loving husband and a gracious Heavenly Father who have both encouraged me to alter my perspective today.

Who knows what 5 minutes from now will bring, but hopefully, even then, I'll be able to say,

"My soul finds rest in God alone;
my salvation comes from Him.
He alone is my Rock and my Salvation;
He is my fortress, I will never be shaken."
(Psalm 62)

~~~~
Aaron Keyes has a great rendition of this psalm in contemporary song form. If you're feeling a lack of peace and have 5 minutes to give it a listen, I highly recommend it.

Snow Days

Today marked the end of a cold snap we've been having this week, with temperatures in the -teens. (Thankfully, temps didn't get as cold or last as long as poor Sherri and Adam had to deal with in Alaska recently.) We'd received a lot of snow along with the colder weather, but weren't able to enjoy it due to safety reasons. So, today, we suited up and took advantage of a balmy 21 degrees to play in the fluffy white stuff. Unfortunately, it was still too dry for fun things like making snowmen and forts, but we made the best of it and made trails through our backyard instead. Believe it or not, it was Ian's first time of really playing in the snow. We never got much snow in Bloomington, and because of that, we didn't buy him a snowsuit until this year. But now that he has one and we live in a place that does get snow, we'll be spending much more time outside this winter! (Hallelujah!)

The rest of day has been spent putting together a workable budget for this year, watching lots of basketball, and eating a yummy lunch of leftover curried carrot soup and hummus/red pepper sandwiches. It's so nice to have real Saturdays again. Now that we're done going through crazy transitions (for now, at least...you never know what's going to come up), we've been able to settle into a more normal routine and actually enjoy our weekends. It feels so good!

Quick Update

Ok, it's been over a month since I've posted anything, so I'm going to give the Reader's Digest version of our life over the past 32 days. Here ya go!

Dec. 14: We went to a Colts' game in Indianapolis with my parents as a Christmas gift from them (thanks, Mom and Dad!) It was our first time in the new Lucas Oil Stadium (a.k.a., "the Luke") and Ian's first Colts game ever. Fun family times all around!

Dec. 21: We hosted the Amstutz Family Christmas....not just my immediate family, but my Dad's whole family. Yes, the ENTIRE family (modulo my sister and her husband, who thought the drive from Alaska was just too far) descended upon our house! A total of 38 people came for a potluck (or a "pitch-in" for you southerners) dinner of mammoth proportions. Wonderfully enough, everything went without a hitch, there seemed to be plenty of room (I love our new house!) and a good time was had by all! Eric and I thoroughly enjoyed hosting this year!

Dec. 24: It's me and Eric's yearly tradition to make Chinese food for Christmas Eve dinner, and this year, his family got to enjoy it with us! We made a homemade Chinese FEAST! Coupled with present-time with three toddlers, it was a fun day!

Dec. 25: A nice, relaxed Christmas morning at home where Ian played with his new wooden Thomas track for a marathon 3 hours (an eternity for a toddler) while Eric and I sipped tea and packed for our big trip to Charlotte. After lunch, we drove to Fort Wayne to celebrate Christmas evening with my parents and brother.

Dec 26-Jan.3: The best vacation we've had since our honeymoon! Thanks to our best friends, the Dunn's, we had a relaxing and pleasant ten days away from home in Charlotte, North Carolina. We got to meet their brand-new daughter Kestrel, and Ian and Taliesin had plenty of time to get to know each other and learn about sharing. Andrea and I (who love to cook together) experimented with jalapeno pepper jelly and homemade tamales. Both were huge successes! Eric and JD spent time playing video games and doing "guy stuff" on their deck. Also, lots of "Settlers of Catan: Cities and Knights" was played and enjoyed by all. Even though some games get heated, we all coming back for more! The trip ended with us being delayed for about three hours while we got a gas leak checked out at a very kind and helpful Charlotte Pontiac dealership. Thankfully, Audrey (our Sunfire who rolled over 175,000 miles during that week) was good enough to drive home. She's been a good car, she has.

Jan 3-4: We made a stop in Kentucky on our way home from Charlotte to break up the trip into more manageable portions...and to see our dear friends the Long's! Time spent with them in their home is always refreshing and encouraging. We hope if we have 5 kids someday, that our home runs as smoothly!

Jan. 6: Ian's first Bethel Basketball game...the first of many, I'm sure. Bethel's ranked nationally at 2nd in their division (NAIA Div. II) and is quite fun to watch! Go Pilots!

Jan. 8: First day of Spring Semester for Eric. I won't be teaching this semester, as Bethel doesn't have a course for me to teach, but I will be tutoring some of my students from last semester, getting more involved at church, and beginning home preschool with Ian. It should still be a full semester for me! And it will definitely be full for him. Next week is the first big council meeting to determine whether the TESOL program is a go at Bethel for next year. Eric's been spending hours and hours planning, researching, collaborating, and revising the proposal we're going to take to the council. In fact, as I type, he's working on the finishing touches of the 36-page report for the council to review. While our future at Bethel rests strongly on the outcome of this proposal, we're not worried. God has us here for a reason and He's always taken care of us!

That pretty much takes us up to today, which was spent switching around some of our bank accounts, taking care of some administrative details, playing basketball over lunch at Bethel, and finishing up some of the details on the TESOL proposal. The weather is frigidly cold and snow is piling up like crazy, so we're taking it easy and enjoying a more relaxed pace. Life is good.

Frank-Ian-stein

I was broom sweeping around the fireplace yesterday morning at about 11:15 with Ian running around the living room and dining room, when I heard him crash into something and fall down. Since this happens about 500 times a day (he is a "toddler," after all, people!), I kept on sweeping and casually asked, "Ian, you ok?" Then the screaming ensued. I turned around to see my little boy running towards me with blood flowing down his face and smeared all over it by his hand. Blood was dripping all over his clothes and onto the floor. Quite a shocking sight for a mom. I guess he wasn't quite ok.

So after getting him cleaned up and attempting to put some ice on the goose egg that was rapidly forming on his noggin -- a feat which he refused to let me accomplish with all his might -- I made us a quick lunch of peanut butter sandwiches and fruit, and made the (blessedly short) trek to the local immediate care clinic. Thankfully, the bleeding from the cavernous gash on his forehead was reduced to a trickle that was easily wiped up every 5 minutes or so with a damp paper towel.

There, Ian experienced the application of his first stitches: four of them to be exact. We were there for most of the afternoon and finally left around 3:00 (after some precautionary x-rays and a lot of waiting), after which Eric and I took him to McDonald's for some much-deserved ice cream.

All in all, I was proud of his behavior throughout the day. Here are some fun highlights:

* While we were still at home before leaving, I tried to find out what he had hurt himself on. I asked, "Where did you bump your head, Ian?" He looked a little confused, pointed at his forehead, and said, "Right there, Mommy."

* A minute or two before the doctor came in to stitch him up, he commented to me, "Fun day, Mommy! Thank you fun day!" He had already received a Bob the Builder sticker and gotten to play with a stethoscope, so he thought he was in heaven. All I could say was, "I'm glad you're having fun!" He had no idea what was coming....

* Mere moments after screaming and thrashing around so badly that it took three of us to hold him down (me and 2 very patient nurses) while the doctor stitched him up, Ian literally hopped off the table and said in a very happy voice, "All done! Play now?"

* The doctor gave him a neon orange bandaid for his stitches, which Ian was very proud of. Every person at the clinic who asked him what he did after that got a description of his "cool or'nge ban-naid."

Here's a picture of Ian with his two face scars in front of the Christmas tree this morning -- the other cut on his chin was from falling headlong into his bathroom step stool a few days ago. As you can see, he's quite proud of himself!

Tunnels, walls, and choo-choos

Nearly everyday (and usually many times throughout the day), I hear this sweet little voice ask, "Mommy? Build tunnel?" I'm tellin' ya, the kid is obsessed with tunnels right now and I have to admit, sometimes I get tired of building tunnels. Sometimes I'd much rather read a grown-up book or peruse status updates on Facebook or hide my head under the fluffy comforter on my bed and take a good, long nap. But since I love the kid so darn much, and he usually asks so nicely, I indulge him in some tunnel-building together for at least a few minutes a day. And it usually turns out to be quite fun.

Like a couple days ago when we were still both in our jammies (I won't mention how late in the morning it was), Ian got out all of his wooden blocks and his wooden train set, and we had a big ol' tunnel/wall/track building party. It wasn't the first time he'd integrated all of these toys into one elaborate masterpiece, but it was the first time I'd thought to get the camera out while doing it. So here ya go: the progression of Ian's building expertise.

building the tunnel

Ian with his wall

Tunnel, wall, and choo-choo, all together

And later that day, while playing with Daddy.....

We love the fact that he gets so much use out of the wooden toys we've carefully picked out for him. We intentionally look for toys with which he can use his imagination and play with in all sorts of ways. He really is learning how to use his imagination and play time is getting to be more and more fun! Maybe tomorrow, I'll think twice about wanting to take that nap....