Day 245: Put Me in the Story

Wednesday night classes at church resumed tonight, and I'm back with the kindergartners. We had only a few kids, but they were surprisingly crazy.

We colored these sheets of Bible stories, which begin in the Old Testament and work through the Bible. The kids all thought it was hilarious that I was such a slow colorer! Indeed, most of the kids completely finished their pictures and I only completed two.

Day 244: Shepherd's Pie

For dinner tonight I made this shepherd's pie. It was so, so delicious! It is one of the best shepherd's pies I've ever had (and I've had good pies in England). You can find the recipe here.

Lamb is what makes shepherd's pie. If it has beef instead, it's actually cottage pie. A lot of people, especially in America, use the terms interchangeably, but in reality they are two different dishes.

I made chocolate mousse with an orange whipped cream for dessert, but I didn't get a picture of that. All in all, tonight's dinner was a huge success!

Day 244: Yarn

This is my next project: a blanket! You may have noticed that I love crafty things.

One thing I particularly enjoy is crocheting and when I saw these colours in the store, I really liked them. So, as soon as it cools down a little I'll be working on a new blanket. And I'm pretty excited about it!

Day 243: Maple Syrup

Our mission group got together today for lunch, and we made breakfast for lunch. This delicious pure maple syrup came from Massachusetts where we did our mission trip.

One of our project's was to tear down a man's broken porch and rebuild a new one. This syrup comes from his trees, which he taps. It is some of the best maple syrup I have ever had!

Day 242: Cherry Limeade

I'm kind of addicted to Sonic cherry limeades. The Route 44 size (aka 44 ounces). Mom and I stopped by Sonic while we were out shopping today, and I got this treat.

There's something about sipping on this that always seems to make my day just a little bit better.

Day 241: Macarons

Amara made us macarons, and they were quite tasty! These have chocolate ganache, but she also made lemon and buttercream. Macarons have a bit of a stigma for being difficult to make. Really, they aren't that difficult and aren't too incredibly time-consuming.

I hope she keeps making them!

Day 240: Indian Food

The truth of the matter is, this food doesn't look nearly as good as it really is. It's hard to take good food pictures in the evening. Or really at all in the house, without good natural lighting.

Amara's roommates came over for Indian food tonight, and it was absolutely delicious. Indian is perhaps my favourite cuisine. The chicken is korma, which has spices like coriander and cumin and coconut milk. We also made mango lassi, a thick yogurt drink, and papadums.

It was all so good!

Day 239: Math

Well, I'm studying for the GRE again. Although my verbal and writing scores are high in the 90th percentile, my math score was a little lower.

Or maybe a whole lot lower.

So, I got this CliffsNotes math review to help improve my score. I must admit, I was disappointed to see it when I opened the package. I mean, look at the size of that thing!

I've seen CliffsNotes before, and they are not like this. This book is far too thick and I cant say I'm looking forward to using it.

Day 238: Watering

You all get another picture of a cute baby today, because this is the only picture I took all day. Honestly, there's just not much going on in my life. I am working a temp job this week in the file room at a doctor's office. At least I'm making a little money!

We watered the plants for a little while today. We couldn't stay out long, because it was already over 90 degrees before 11:00 in the morning. I literally had to run the hose for over five minutes before the water was cool enough to touch!

Day 237: Joy

Sadly, this picture is a bit blurry. Thankfully, though, you can still see just how happy this little girl is (it's because I was letting her play with my phone!). The joy in children's faces always amazes me and puts a smile on my face as well.

Right now I'm still babysitting this precious girl, as I continue to search for a job and get rejection letters. It's hard to be joyful, to be content even, with this frustration. Frankly, it's depressing and I need sweet smiles like this to remind me that things are going to be just fine, even when I'm not happy with them.

Day 236: The Best Chocolate in the World

My dad just returned from a work trip to England and he brought us back lots of treats. My family has so many British food products that we fell in love with when we lived there that he brought back several bags full of food!

If you haven't had this stuff, you haven't lived. Seriously, this chocolate is my favourite. Now, I'm not talking Cadbury eggs (though I love those!) and I'm not even talking about Cadbury bars that you get in the US. No, I'm talking about Cadbury chocolate straight from England.

Chocolate in America generally has wax added, which helps prevent it from melting. It also prevents it from tasting as good as this British-made deliciousness. Even if you have had Cadbury chocolate from a grocery store in America, it just doesn't taste the same. It has wax too, you see. And the British product has more cocoa and less sugar (which equals more chocolaty goodness).

Nevertheless, after I titled this post, I realized that it is not completely accurate. The best chocolate I ever ate came from a little chocolate shop called Schuh in Interlaken, Switzerland. British Cadbury's runs a close second.

Day 235: Hatch Chilies

This not-so-great picture is of the apple cobbler we had for dessert tonight.

Our grocery store, United, had a deal going on today where they would roast hatch chilies for free. So, of course, Dad bought a ton. Dad cooked tonight and every dish in our supper had these chilies - we had chile rellenos, cornbread and potatoes, all with hatch chilies. And all delicious.

This cobbler was not exempt; it too boasted chilies as an ingredient (see that green poking out in the bottom left corner?). It was actually quite tasty!

Day 234: Celtic Knotwork

This is a birthday card I just made for one of my good friends (though her birthday isn't until the end of this month). It's hard to see the gleaming gold leaf in this picture, but I've decided I'm a big fan of liquid gold leaf!

This was a lot of fun to make, and I can't wait to start on my next illumination! If you're wondering, these are inspired by the illuminated manuscripts, which date back as far as the 5th century. They were originally done on vellum or parchment. Some of the most famous illuminated texts are the Lindisfarne Gospels and the Book of Kells, both Celtic Christian texts.

And I'm an expert on Celtic Christianity, if you didn't know. Well, maybe not quite, but I am a bit of an expert on thin places and sacred space.

Day 233: Pasta Broccoli

Thanks to JoAnna, I had this quick and easy recipe to make for dinner tonight. My whole family enjoyed it, and there's enough for us all to enjoy it again as leftovers! I must admit, I put in more cheese than it calls for. My philosophy is that you can never have too much cheese!

This recipe was actually posted in our kitchen in the house I lived in during college. I took a picture of it before we left, and today's picture is a picture of that picture. Confused? Me too. All you need to know is, I took this picture today.

Day 232: Where the Red Fern Grows

Today I again read through one of my favourite books - Where the Red Fern Grows. It's the only book I've read more than Lord of the Rings. I first read it in my second grade class at school, I've been in love with it ever since. Everyone should read this book!

Spoiler: This book leaves me in tears every time; today I was bawling on my bed. It's funny, no matter how many times I read it and despite the fact that I can almost quote it, I can't help crying.

Day 231: Java and Joel

Java went in for a shave today, which will help her cool off. It also makes her look fairly ridiculous, so we put some clothes on her to help her out. Java loves wearing Joel's shorts. Or not, but she tolerates it just fine if you're petting her.

Somehow, I didn't get a single picture of dinner, which was really yummy. I made tequila-lime chicken (Ina Garten), cilantro rice, a mango salsa (allrecipes) and sopapilla cheesecake for dessert. So good!

Day 230: Watercolor

There's more painting going on in this house! It's watercolors today, though. I'm finishing up another small illumination, so soon I'll take a picture and post it!

Day 229: Paint Play

Mom and I messed around with some paints yesterday evening. She wants to put some canvases on the wall of our den, so we practiced painting. I did this mountain scene, and had a ton of fun painting it. We'll definitely have to do this more often! It's a great way to spend time with someone, just hanging out but also having fun and being creative.

Oh yeah, and we got more rain today. Hallelujah!

Day 228: It's Raining!

We woke up at 4 this morning to thunder and lightning ... and rain! Despite the earlier hour, it was glorious to lay in bed listening to the pouring rain. Officially, Abilene got got 3 1/2 inches last night, though our rain gauge measured 1.5. And it was 75 degrees out at noon today.

Praise God for the much-needed moisture, but we're still praying for more (even after last night, our yearly total is less than ten inches).

Day 227: Horsemanning

You may have heard of planking before. If not, it's a fad where someone lies face-down like a plank, preferably in neat places. I know, sounds real cool, but my brother did it across NYC and DC. One person has even died doing it (planking from a seventh-floor balcony).

Well the new craze, according to the Today Show, is horsemanning, an allusion to the headless horseman.

Don't you want to try it?

Day 226: Thunder

I got pretty excited when I heard thunder today. We're in the midst of one of the worst droughts on record, and we need rain so badly.

But here in Abilene, those few drops on the car window are all we got. It's raining all around, praise God, but not here. Rain chances continue through the night, so we're praying hard for rain.

Thankfully, the rain did cool us off. It's amazing how cool 95 degrees can feel. I now know, 95 is way different from 105!

Day 225: Gold Leaf

I'm pretty excited about this purchase. It's liquid gold leaf! Hopefully it will be easier to work with than gold leaf (which I've never actually worked with, but is daunting). I'm excited to begin another illumination, which I can decorate with real gold leaf.

It's the little things in life that make me happy.

Day 224: Pesto

Mom and I headed out to the garden this morning to harvest basil. We got enough to make several batches of pesto. Pasta with pesto is one of my very favourite dishes, so I'm excited about having homemade pesto again!

Day 223: Jury Duty

I've never actually had to do jury duty before, as I've always been a full-time student. But today I had no such excuse and so I made my way to the courthouse. It took forever - from 8:30 to 12:30 - but was also interesting. I didn't make the jury, but I did go in to the courtroom and listen to the case.

Day 222: Nelson

This evening the ladies in my small group got together to sit around a pool and watch a movie (Secretariat - one of my favourites). We also played a little game that my sister calls Nelson, though picture telephone would be more appropriate (remember playing telephone back in middle school?).

In Nelson, each person is given a stack of papers. The first person writes a phrase and then hands the stack to the next person. This person reads the paper, put it at the bottom of the stack and draws what they see. Then they hand the stack to next person who writes out what they think the picture is. This goes on until the stack has made it around the circle.

These two papers are both drawings of the same thing and show a distinct difference in artistic ability.

Day 221: The Confederacy

If you are from the south, this may be a somewhat familiar sight to you - the Confederate flag, that is.

Down here, some people still think The South won the Civil War. This phenomenon is even more prevalent in the Deep South (Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, South Carolina and Georgia), where one can see these flags waving in the breeze.

It always throws me a bit when I see this flag today, seeing as how most of us associate the Confederacy with slavery and realize that the Union won the war.

Day 220: Sunshine

My feet look all summery! I got a bright, new nail polish today and now my toes are all sunshiny and bright.  Now if we could have a little less sunshine here in Abilene, we'd be good. I think we're up to 56 days over 100; will this heat never end?

Day 219: Pizza

I got together with a couple of friends and made pizzas this evening. The pizza in the foreground is actually half of a larger pizza. After we made it, we discovered that the cookie sheet didn't feet in the oven! So, this is the result of trying to shift a pizza onto a new cookie sheet. Mostly it looks like my pizza is a disaster and Anna's is perfect (and if you know me at all, you know I lay everything out meticulously).

Also, I saw a UFO tonight. Driving home at midnight I saw this little band of lights, hanging slightly diagonally in the sky, hovering in one little area. It was so strange and didn't look like a plane that it is easy to see why people spot UFOs. It was certainly unidentified to me!

Day 218: Napping

Today I babysat this sweet girl. As nice as it was to get paid to take a nap with her, I am ready to have a real job. Freelancing isn't too bad though!

Day 217: Whoops!

I have no picture today. I'm not really sure what happened or why I don't have a picture. This is my first day not to have a picture and not have a good reason why. Whoops!

Day 216: Instant Winner

Mom and I have been playing the "Million Dollar Summer" game at the grocery store. It starts out fun - when you get to stick the little game pieces onto the game board. But then, as time passes, fewer and fewer of the pieces are new. We have yet to win more than two dollars, but at least we got this free Redbox today!