He Makes All Things New

This morning I am thankful for

Camellias

Budding

Returning from death to

Life

Newness

Constant

Bringing forth hope.

Children

Giggling

Running in sunshiney rays of happiness

Bubbles

Reflecting light

Not darkness

Shadows poured forth from a soul

Into newness of light and morning.

What It Means

These babies (and a few more!) have been in our lives for 13 years now...

each one special...

each one different...

each one a love...

each one dear to me as their mother's are...

We said good-bye to our dear friends nearly a month ago now.

Their absence is sorely felt and while they go to a new home and a new place and to new friends, we go with them...we pray for them...we send them off with love and hope.

Hope that while they grow and change and while we grow and change,

we will not grow and change separately.

My friend.

Her heart remains in my heart.

Fellowship.

Looking back...

You might think this would be a post about how I've been flipping through photos on the blog, flipping through photos in our home, watching home video of our wedding (hey, we were on a budget)...and you would be correct. I have been reminiscing lately and am loving it! This Mama needed a reminder of the basics in life and love. We got rid of a ton of stuff and are consolidating. I'm branching out and even tried a Zumba class at the gym. You would have died to have seen me. I am coordinated but have NO rhythm in any bone in my body. Anywho...this post was going to be about how I should get a good camera, so there. I rambled.

The Making of an Ottoman

What do you do when you're Dutch and don't want to spend big bucks on an ottoman?
Make one.
As long as your husband has (or you have) a few tools, of course ;)
I bought an old ugly pine coffee table off Craigslist for $15, Jon resized the top and I sanded, primed, and painted the legs. I got some foam, batting, and a course linen from the fabric store, covered a few buttons, and we were off.

Fastening on the legs (or fitting), stapling the batting over the foam, underside of the tufting. (forgot to take a pic of the fabric going on--bad Elisabeth!)

Somebody Turned 34...

And it's not the cutie pies on the right!
Seriously had such a beautiful birthday. Jon and the kids spoiled me!
Went to Deschutes for dinner--my oh my I love their Abyss but alas, they were only in bottles...at $12/each! Settled for Obsidian on nitro instead and didn't look back. Their food is incredible too--everyone loved it and we had a nice fam time.
(Jon gave me a gorgeous necklace so Brynne wanted one of her own--she took the ribbon from the box and check her out)

Finished!

Genesis 2:24 on the lower section...hopefully it'll be hung in our room soon!

Almost done...I have the pages glued and mod podge-d on top...just waiting for the top to dry so I can do the sides. This was not a quick project. It took me forever to get the pages arranged "just so". And then I realized I had them on vertically and had to start over...but I really do love the little sketches...the man climbing up to her window is my fav.

This is cup #3--am I alone in thinking coffee is the nectar of the gods? that it will flow in the rivers and streams in Heaven? that Stumptown (Portland area roaster) is the absolute BEST?!

Day 3, er 4--A Little Vietnamese

I was craving a little Pho Van (the BEST Vietnamese in town) tonight, but instead of spending $80 for our family to eat out I dug in the fridge and went off a Martha Stewart Everyday Food recipe I have and we ate some yummy yummy food...but I didn't even think of taking a picture until I literally ate the last bite on my plate, so you'll just have to trust me when I say this is not only a delicious dinner but a beautiful one, too. :). The colors on your plate will make your evening happier. Believe it.
Here's the recipe:
Dressing/Marinade:
In a medium bowl combine:
4 thinly sliced scallion whites
2 minced garlic cloves
1/2 C Soy Sauce
1/4 C Rice Vinegar (I was out so used 2Tbsp Red Wine Vinegar and a scant 1/4 C Sweet Rice Cooking Wine)
2 Tbsp honey
Juice from 1/2 a lime
1/2 Tsp fish sauce
Spicy option: add 1/2 Tsp Red Pepper Flakes
Take about half of this and save it to pour over your dinner.
Thinly slice 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts or thighs and pop them in the remaining marinade in a ziploc bag in the fridge for about 30 minutes or even up to overnight.

The Rest:
Rice Noodles (in the Asian aisle) and/or Rice
Get your skillet really hot, add a couple Tbsp EVOO then about half the chicken. Do not touch it! Let it get all nice and brown and happy. The sugar from the honey will caramelize and make it sooo happy. This will cook very quickly if you sliced it thinly. Stir it once and cook until done on both sides.
Earlier on I did this stuff:
Using your vegetable peeler, shred 2 carrots
Chiffonade 1 cucumber
Chop up extra scallions
Bowl of peanuts or cashews
Throw some fresh cilantro or basil or mint or all three in a bowl
Cooked the rice and rice noodles

Put it all on the table and let the kids go crazy creating their own "Pho Van". Ours had some very spicy "Rooster Sauce" on it and my, oh my...

It took me a while at 6am to figure out why I could sudden see clearly through the window. The screen was gone. A sincere Thank You to Ava!

Another tough meal...beef tenderloin....mmmmmm.......

Life on vacation... they make us eat fries slathered in cheese,grilled
onions, and sauce... It's really tough

Encouragement From All Sides

Thanks for all your prayers and thoughts as we battle through this hard season of sickness. We've been encouraged by many of you; offering meals, offering to drive up and nurse us back to health, offering any help needed. I can't help but be reminded that my friend Tonya had an unbelievably hard situation just over a month ago, as her daughter found her youngest son (18 months) at the bottom of a swimming pool. They were able to resuscitate him and he is completely fine, Thank you Jesus! As she processes through what happened, she sent me the words to this song yesterday and I bought it from amazon.com today. It's beautiful and exactly what I needed. I am sure I will be listening to it often. I am hoping that you will be encouraged as well. If you don't have it already, you really ought to buy it.

"If You Want Me To" by Ginny Owens.
"The pathway is broken and signs are unclear
and I don't know the reason why You brought me here
But just because You love me the way that You do
I'm gonna walk through the valley if You want me to

Cause I'm not who I was when I took my first step
and I'm clinging to the promise You're not through with me yet
So if all of these trials bring me closer to You
then I will go through the fire if You want me to

It may not be the way I would have chosen
when You lead me through a world that's not my home
But You never said it would be easy
You only said I'd never go alone

So when the whole world turns against me and I'm all by myself
and I can't hear You answer my cries for help
Then I'll remember the suffering Your love put You through
and I will go through the valley if You want me to."

Annual Beach Trip!

Thanks to Ian, I don't even have to come up with an original post about this. :)
Click here to view!
(thank you Ian!)

Welcome Abram Jonathan!

Abram Jonathan Brawley was born on Wednesday, August 19, 2009 at 12:59am. He is healthy and happy and cute! He was 8lbs 1 oz and 20 3/4 inches long. I was so stoked to not have to be induced and we are all recovering nicely. Stay tuned for more pictures. . .

Bubble Bubble!!

Oh. My. Word.
Jon and I are so thrilled!!
We figured out how to make our favorite treat right at home:
The Japanese school-girl obsession that is Bubble Tea (to quote my friend Steve).
There is an Asian Supermarket right down the street from our house, so after doing a bit of online research we figured out our list and headed down to "Fubon". When we walked in it reeked of fish--I think our kids thought they had just stepped into a foreign country!
We quickly found what we needed: the tapioca "pearls" (called Boba--this is what makes it Bubble Tea), the flavoring we wanted (Mango!), and of course, big fat straws to drink it with.

We got home, I made some sweet iced tea, mixed in some half & half (it has to be milk tea for me to drink it),

cooked up some delicious Boba (10 minutes boiling time, 10 minutes to steep with the lid on),

stirred in a little mango flavoring and voila! (oops, can I use French to describe this Asian delight??) it was ready. For the price of 3 bubble teas at a tea shop, we can enjoy about 50.
Now the only drawback is all the calories involved...

Tastebook

 

 

My sister Jamie gave me a gift certificate to this wonderful thing called Tastebook. It imports your saved recipes off of several websites (such as epicurious, all recipes, and more). Then you input the recipes you want added, have it printed, and voila! My own personal hardcover Tastebook was at my door in three days. Came right in time cuz my fav recipe collection photo album from our bridal shower fell apart that week. . . I guess 10 years of abuse was all it could take.

Elisabeth's Rational and Irrational Fears--Part 3

Tonight I experienced one of my fears: something spicy in my eye.
I never thought it would be so painful to have a red chili pepper flake in my eye, but let me tell ya, it ain't no picnic.
We were finishing our dinner and I rubbed my itchy allergy eyes--without thinking, of course. I dropped the plates I was holding and ran inside to get some water.
Jon ran into the kitchen as I was freaking out and crying for help, at first he didn't know what was going on, he thought I just got a piece of dust or something stuck in there. I could hardly open my eye, it was burning so bad, and I just could not make myself open it! I was balling like a baby and yelling for him to help me, he finally says, "You need to CALM DOWN!"
Then I started flushing and flushing with water, trying to get it out (I wasn't even sure there was an "it" to be gotten--maybe it was just the chili residue from my fingers?) but then I realized too late that I had cranked the HOT water instead of the cold, so that made it just a little worse. About ten minutes later I am still flushing my eye and I mentioned again that it stinks to have a chili flake in your eye. Jon goes, "What?! No wonder you're freaking out!"
I finally gave up on the flushing and was walking around with it still burning (it has to stop eventually, right), when I felt something come down from under my eyelid--it was a RED chili pepper flake.
Needless to say, I ran outside to show Jon.
I think I prefer to keep the spicy stuff out of my eyes, next time!