Counting My Blessings in 2013

When I think about 2013, the first word that comes to mind is HARD. Just-keep-putting-one-foot-in-front-of-another-and-get-through-this kind of hard. I think about a year filled with sickness, pain and heartache.

Yet, that isn’t the entire picture. When I really stop and think about this year, I see a year filled with blessings, God’s provisions, and a whole lotta grace.

I’m going to choose to focus on that part as I send this year off into history. So, for fun, I’m going to highlight some of my favorite parts of this year.

1) We are blessed with some amazing friends, and even if I don’t call as much as I should (sorry), don’t think that I take one of you for granted. I count my friends as one of my biggest blessings. Here are just a few fun memories we had with friends this year….

Sienna's Valentine's Day "Tea with Dolls" Party

Our monthly Deployment Countdown Celebrations. Here we're celebrating Bill's birthday on our "3rd month done" celebration.

CFA meals with friends

2) Another highlight to the year is the visitors we had this year. Want to earn some extra “treasures in heaven”? Go visit a military family. It means SO MUCH to us. Honestly, you have no idea how happy it makes us when you come visit.

This year, both sets of our visitors braved the El Paso heat to come visit us. That’s dedication and love!

My aunt and uncle came to visit in early summer…

And I enjoyed a girls’ weekend with Shaena and Suzanne in the late summer…

3) I can barely type these words with out tears filling my eyes, but here goes (please excuse typos at this point)…God was so good to me this year. I read a Sally Clarkson blog article recently and she basically outlined how when we’re going through a tough season of life, God is actually holding us tighter and caring for us more, just as a parent tends to a sick child a bit more than they might with a child that is well. (Shout out to Sally for ALWAYS speaking to my heart right where it’s hurting) I can give many examples of how God cared for me in His own little way through out this year, but the one that first pops into my mind is this one….

At what I’ll call my “darkest hour” of the year, when I was just surviving the days and calling out to Him for help and hope, this beautiful rainbow was waiting for me right outside my back door. I let the dog out in the morning and – BAM! – this huge, beautiful rainbow.

You could say it was just a rainbow - a work of science/atmosphere/whatever - but I KNOW that God gave me that rainbow as a visual sign of the hope and promise I have in Him. (I can appreciate the whole Noah’s ark rainbow so much more now!)

4) Another huge boast in morale was adding two adorable kitties to our house. They are a pain but they bring us (us=me and Sienna) so much joy and happiness. There is something quirky about cats' personalities that I love so much.

5) Sienna’s baptism was a huge blessing to us too. The fact that she took the initiative and pushed to be baptized all on her own, encouraged my heart and soul a million times a million. I wish Bill could have been there in person (thankfully he was able to watch online) but I know that it was all God’s timing and I'm happy to see my little ones grow in their walks with God.

6) Sometimes getting out of the daily routine and exploring a new place is necessary to feel rejuvenated. Traveling to Albuquerque and Santa Fe this summer with our friends was exactly that for me. Although it was exhausting to travel outnumbered (2 Moms, 5 Kids), it was a lot of fun and will always be a fun memory for me. 

7) The turning point in the year was when we welcomed Bill home from the deployment. We are so thankful to have him home safely. I pray we don’t have to do that again anytime soon!!  Even though it was “only 9 months” it was incredibly hard and I’m happy to put it behind us. 

8) I started homeschooling the kids this year. I love it, the kids love it, and I'm so glad I took the plunge and did it. 

9) Speaking of learning, I learned how to knit this year! It's something I've always wanted to learn how to do. Be warned, I foresee lots of scarves as Christmas gifts next year. 

10) Finally, to me, the entire year has been redeemed in this one month of December. We have had so much fun setting up our new house (which has everything I’ve ever wanted and so much more!) and we’re enjoying all the nature (snow, birds, etc.) and having lots and lots of family time to create new and happy memories together.

Despite the hard times, I will look back at this year fondly and be thankful for all the blessings.

And now…Happy 2014!!!

The Gs Hit DC

One of the best parts about moving is exploring the new surroundings and finding places to go and eat. Everything is new and exciting and thrilling. It’s like a restart button on life. As for places to eat and things to see, we are completely spoiled here. If we lived here our whole lives, I don’t think we’d be able to cover it all. I love it and I keep pinching myself to make sure I’m not dreaming. I can’t believe I get to live here.

We’ve been good about exploring locally but we needed to go explore some of THE city. So we decided to go into the city yesterday to explore and see some sights. We didn’t have an official timeline or agenda. We were just planning things as we went. It was awesome! We had a great day and everything worked out well.

We live about 45 minutes outside of the heart of DC. For our California friends, it’s about the same as the trek from Eastvale/Corona area to Los Angeles. But unlike California, we have public transportation options. So yesterday we decided to take the Metro. Even though I love good public transportation, I was dreading the trip. Thankfully, it wasn’t nearly the drama I thought it’d be. Every thing was rather easy to figure out (with Bill’s help, of course!) and an uber-friendly attendant at the Metro stop helped us figure out the tickets and fees, etc. And the kids, oh my goodness, they LOVED it. I think we could have just taken a ride on the train and the kids would have been happy with that. 

It was a beautiful sunny day. There was still a chill in the air but not nearly as cold as it’s been here lately. 

We decided to go to the National Museum of Natural History (say that five times!). Entrance was FREE. It was busy but not overwhelmingly busy. It did become more crowded in the afternoon but by then we were almost done seeing everything we wanted to see.

It is a beautiful building with lots to see. The exhibits kept the kids' interest throughout the day.

The exhibits were family-friendly and they had just opened an exhibit especially for kids - with lots of hands-on activities - and both our kids had fun going through. 

Here's a picture of Grant with his favorite animal - a Giant Squid. 

My favorite part of the museum was watching the show “Jerusalem” in the IMAX theater. Some of it was probably over the kids’ heads, but I still think it’s important to expose them to things they might not fully understand. I haven’t looked up any scientific evidence to prove this but I do think that we absorb a lot in our subconscious before it actually registers in our brains. So, we dragged the kids into the show when they really wanted to see the ocean IMAX instead. But it was a very interesting show – and even the kids were engaged in it.

And yes, homeschool friends, I'm counting this as a Field Trip! 

We left the museum in the late afternoon and walked to the Capitol building. 

The sun was setting and everything was “glowing” in the late afternoon sun. It was truly beautiful. I’m a person that gets inspired by my surroundings and nature, and this setting made me want to go “conquer the world” …but then I realized I can’t even “conquer” my kids, so I better keep my work at home for a little while longer. Still, it was inspiring and I felt rejuvenated by time we headed home.  

T'is the Season ...to Bake!

This week I started one of my favorite parts of the holiday season - baking!! 

I thought I'd share the recipes I'm cookin' up this holiday season, in case you need some inspiration. These recipes are tested and approved by everyone in my family! 

Saltine Cracker Toffee - Over the past few years, these have become a family favorite at Christmastime. They are super easy to make and so delicious. 

What does Ginger do when she gets mad? She snaps! 

That's a joke that someone I used to work with told everytime he saw me. Well, with this recipe, Ginger (cookies) won't snap but instead melt in your mouth. I like it better this way. 

Brown Butter Soft Batch Ginger Snaps 

Christmas isn't complete without Sugar Cookies and cookie decorating. I let the kids go to town last night. There was sugar and frosting everywhere - counters, floor, foreheads, etc. At the end of it, I was so proud that I was able to suppress my clean-freak tendencies so the kids could have a fun time. Memory making in progress! 

This year, I let Trader Joe's save the day on the Sugar Cookies. This kit was too cute to pass up. We added M&Ms, mini chocolate chips and colored/glitter frosting to the decorating line-up. 

This is a lot of cookies even for us, so we're planning to package them up and bring them to the neighbors this afternoon.  

I came across a recipe for Almond Shortbread that looks pretty tasty. I haven't tried this recipe yet but I'm hoping to make them soon.
 
Finally, I also like to make pecan pies during the holidays. I tried this recipe (Trisha Yearwood's Pecan Pie) last year and loved it and everyone I shared it with loved it too. I'm planning to make it again this year. Maybe for New Year's Eve? 

What are your favorite holiday recipes? I'd love for you to share them! 

Happy Baking! And may your holidays be merry and bright!