Life by Danielle

Send My Friend to China!

2012-01-14T14:38:00.000-06:00

This is Courtney.
You should help her get to China.

Not that I don't want her here or anything like that.
I mean, I like her being here...
Hence, she's my friend.
You know, someone I don't want around wouldn't really be my friend...
And she's my friend, so I like her being around...
Because she is happy and fun and makes life better....

So that's not why I'm saying you should send her to China.
yeah.
Actually, it's because she wants to go to China.
To teach English to cute children at a summer camp.
Which is a worthy cause, you know?
Besides, she's cute.
Look at her thinking of China.

Anyway, she is saving and trying to raise money to go this next summer, so I took photos of her this afternoon to make prayer cards with and stuff. And so I had these photos and thought I'd introduce you to her in case you want to help her by giving her money, or by telling other people about her, or by praying for her lots and lots.
(because in my opinion, praying is even better than moneys. Strange, I know.)

She even has a blog of her own so that you can hear straight from her what she is doing and why! Here it is:
http://sendmetochina.blogspot.com/

So go read it, and love her, and pray for her, and send her to China!!!

Curry Chicken

2012-01-10T09:54:00.000-06:00

As most of you know, I spent a fair portion of my childhood in an Indian community in Fiji. Now, what you may not know, is that from these Indian people comes pretty much the best food in the entire world.
Curry really should be its own food group. The one at the bottom of the pyramid, that you need the most of.
Also, I must warn you that the "curry" I grew up with and am giving you the recipe for here is very, very different from "curry chicken" that is made here in the States, which has a creamy sauce and is served with raisins and coconut and that stuff. That curry much more closely resembles curries from the more upper-class food of India, using cream or yoghurt. It is quite delicious itself, but it is not the curry I grew up eating, and which I make at home.

This particular recipe I got from a friend from Fiji, who is now living in the States.
While it does not take too many "exotic" spices, it does call for a few. I'm not sure if Walmart carries this stuff... I get them from my local Indian grocery store. Probably a spice store or an herb store might carry them? I'm not sure...

Ingredients
About 2-3 pounds of chicken, cubed
1 chopped onion
2 curry leaves
2 cinnamon sticks, or about a teaspoon of cinnamon
chili powder to taste (depending on how hot you like your food)
salt to taste
1 tsp tumeric
2 tsp curry powder
4 tsp meat masala
cooking oil
cilantro (optional... I don't usually have it on hand, so I don't usually put it in)
thumb-sized piece of ginger (best if fresh, but you can used 1/4 tsp powdered)
8-10 cloves of garlic (yes, that much)
serrano peppers (also to taste, depending on how hot you like your food. I actually usually just omit them)
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp mustard seed

Method:
Crush together ginger, garlic, peppers, cumin, and mustard seed.
Heat just enough oil to cover the bottom of your pot.
Add onion and curry leaves, and brown.
Add crushed spices, and brown.
Add all the rest of the spices and the cinnamon sticks, keep stirring so this does not burn. You will have a spicy, yummy smelling paste.
Add chicken and salt. Stir to just cook the outside of the chicken, then add enough water to cover the chicken about 3/4 the way.
Cover with a lid and cook on low to medium, checking on it and stirring occasionally until done. The chicken will be done and the liquid will have cooked down to about half of what it was.
Taste and add salt if needed.
Add cilantro and let cook just a little.
Turn off heat and serve with rice, roti, and chutney.
(If you like. Or just eat it with a spoon, from the pan. I might have done that before.)

Roti is the flat bread, somewhat similar to a tortilla, that is normally eaten with curry. You actually can use the roti instead of silverware to eat the curry (it tastes better that way, promise). You tear off a little piece of roti and use it to pick up your curry and rice. How do you make roti, you might ask? Well, it's very simple, here let me help you:

In a large bowl, mix flour and a little bit of salt. I also add some garlic powder, just for extra flavour and because I like garlic. Add boiling (or very very hot) water, enough to make a somewhat stiff dough, and stir together. Knead for a very, very long time until it is soft and elastic. Pinch off small balls of dough and roll out with flour to keep them from sticking to the counter. You want basically the size and shape of a tortilla.
Heat a non-stick pan to medium heat, and put a roti on it. (I cook them without oil, I find they cook better that way for me.) Cook until both sides are done (some brown spots, but not burnt). I usually flip them three times, that seems to work well. They should puff up as they cook. Pop them and squish the bubbles, or they can get kind of crispy, which is not what we are going for. When the roti is done, place it in a pan and brush some melted butter on it. I put some garlic in the butter, too. Brush melted butter on each roti as they come off the pan. This keeps them soft and yummy. And buttery.

There you go!
This is pretty much about my favorite meal of all time, and I am giving you the recipe.
I know, I'm awesome.
Thanks.

Tea Bags

2012-01-02T16:39:00.000-06:00

Look at that little tea bag. Isn't it adorable?
Ok, perhaps I'm biased, because I made that tea bag with my own little hands, but still.

I was drinking jasmine tea this morning with my breakfast (which happened to be homemade yoghurt and chai spice granola). The jasmine tea I have is loose-leaf tea, and is very good. However, I was having some trouble with my little tea strainer... it is a bit handle-heavy to sit on my tea cup like a good little strainer, so it tends to flop out, catapulting wet tea leaves along the way. This situation does not lend itself to a happy, relaxing breakfast.

I saw homemade fabric tea bags on pintrest the other day, and I decided that now is the time to make some. Guess what? I'll even show you how I did it! Alternatively, you could just buy them in my etsy shop. =D

Ok, first of all, I found a really lightweight cotton and cut a rectangle out of it, about twice the length of a tea bag. I stitched a heart on it, where the middle of the front of the bag is going to be. You can put whatever you like on the front of your tea bag... or just leave it plain... up to you!

Isn't it a cute little heart???

Then I folded my little rectangle in half, right sides together, and stitched up both sides to make a bag. I double stitched it, for extra awesomeness.

Still inside out, I folded over the top for the place where the drawstring is going to be.

I put the drawstring in the fold to make sure it was going to fit, and then stitched around the bottom of the fold. Make sure not to catch the drawstring in your stitches! It doesn't work then....

Also, leave a hole for the string to come out of.

I sewed one end of my drawstring down then, so that I only have one string coming off my bag. See the little end of string peeking out there?

Turn the bag right side out now.

I tied a button on the end of my string, for extra cuteness, and so that the string doesn't follow my tea bag into my cup of tea.

And there you have it! An adorable, reusable, eco-friendly tea bag! Put your loose-leaf tea in it, pull the drawstring tight, and you are ready for your cup of tea.

To clean it, just pull open the drawstring top (you might have to work it a little since it will be wet at that point), turn it inside out, and rinse it. Hang it up to dry.

And, you know, if you don't want to make one but you are just dying to get your hands on one, then they are in my etsy shop here: http://www.etsy.com/listing/89620062/reusable-tea-bag-stiched-heart-on-cotton

Happy tea-bag-making!

Peking Duck

2012-01-01T12:47:00.000-06:00

My family has a traditional Christmas dinner that is rather un-traditional...

Peking Duck... happens to be Chinese for "AMAZING NOMS." (Caps included in translation).
This Chinese dish takes a really long time to make, hence we really only eat it at Christmas, but boy is it worth the work!
It is good stuff.
Now, I must apologize in advance... I don't have too many pictures of the process and all, I kept getting distracted, and it is only by very good luck that I have any pictures at all of the finished product... We had devoured the entire meal, and Morgan was quickly consuming the very last piece when I suddenly remembered that I had no pictures of the finished duck.
He wasn't too thrilled to stop eating his last piece of duck so that I could take pictures of it, but he did, so you do get to see what the duck looks like not raw.
Ok, here we go, Peking Duck as my mommy taught me how to make it:

I. Marinate Him:

1) Make a paste mixture of Chinese 5 Spice and oil

2) Rub the inside of the duck with the paste

3) Rub the outside of the duck with the paste

4) Wrap him up with plastic wrap and refrigerate over night

II. Pop His Skin Out:

1) boil a kettle of water

2) hang the duck (over the sink or outside where it can drip) using wires

3) pour boiling water over the duck until the skin pops away from the meat

4) Let Him dry

III. Make the Paint:

1) caramelize about 1/2 c sugar in a skillet until it's liquid

2) add just enough water to cause it to sizzle up and then turn back into liquid

3) add some soy sauce and Chinese 5 spice

4) Cook till it just starts to thicken up, but not so thick as syrup

IV. Paint Him

1) Using a pastry brush or small paint brush, paint the duck

2) Let him dry and paint it over again every time it dries every 30 minutes or so until you have a good coating - 6 times or so

3) Let the final coating dry on him for several hours

V. Cook Him

1) Heat to oven to 350

2) Roast Him till he is done - depending on how fat he is… maybe 1-1.5 hours? Check to make sure there is no pink liquid… kind of like a chicken. If you can cook him on a roasting rack, that will keep the fat from pooling around his skin.

VI. While he is cooking, prepare the pancakes and fillings

1) Make little round rotis (flour + boiling water, knead well), rolled very very thin (it seems to work best to keep the dough on the soft side for this)

2) cut green onions into strips - some restaurants use cucumbers too, cut into very thin strips

3) Hoisin Sauce (find at your local chinese grocery)

VII. Eat Him

1) Carve Him into thin slices/strips. If the skin separates, that's ok, just set it on one side of the dish and be sure everyone gets a piece of skin in their pancake

2) Serve with onion strips, cucumber strips, Hoisin sauce and Duck in the Pancakes.

To do this, take the pancake and put it on your plate. Take a spoonful of Hoisin sauce and spread it over the pancake. Take strips of duck, duck skin, and onions, and lay them on the pancake. Roll it up. NOM NOM NOM.

Fudgey Goodness

2011-12-22T13:38:00.003-06:00

I'm not normally a big fan of fudge.
It's usually just too sweet for me.
It seems like it is just pure, unadulterated sweetness with not much flavor, that gets stuck in my teeth and makes them hurt.
Sometimes I can stand a little bit if eaten alongside a large cup of black coffee...
but then I have a sugar rush AND a caffeine high, alongside my normally excitable personality, and well... that is just a combination that most of my friends want to avoid.
You should probably trust my friends on this one.
Right, friends?
BUT, this fudge worked its way right past my natural fudge-liking defenses, directly into that little place in my heart where sweet things reside.
You know... the sweet-things spot?
The place that pulls me back to the kitchen over and over and uses up copious amounts of sugar, flour, and butter.
The place that I've never heard my friends or family complain about as long as I share.
Yeah, that spot.
This fudge is now there.

It is indeed very sweet, but it also has a hint of saltiness, and a hint of sour cream. It's good stuff. Really good stuff. Besides, with these ingredients, how can you possibly go wrong?

And because I love you, I'm going to tell you how to make this fudge without even using a candy thermometer!
Also because I'm too lazy to use a candy thermometer...
But that is totally beside the point, and not what we are discussing right now.
We are discussing fudge.
Stay on topic, please.

For the candy base, mix the sugar, margarine, and sour cream in a saucepan. Heat this to 234 degrees. OR, to "soft ball stage." What this means is, you let it boil for a very long time, stirring constantly. Check the mixture by taking a small spoonful on a metal spoon, and dunking it into a bowl of cold water. If it immediately swirls off of the spoon into the water, it is not done. If it sticks to the spoon completely, it's getting close. It is done when you can pull the candy off of the spoon in a little soft ball after dunking it in cold water. Hence, the name "soft ball stage."

See? Soft ball. Now turn off the heat.

Add the white chocolate.

And the marshmallow cream. Melt this yumminess in completely.

Then add the nuts.

And the dates. Mix them in well, then pour this yummy goop into your buttered pan, and let it cool.

No really, let it cool.

Before you try to eat it.

It's really hot.

Burns your mouth.

And fingers.

When it hardens into fudge, cut into cubes and eat it. With a big cup of black coffee.

White Fudge

2 c sugar

3/4 c sour cream

1/2 c margarine

12 oz white chocolate (almond bark)

7 oz marshmallow cream

3/4 c chopped nuts

3/4 c chopped fruit (I used dates)

Mix sugar, sour cream, and margarine in saucepan and heat to 234 degrees, or soft ball stage.

Turn off heat and add white chocolate and marshmallow cream. Melt completely, then fold in nuts and fruit. Pour into buttered 9x9 pan and cool completely. Cut into pieces and serve.

Bread Pudding

2011-12-21T13:35:00.000-06:00

Hey guess what?
It's almost Christmas.
Hey, don't look at me like that. I'm just saying.
And offering the proximity of Christmas as a sort of explanation of my choice of recipes for today. Because everyone knows that bread pudding is a Christmassy sort of food.

So, have mercy on that loaf of stale bread and redeem its existence by making this nommy bread pudding. And vanilla sauce. Please don't forget the vanilla sauce.

Two loaves of bread, chopped up into cubes.
Drizzle melted butter over the bread, and toss together.
In another bowl, mix milk, eggs, sugar, spices, and vanilla.

Add the milk mixture to the bread, along with raisins. Toss together until all the bread cubes are wet, then let sit for 10 minutes to soak.

Put in greased pan, bake at 350 degrees for about an hour, or until when you press on the top, it feels firm.

Bread Pudding

Ingredients
2 loaves bread
6 lg. eggs
7 c. whole milk
1 1/2 c sugar
2 t. vanilla
1/3 c melted butter
1 c raisins
3Tb cinnamon
2Tb nutmeg

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9x13 dish, or a pie pan, or a bread loaf pan (whatever you like).
Cube bread, drizzle with butter. Toss together.
In another bowl, mix eggs, milk, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
Add milk mix and raisins to bread. Toss together, let sit for 10 minutes.
Pour into buttered pad. Bake at 350 degrees for about an hour if in a loaf pan, or about 45 minutes in a shallow pan.

Vanilla Sauce for Bread Pudding

1/2 c sugar
1 1/2 Tb cornstarch
1c water
2Tb butter
2 tsp vanilla

Mix sugar and cornstarch in small saucepan. Add water, bring to a boil. Stir constantly, allow to simmer until it begins to thicken. Add butter, stir until melted. Add vanilla. Simmer until correct thickness.

Thoughts About Fall. A picture blog.

2011-12-18T09:58:00.000-06:00

On the Virtues of the Humble Persimmon

2011-11-23T11:42:00.000-06:00

Have you ever eaten a persimmon? Have you ever heard of a persimmon? Well, before moving back here to the states, my only exposure to the persimmon was reading about them in a Little House on the Prairie book. Well, it wasn't exactly a Little House on the Prairie book, it was on of the next series, about Laura's daughter, Rose, I think they are called Little House in the Ozarks? Maybe? But that's not the point. The point is that I read about them once in a book, as a weird fruit that grows up in the backwoods of mountain america and that is very, very, very nasty until fully ripe.

But upon moving to the states, and marrying a country boy from Oklahoma, I actually tasted a persimmon. Sure enough, they are a weird fruit that grows wild in America and is very, very, very nasty until fully ripe.
Why am I telling you this, you ask?
Well, persimmons grow wild. That means, you can go pick them for free. No cost.
They also, although very, very, very nasty until fully ripe, are also quite good when fully ripe. They kind of taste like a date. And you can bake with them! Free baking fruit!
I'm in. Seriously, three of my favorite words, right there: free. baking. fruit.

So this fall, Morgan and I went to a park nearby where persimmons grow and we picked ourselves a few bushels of persimmons.

So I don't know how big a bushel is, but we did pick a lot of persimmons. Maybe not a bushel. Because I don't know.

But we picked three wal-mart sacks full, and they weighed 20 pounds when we were done! That's a lot. But I don't know how that compares to a bushel.

Morgan climbed up in the trees and shook them to make the ripe persimmons fall.

Only pick up the squishy ones. They need to be really ripe. They should feel kind of like a date. Squishy. Very squishy.

What do you do with persimmons, you ask?
Well, you have to enjoy getting messy to enjoy persimmons. Because, you see, you have to squish them to bake with them. And you squish them through a colander to get the seeds out of the mush.
And come on, guys, you know me. The best way to do that is with your hands, of course!

We squished them all up, and put the mush into bags for baking. I've made a few things with them, but I haven't taken any pictures while I'm at it... so I'm going to have to make them again and take pictures for here. The main idea is that you can use it wherever you would use any other fruit mush. You can use it in place of bananas in banana bread. Or make persimmon butter like you would make apple butter. Or make pudding out of it.
Just experiment and have fun! It's yummy.

Taming a Jalepeno Into Yum.

2011-11-14T19:41:00.001-06:00

If you are like me, the word "jalepeno" scares you a little. When I first heard of this recipe, I looked at Morgan with that "you-are-joking-right?" look that I give him sometimes.
Ok, a lot of the time.
I use that look a lot.
He is usually joking. But this time he wasn't.
Seriously, there is something you can do with jalepeno peppers that will make them into little pockets of juicy, creamy, awesome yum.
Not hot.
Cross my heart.

See, all (or the vast majority) of the heat of the pepper is in the seeds and the membrane. Remove that, and you have tame peppers!
So begin this recipe with removing the seeds and membrane of the peppers. You really want to get it all if you aren't a fan of hot. I promise.

I used a grapefruit spoon to scrape all the membrane out, and rinsed it out with warm water.

Now comes the good part. Take cream cheese. Mix it with small chunks of garlic. For my six jalepenos, I used one block of cream cheese and three cloves of garlic chopped up really small, and a dash of garlic powder.

Now, stuff the cream cheese- garlic mixture into the peppers. You really want to be careful to try to not break the peppers, or while they are cooking all the cream cheese will run out, and then what will have been the point of stuffing them? Hm?

Now, wrap each jalepeno tightly with a strip of bacon, and secure with a toothpick.

Space them out on a cookie sheet, and bake them at 350 F until the bacon looks pretty cooked. Not crispy, just cooked. Then turn on the broiler on high just long enough to crisp the bacon.
Pull out jalepeno packets of goodness.
LET THEM COOL.
No really.
Let them cool.
You really really want to let them cool.
That cheese inside is really, really warm.

Now. Eat them all.
All of them. Nom nom nom.
I recommend a glass of milk. If you didn't get quite all the membrane, it can get a bit spicy up toward the stems. It's not bad. Especially with a glass of milk.

On a side note, just imagine for a moment being my long-suffering husband. Every time I pull something out of the oven, all yummy and ready to eat, when he is all hungry and ready to eat it up... I stop him... and spend a good long while taking pictures of it for my blog.
He is a good sport about it.
But poor him.

He stopped to take a breath between inhaling peppers, so I took a picture while he wasn't paying attention.
Aren't I sneaky.

It didn't take us very long to wipe out the peppers. All gone. I even mopped up all the juice on the plate with a piece of bread.
It was yummy.

Peach Pie

2011-11-12T16:32:00.037-06:00

They were there, sitting at walmart, in all their peachy glory. They looked lovely. They felt soft and juicy. I could just imagine biting into their goodness and eating a peach with juice dribbling down my chin, periodically sprinkling the sweet, juicy fruit with salt. ...

Ok, so I'm weird and eat my fruit with salt. Take it up with my mom. But don't get distracted by the salt, pay attention, stay with me. I'm telling a story.

Anyway, so there I was and there they were and I gave into temptation. I bought four big, plump, juicy, bright peaches. I brought home my bounty.
I eagerly opened the bag and pulled out a peach.
I pulled my salt sprinkler over beside me.
I was nearly drooling, so ready was I for Peachness.
I opened my mouth and took a big, giant bite....
and....
nothing.
Disappointing blandness.
Yucky graininess.
Devastating averageness.
Definitely NOT what I was craving.

I was disappointed.
Disenchanted.
Disconcerted.
Disheartened.
Disgruntled.
Disillusioned.
Dissatisfied.
Not. Happy.

So, I decided to rectify this grave error in the taste of the peaches. I decided to redeem them and make them into a pie. Now, by this point in my blog journey, oh wonderful readers of mine, you should know me well enough to know that I often do not carefully measure my ingredients.
Or use a lot of fancy ingredients.
Or carefully use all the correct equipment.
In fact, usually, my cooking consist of mixing what looks good in the amounts that seem right, and mostly with my fingers. Because mixing with fingers is awesome, lets just admit it.

So, true to form, I did not really measure anything for this peach pie. But I did take pictures! So here you go.... and I'm just sure you can make your own little package of peachy goodness wrapped in buttery crust wrappings. I believe in you.

Make sure to cut your peaches really thin, so that plenty of juice comes out and mixes with the sugar and spices.

Maybe about a cup and a half of sugar, depending on how many peaches you have? Enough sugar that every piece of peach has a little glaze on it when you mix it up. Cinnamon and nutmeg are the spices, quite a bit of each. Don't be shy. Add lots of spices. It's good, I promise.

I have found my new favorite way to crust pies. It avoids the mess and hassle of a top crust, and I think it looks better than when I try to pinch and prettify a top crust. I always end up with tears and dimples and hollow spots and burnt edges when I try to do a regular pie crust.

So, this way, you just roll out an extra large bottom crust and put it in the pan with the edges draping over. Then put in the filling, and take those edges and pull them up over the top, wrapping your little pie package up all nice and cute!

Bake at 400 degrees F, for about 40 minutes.

So, funny story. As I served up my peach pie, Morgan happened to be talking to his dad on the phone. It was 6:30, by which time Morgan's dad is usually home from work, at their house about 40 minutes away. Morgan mentioned what we were eating, and that there was more, and it was too bad his dad wasn't here to eat any, and his dad thought that was too bad as well. After Morgan hung up, I remarked that his dad should have come by on his way home from work. As the last word left my mouth, there was a tapping on the kitchen window behind me. I looked up to see Morgan's dad looking hungrily in the kitchen window! He had stayed late at work and had been on his way home when Morgan called, and had turned around and come by for a piece of the pie.

He seemed satisfied with the results.

I must say, this was indeed a good peach pie. I was happy that I got my peach goodness after all!

Pie Crust

2011-11-09T16:53:00.036-06:00

Can we talk about pie crust for a minute? Just a moment. Please don't scream, or hyperventilate, or run away.

It has come to my attention that pie crust is something of a fear among the semi-cooking population of women. Perhaps not quite as badly feared as spiders, but possibly fairly close.

Listen to me.

It can smell fear.

You can't show it that you are afraid.

You have to show the pie crust who is boss. It's just a little blob of flour and butter. It can't hurt you.

Promise.

You can make a pie crust. You can make a lovely pie crust. You can make a flaky, buttery, light, salty, crispy, delightful pie crust.

You can make a pie crust that you will want to bake and eat all by itself.

Not that I may or may not have done that....

Ok, are you with me? Lets make a pie crust, ok? Now, true to my general cooking form, we aren't going to use a whole bunch of fancy ingredients. Those may work for some people, but I am not smart enough to remember them all, so I just stick with the pie crust my grandmother taught me how to make (Hi Mamma!). It's easy, it's really good, and it is totally unhealthy, which all good things, of course, are.

Take flour. Got the flour? Ok, now take salt. Salt the flour.
Just a dash of salt.
You know.
Some salt.

Now take butter. Add half as much butter as flour. Tip: The butter should be really really cold. Pretty much frozen. I actually use frozen margarine. That way, the butter won't fall apart but will stay in flaky chunks in your crust.

Yes, that means that for every cup of flour you have half a cup of butter.

Cut the butter into the flour until you have little chunks. About pea-sized. Big peas. Now add some very, very cold water. I put pieces of ice in the water I'm going to use. You want this water barely above freezing, because you don't want your frozen little bits of butter to melt.

About half as much water as butter, but play it by ear. You want only enough water so that your dough barely sticks together. It will kind of look like the picture below. Mix it together, tossing it with your fingers. Do not knead it. Do not squish it. Just mix it tossy-like.

Now, with lots of flour on the counter, roll out the dough. Make sure you have a lot of flour on the counter and on the rolling pin and on your apron and all around. If your crust sticks to the counter, then you have a sticky swiss-cheese looking crust. And I'm not a big fan of swiss cheese pie crusts.

What works for me to get the crust into the pan, is to fold the crust in fourths, move it, and unfold it. It works. Really, it does!

Ok. Now go make a pie.

With this yummy pie crust.

Ok?

Fall Break in New Mexico - a picture blog.

2011-11-06T15:55:00.000-06:00

Pizza!

2011-10-11T17:35:00.000-05:00

Ok... what else are you supposed to do with cheese like that? Seriously.... pizza just had to happen.
It just had to.
My tummy demanded it.

How did I make the pizza, you ask? Well, I'm so glad you asked because I have instructions right here for you! Unfortunately, I was really hungry when I made this, so I wasn't really measuring... anything.... I was just piling, piling, piling yummy things. So this recipe is pretty approximate. But I think that's ok, because then you can make your pizza just like you want it.

I started with a regular batch of bread (see previous post on bread dough) that had risen once already. I pinched off about half of a batch to make the pizza crust with.
I used the other half to make more pizzas for my freezer.

Morgan really, really thought that the pizza needed thrown.
So I let him throw it.
He didn't drop it.
I was impressed.

Really important step. Don't skip it. It's lots of fun.
Also, it is really important that you put lots and lots of corn meal under this piece of dough.
If you do not, it will stick. Then you will finish your beautiful pizza and go to put it on your pizza rock or cookie sheet in the oven, and it will resist any movement from its place of residence and as you wrestle it into the oven it will mutilate and turn into a weird scrambled pizza thing.
Go ahead, ask me how I know.

Using the same fingers that you made dents in the dough with, spread that olive oil evenly all over your piece of dough. Use your fingers. Do it.

I added salt, oregano, rosemary, basil, sage, garlic powder, and cracked pepper. I added extra rosemary because I like it, and I'm the cook, so I get to add what I like. It's a good life.
When you are done spreading, poke the dough all over with a fork. This will prevent it from bubbling up while it bakes and looking like a pizza mountain range with toppings sliding off every which way.

Go ahead, ask. Don't you want to know how I know all that can go wrong with a pizza?

This is where the afore-mentioned cheese comes in. Lots and lots of cheese, whatever kind you like. I recommend some mild melty cheese like mozzarella or mexican melty cheese (queso fresco), but please include some sharp cheddar on top. Just please do. It's really good.
I also put lots and lots of onions, some sliced garlic, some thin sliced ham, and some more cheese and onions and garlic.
And a little more cheese.
Some onion on top.
Just a bit more garlic. And onions. And cheese.
If I were to write a song about my favorite things, food-wise, those would be in it.

Bake in a 450 degree oven, and make sure to put a large handful of corn meal under it on the pizza rock or cookie sheet so that it will come back off of said cooking platform. Remember the afore-mentioned weird scrambled pizza thing.

Bake until it looks done. Basically, the onions will be slightly browned and the bread with be golden.

It is really good. Pizza is really hard to beat, when it is good pizza.
And isn't that guy cute?

And yes, I did make pizza a couple weeks ago, and made all of the mistakes that I have warned you against. It was a strange scrambled pizza mountain range. But it, too, tasted good. Which, in the end, is what matters after all.

But how it looks does help.

Autumn is (sort of) here

2011-10-06T18:33:00.001-05:00

Well, as I said in my previous post, fall is coming slowly to Oklahoma City. What is the problem with this, you might ask?
Well, I really like fall. Especially fall leaves.
I love their crunchiness when I jump on them.
I love their brilliant colors peeking up at me from the corners of the street as I walk to school.
I love chasing them as they somersault down the alley, barely touching the ground as they go, a little piece of skipping happiness, coloring in the dreary cold city world.

But the trees are stubbornly refusing to produce more than the random handful of colored leaves so far. So I decided to hurry things along a little. Morgan and I pulled out my favorite bright fall-colored fabric and our old milk jug (for plastic to make them stiff) and made some fall leaves!

I loved them so much that I decided to wear them on my ears.
Forever.
Ok, maybe not forever, but for as long as I can claim that it is fall.

I liked them so much that I put them up on my long-neglected Etsy site, here:
http://www.etsy.com/listing/83330431/brilliant-fall-leaf-earrings

I'll bet you didn't even know that I had an Etsy site, did you?
Well, I did.
Do.
I do have one.
I just haven't posted anything on it for a while. But I'm planning on that changing, I have some cool ideas. Maybe they will sell, I hope so. We'll see. But at least I have fun making them. And wearing them.

Pretty autumn leaves. Happiness in my heart-place.

Chai Spice Granola

2011-10-01T14:32:00.000-05:00

This is the confusing time of year. The time of year where one day feels like fall, bordering on winter, and then the next day feels like Oklahoma didn't get the memo that it doesn't lie directly on the equator. You never know if the next day you need to wear a sundress or a scarf. It's weird. Weird Oklahoma.

On a recent fall-ish sort of day, I decided to make granola. But you know me... I get bored easily. Boring old same-same granola didn't sound like any fun to me. So I thought I'd try something different. The result was delightful. Crunchy, crispy, clumpy granola with a spicy bite to it. Sooo good with homemade yoghurt. Just ask my mom. She tried some.

It literally tastes like chai tea.... in granola form.
Yeah.
Awesome.
So awesome you want to make yourself right now, right?
Ok, ok, stop begging. I'll give you the recipe.

Keep in mind that this is granola, and therefore, things don't have to be exactly like in my recipe. If you want walnuts, then add walnuts. If you don't want/have sesame seeds, don't add them. Anything that is crunchy and that you want in your granola, then by all means, add it in. Oats are kind of important though. Don't leave out the oats.

By this time, the house smells really good. Really, really good. By the time the granola is finally done, I want to eat it all
all
all.

Chai Granola

Ingredients:
4c oats
1c almonds
1/4 c sesame seeds
1/2 c brown sugar
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cloves
1/2 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp ground black pepper

1/2 c vegetable oil
4 Tbsp sesame oil (or just more vegetable oil)
1/4 c honey
2 Tbs sugar
2 tsp vanilla

1/2c raisins

Mix the ingredients from oats to pepper in a large mixing bowl. Remember that you are in charge here, if you want more or less of anything, go for it. I like extra ginger and pepper, it makes the granola more spicy. I also have a real hard time not adding more cinnamon and nutmeg. I like spiciness in my granola. Pretty much, I just think of the oats as the things which hold the yummy spices. If I could make granola just out of spices, I probably would.

In a small sauce pan, mix the oils, honey, and sugar. Bring to a boil and simmer for a little while, whisking constantly, until it is all frothy. It will make this bubbly froth stuff. That's when you add the vanilla. Then pour the frothy stuff all over the dry mix, and stir the two together really well. Mix, mix, mix, until all the oats have that yummy sweet honey stuff on them.

Spread the granola out on a cookie sheet, no more than 1/4- 1/2 inch thick. Bake this in the oven at 300F for about 15 minutes, or until it looks golden brown.

Take out the cookie sheet and set it out to cool. Do not mix granola up at this point unless you do not want clumpy granola. But I like clumpy granola. Then, when it is dry (it will be hard), scrape it up off the cookie sheet with a spatula, break it into the size of clumps you want, and add the raisins. The reason I add the raisins now is because I have had too many bad experiences with the raising burning into little charcoal balls in the oven long before the rest of the granola is crispy.

Pour all of your granola into a cute jar. Seriously, if you are going to cook you really need a bunch of cute jars. It's important. Go buy them at thrift stores for fifty cents apiece. Or ask your mother-in-law to get them at garage sales for you. That works for me.

Pet Yeast.

2011-09-15T17:07:00.000-05:00

I bake a lot.
A whole lot.
My friends will affirm this.
There are two problems with baking a lot. The first problem is that if you bake a lot, and eat what you bake, then you eat a lot of baked goods. Why is this a problem, you ask? Well, it isn't a problem for my super-skinny-never-gain-weight husband. But it is a problem for me, because if I so much as look at a piece of cake I can just feel the weight piling on. Oh, well. I will eat more salad later. Because baked goods are good for the soul. I just know it. And I care about my soul.

The second problem is that the stuff for baking can be expensive. Flour is cheap, as is sugar, but things like, say, yeast can be pricey. And when Morgan and I can put away two loaves of French bread in one day (yes, the two loaves in that picture are now history), if I used a package of yeast for every batch of bread, that would add up pretty darn quick.

But never fear. I have a solution. Because I am poor. And because I love to bake. And because I would much rather spend the money on new clothes AND still have the yeast to bake with. For free. Because free is better than not free.

So how do I get free yeasts, you may ask? Well, simple. I raise them. My pet yeasts. In a jar. In my fridge. Just waiting to be mixed with flour and left to consume sugar and toot out carbon dioxide and make my bread fluffy and full of bubbles. Yeast-toot bubbles. Yeah... I'm weird.

Let me show you how to raise yeast.

1. Pick a cute jar. Important step. This jar will be your new pets' home. It must be cute.
2. Put into the jar
     1/4 package yeast
     about 1/2 cup of flour
     about 1 Tb sugar (if you want active yeast soon)
    about 1/2 cup warm water
3. Stir.
4. Let sit at room temperature until you see lots of bubbles, and the paste is doubled in size.

Now your yeast is happy and ready to use, and is equivalent to about a full package of yeast. You can put your jar of yeast into the fridge until you are ready to use it. When you want to use it, just pull it out of the fridge, stir it (it will separate a bit), and let it warm to room temperature (you will see bubbles again). Then, use in your recipe pretty much as you would packaged yeast. It may take a bit of practice to learn portions when using this as opposed to a package, but for the most part if you just substitute in a jar-full of this stuff, it works.

When you use this yeast, pour most of the jar into your recipe, leaving a small amount of paste sticking to the sides of your jar. Then, add flour and warm water again and let rise to double before putting back into your refrigerator.

In my experience, this takes just a little longer to rise than ordinary yeast, but not a whole lot longer. If it takes a really whole lot longer, then your yeasts are not happy and you need to help them... don't ask me how. My best method of yeast-rejuvenation has been to pour them out and start over.

In a plain bread recipe, you will taste a very slight sourdough taste to the bread, which is extremely yummy. For breads like cinnamon roll dough, however, there is no added taste due to the homegrown yeast.

Since you no doubt will want to get started using your yeast right away, I will give you a basic recipe for plain french bread, which I make very often, and which gets eaten quickly. Very quickly.

French Bread with Pet Yeast:
(2 loaves)
Ingredients:
yeast (about 1/2 cup)
3 c flour
warm water
salt
olive oil

Pour yeast into mixing bowl. Add about 3 cups of flour (I usually just pour in some flour till there is a little mountain of flour). Add some salt... around a teaspoon, more or less, depending on how much you like salt. Add warm water a little at a time while kneading it until you get a semi-stiff dough. This will be around 1 - 1 1/2 cups of water. About.
Knead until dough is smooth and elastic. Knead a long time. A really long time. Learn to love kneading. It's therapeutic. I learned that from my mom, who used to make bread when she was upset.
Put in a clean bowl and rub all over with olive oil. Cover with a piece of saran wrap (to keep the outside from drying out) and a kitchen towel.
Let rise to double, or until when you press your finger into the dough, it springs back very slowly.
Punch down, let rise again to double.

Now, divide dough in half and form two french loaves of bread. Long, skinny. Make them skinnier than you want them to be in the end, because they will rise again. Cut slits diagonally in the top with a sharp knife or a pair of scissors, about 1/4 inch deep. Place loaves on a cookie sheet a ways apart from each other, and cover with damp kitchen towel.
Let rise to about half-again their size.

Heat oven to 350 F. Bake bread until slightly golden, and when you tap on the crust it sounds hollow. Pull bread out, slather with butter, and eat it all with a big glass of milk. Now.

Give us this day our daily bread, because with warm fresh bread in our tummies it is so much easier to forgive those who trespass against us.

A Cure for Hot Weather

2011-08-29T18:21:00.000-05:00

Seedless limes were on sale at Buy-For-Less for 15 for a dollar! I bought some.
Ok, I bought lots.
My head was dancing with visions of cold, tart treats.
So I brought them home and Morgan and I started juicing... and juicing.... and juicing.... and we did not get through all the limes I bought, some of them are still sitting on my kitchen table. But we did get through enough to make yummy cold treat things!

I don't like ice cream.
I'm sorry, I know that is probably bordering on blasphemy.
But I just don't.
I don't really know why... I used to blame it on my cold-sensitive teeth, but I love sorbet and frozen yoghurt and frappaccinos, so it obviously can't be that I just don't like cold things.
I even really like homemade ice cream. And I like smoothies, and some of Dairy Queen's stuff.
It's just regular old ice cream, I just don't like it that much. Its... I don't know... too heavy? Too creamy? Too sweet? I just don't know. Too ice-creamy.
I'm sorry.
I'll go hide in a hole now so I don't get hit.

But I love sorbet! So I made some sorbet. For me. Because I like it. And because I've convinced myself that it must be healthier than ice cream. Surely. Besides, in Bethany, OK this time of year in a house without air conditioning, you really need something cold. Really.

Lime Sorbet
1 c water
1 c lime juice
1 c sugar
1 tbsp lime zest

Combine in pan, simmer over medium heat until sugar is fully dissolved.
Freeze.
You can just pour it in a bowl and set it in the freezer, and freeze it that way. I must warn you, however, that when you do this the sour tends to float to the top and the sweet will sink to the bottom somehow, so that you end up with a wow-thats-super-sour-stuff-now-my-jaw-really-hurts-a-lot first few bowls, and then oh-my-goodness-this-is-incredibly-sweet last few bowls. So if you do it like that, you may want to visit it now and again during the freezing process and stir it up.

You could also freeze it in an ice cream maker, if you have one of those.
Also, as we learned in my brother's 4th grade science class, you can freeze it by putting it in a little ziploc bag inside a bigger ziploc bag, then filling the bigger ziploc bag with ice and salt and shaking it for a while. You may, however, want to make sure your ziploc bags are well sealed before coming into your mom's office with all her paper work strewn about and demonstrating to her your science project. It might get messy otherwise. Your mom might not fully appreciate your science project. Just a guess. You know... from experience.

Sesame Chicken Noms!

2011-08-25T20:42:00.000-05:00

I really love Chinese food.
A lot.
I could eat Chinese food and Indian food every day for the rest of my life.
For real.
And one of my favorite Chinese food dishes ever is sesame chicken.
I made sesame chicken for dinner.
It was really, really good and I ate a lot of it.
Lots and lots.
I know, I shouldn't sing my own praises and all that, but it was really good.
Really.
It made me forget that I am trying to lose weight and all that.
You should make it too.
Right now.
Go ahead.
Here, I'll even give you a recipe. I looked up online a recipe for sesame chicken and then I kind of adapted it a lot until it looks a little like the original, but not much. So, I'll give you mine because it is good and worth eating.

Recipe:

Ingredients:
2 pounds of cubed chicken
1/4 c toasted sesame seeds (toast till light brown in a pan on the stove)
vegetable oil for deep frying

Batter:
4 Tbsp soy sauce
4 Tbsp flour
4 Tbsp cornstarch
4 Tbsp water
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp vegetable oil

Sauce:
1/2 c water
1 c chicken broth
1/8 c vinegar
2 Tbsp cornstarch
1 c sugar
2 Tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp chili soy sauce (or chili sauce)
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp sesame seeds

Method:
Mix ingredients for marinade and pour over the cubed chicken. Mix together and let this sit while you put together the sauce.

Mix together the ingredients for the sauce in a small sauce pan and bring to a boil over medium to high heat while stirring occasionally with a whisk. Let sauce thicken to syrup consistency, then set heat to very low while you fry the chicken.

Heat enough oil to deep fry chicken in a deep pan. I used my wok. Test the oil by dropping a little of the batter into it. When it sizzles a whole lot, the oil is hot enough. Drop the pieces of chicken into the oil little at a time, separating them as you drop them. Keep stirring, or they will stick to the bottom of the pan... or is that just me? When they are done (light brown, crispy) pull them out and put them in a bowl lined with paper towels to drain.

When the chicken is all fried, heat the sauce up to boiling again. Mix the fried chicken and the sauce in a bowl, then toss with all but a spoonful of the sesame seeds. Sprinkle the last few seeds over the top.

Serve with rice. Or with spaghetti noodles if you want to... personally, I recommend the rice.

Morgan approved of this sesame chicken. Or at least, I think he did, since he ate about three bowls worth.

Oh yeah, and I think you should eat this with chopsticks. Because I think all Chinese food should be eaten with chopsticks, with the exception, perhaps, of eggdrop soup. It just tastes better with chopsticks. Trust me. Now go make sesame chicken.

Yoghurt!

2011-08-24T19:39:00.001-05:00

I recently found out that evidently the word "yoghurt" is not spelled the same in british and american english. Yet another example of how impeded my ability to communicate with my peers is. Yeah, you can stop talking about how much I communicate anyway. I know I talk a lot. I know.

But honestly this post is not about my tendency to not stop the flow of wisdom that proceeds forth out of my mouth, but rather about my attempts to make yoghurt. You see, it recently occurred to me that while yoghurt costs over $3 a quart, milk only costs about $3 a gallon. And I eat a lot of yoghurt. So, I thought, I could save a LOT of money by just making my own yoghurt! Well, actually, I probably would not actually save any money because I would be so much more likely to actually eat the yoghurt that I made that I would eat enough more of it to negate the fact that it cost less. Whatever. The point is, less money, more creamy tart yumminess. So I set out to find a simple way to make homemade yoghurt.

That search, while it may sound easy, is not. It is hard. Yoghurt is a thing which is shrouded in mystery, difficulty, and precise temperatures for prolonged periods of time. I do not have a) a yoghurt maker, b) a double boiler, c) a candy thermometer, or d) a heating pad thingy. It would seem that my yoghurt making ambitions were doomed. However, after much perseverance (I really like yoghurt) I finally happened upon a blog which told you how to tell when the milk and the yoghurt are the right temperature without a thermometer! With a little tweaking, the recipe worked great! My yoghurt is lovely! It is wonderful with fruit and granola in it for breakfast, and I feel oh-so-healthy as I eat it. And yes, I do eat about 4 times as much yoghurt now, which means I spend about the same amount of money on it as before, but hey, I get more of it now! =D

Ok, I'll stop talking and just show you how I make it.

You will need:
a pan
a whisk
sealable containers for your yoghurt
a blanket or several towels

milk (the amount of yoghurt you want to make, that's how much milk you need)
1/4 cup yoghurt (for your first batch. after the first batch, you can use the leftover yoghurt from your last batch)

Step 1: heat the milk in the pan, stirring lots with a whisk. Like, stir it a lot. Obsessively. Do not go do your laundry. Stay right there and stir that milk. Sometimes I wash dishes in between stirring, but mostly do stirring. Or it will burn. Yuck. Heat it until it begins to froth like that stuff you put on top of cappuccinos, and steam is coming off of it a lot.

Step 2: Now transfer the pot with the milk in it to a sink of cold water. I know, it seems weird, heat up the milk, cool the milk, but trust me it works. Promise. Continue stirring the milk, and cooling it off until you can keep your pinky finger in the milk for 10 seconds without it burning. Why? Because that's the right temperature. Just is.

Step 3: Take the pot out of the cold water and stir the yoghurt into the milk.

Step 4: Pour this warm milk-yoghurt stuff into your yoghurt containers. Make sure your containers aren't cold when you do this, they should be warm. You don't want to cool off the milky yoghurty stuff.

Step 5: Snugly wrap up your yoghurt containers in the blanket or towels and put them somewhere they will stay warm. It being Oklahoma in the summertime here, "somewhere they will stay warm" is right there on my kitchen counter. I mean, it's 105 degrees, they aren't going to cool off. You might need to find a warmer place, like near a heater.

Step 6: leave them there for about 8 hours, maybe a bit more depending on how it is doing. If it is getting thickish (it will still be pretty runny) and tart, then they are doing good.

Step 7: When they are done, take your containers out of the blanket and stir the yoghurt vigorously. You are trying to stop the bacteria activity, so it doesn't keep yoghurtifying. Then, put the containers in the fridge overnight (about 8 hours again). The yoghurt will thicken some in the fridge.

Step 8: Eat!

My House Part 2

2011-08-18T20:13:00.000-05:00

So now that you have waited oh-so-patiently a couple of days (ok, so I didn't get to blogging on my to-do list yesterday), I will now deliver the "after" pictures.

Here is the living room, from the same view points as the before pictures:

Here is the bathroom (again, same view point):

Kitchen:

Dining room:

Bedroom-- there were no before pictures of the bedroom because our landlord's stuff was stored in there and we couldn't even get into it until three days before we left for our wedding. Hence, by the time we got into it, I was so panicked about getting it done that I didn't think to take pictures. Trust me, it was a mess.

The spare bedroom and the pantry don't need to be included yet because they are currently being worked on. My family (hi family!) is coming in a couple of weeks to stay with us so we are frantically trying to make a place for them to be able to stay. It's coming along fast though, so pictures of that will be up soon.

My mother-in-law (hi mommyinlaw!) helped me with painting in the pantry today. That was so much fun because it was 103 degrees today, our house doesn't have air conditioning, and the pantry especially has no airflow at all. Also, the only painting-pants I have are jeans, so I was wearing jeans. Fun fun. At least I wasn't doing it all by my lonesome! =]

So there you go, the house transformed. I hope you enjoyed this series, tune in next time for more of whatever I come up with to write about!

New blogging thoughts, and My House Part 1

2011-08-16T20:38:00.000-05:00

Well, we just got home this last week from spending the summer up at Golden Bell camp ground in Colorado. It was a lovely deal, because we missed the worst of Oklahoma's heat and lived in the gorgeous weather that is to be found at 9200 ft... I think we may have hit around 85 on a hot day this summer.

We did not have much internet access over the summer and were very busy, hence the non-post-ness on my blog, but I am now back in the land of computers and some slight amount of free time, so hopefully the situation can be remedied. I also may have found a solution for the other reason that I almost never post on my blog: lack of something to write about. I mean, I have an exciting life and all but I just can't ever think of anything of interest about my life to broadcast to the world.

However, I was reading through a blog of a friend of mine, who talks about the way she lives a mostly chemical-free, eco-friendly lifestyle by cooking from scratch for her family and home-making a lot of things. (see her blog here: http://mindofthemother.blogspot.com/) It came to my attention that the way I live isn't the way every newly married housewife who is going to college full-time lives. For example, we live rent-free because we basically rebuilt the inside of a gutted house. We live on $40 a week for groceries and eat really well because I make everything from scratch. I spent next to nothing on clothes because I make or thrift-store-buy all my clothes. Etc. Hence, I thought I might give a try to blogging about that kind of stuff... we'll see how it goes.

The first thing would obviously be our house. If you would have told me 10 months ago what this house would look like today I would not have believed you. The house is a couple blocks north of where I go to college, and our landlord is an old work friend of Morgan's. The previous renter/ occupant had completely trashed the house, after it had already endured years of neglect. The entire ceiling in the living room and half the kitchen was not sheetrocked. Most of the walls were either not sheetrocked, or the sheetrock had huge holes in it. There was trash all over the place. There were no kitchen cabinets, counters, sink, oven, fridge, etc. There was no bathroom sink. The toilet was broken (the stool part was cracked and leaking). The list goes on and on and on.

We, being the brilliant people we are, made the bright decision to "fix up the place" (on our $200 or so dollars in savings) during the three months prior to our wedding. This is the same three months in which 1) I was going to school full-time as a sophomore pre-med major. My hardest semester of college to-date. Approx 25 hours a week in class and lab. 2) We were planning a wedding. 3) Morgan was working a part-time job. 4) We were trying to figure out a relationship... we had just gotten engaged, and relationships at that stage take a lot of time to figure out! 5) I was recovering from mono.

It's a good thing we were ignorant of the fact that what we were going to do was completely impossible, because despite that fact, we did it. Granted, everything was not perfect. Granted, there were a few... ok, a lot... a whole lot... of tears shed along the way. But every time something was completely impossible, God seemed to show up and it happened. I guess I'll stop talking about it and try to show you some before-pictures... the pictures really don't do it justice, but oh well.

The living room (left to right, same room. See, some of the stuff in the middle is the same. =] )

Dining room and kitchen:

Spare bedroom (the boards in the front are actually all that there is of a wall between this room and the living room)

Bathroom:

From these pictures, you really cannot see at all how yucky the house really was. The mice, the gunk, the general feeling of dirtness is not communicated in the least.

Since it is late here and I did not have the forethought to take pictures of my house in the daylight (surprise!) I will wait and post the "after" pictures when I actually take them. Hopefully tomorrow. We shall see. =D

Make it up as you go.

2011-04-13T11:28:00.001-05:00

Sometimes I wonder why on earth people think I'm smart. And then I remember... except for my professors... they generally don't think of me as smart. I do not, as a general rule, exude smartness. Yes, I get good grades in school and do quite well in that small department of my life, but that is the extent of my brain's capability. Beyond school, my brain goes on frizzle if I try to make it work too hard. Perhaps it's too much school use... yeah, that must be it.

For example, I can ace a test in psychology without studying. However, I cannot find my right slipper half the time. But my feet are cold, and it is better to have one cold foot than two, and so it is a common sign in my house for me to have on only my left slipper. To walk through one's house in a bathrobe and one fuzzy pink slipper does not exude intelligence. Morgan found my right slipper, under the bed... (uhm, our bed sits directly on the floor, there is no space under it, but I somehow managed to lose my slipper under the bed...) I was delighted to have two warm feet. By that evening, however, I had lost my right slipper again. Yes.

I do tend to lose things a lot... you can ask my mother and my husband, both will attest to this fact, both of them having quickly found the thing that I have spent the last half-hour searching for. Information is included in this mass exodus of items from my findable vicinity. I find a mixing bowl that is clean (not always easy in my kitchen), only to have lost my measuring cup. By the time I find it, I can't remember where my wooden spoon went... any of them (I have about 5). When I have finally assembled the items necessary, I have forgotten what I was going to make and have lost the recipe card. I kid you not.

I don't even know why I do well at school, because I am constantly losing and forgetting school-related things as well. My planner. My homework. My papers. My pencil (very common). My calculator (just in time for a statistics test). The recording of my voice lesson (brace for my voice teacher's lecture on the importance of those recordings). My ID card (for two chapels with no credit for them). My backpack. Yes, my entire backpack. It was in my cousin's room.

I am completely convinced that the only reason I do well in school, and indeed, survive at all in life, is that I am a very very good maker-upper. I make things up as I go along. Well, I might add. I do my forgotten homework in class and hand it in at the end as if I meant to do that all along. I get up and speak eloquently on a chapter I only read the title to. (Christological Heresies, I mean, how many can there be after all?) (I'll give you a hint: more than I thought) I beg a calculator off my statistics professor. I beg a pencil off a classmate. I decide that all along I meant to cook whatever recipe card I end up finding first. And I end up not failing completely. Usually.

I think those were all the thoughts I had for today... I'm not sure. I had something I was going to write about, but I forgot what it was, so I made something up.I come by it naturally. Ask my Dad and Grandpa.

Color Outside the Lines.

2011-03-05T19:39:00.000-06:00

We went hiking the other weekend in the Wichita Mountains a couple hours out of Oklahoma City. It was a lovely day, and I was enjoying myself thoroughly.... until we came upon this:

A kitty cat print.... a rather large kitty cat print. For the rest of our hike I just knew I was about to get pounced the whole time. Just knew it. Anyway, moving on, that had nothing to do with what I wanted to talk about today, but seemed something that should be shared.

One of my good friends recently informed me that more people should draw on SNU's sidewalks with sidewalk chalk. I agree with her... more people should draw flowers and poems on the sidewalks of our college. More people should bake lemon bars to celebrate spring. More people should sew flowers on their jeans with pretty material (I did that today). More people should sing as they walk across campus. More people should wear bright colors. More people should smile. More people should color outside the lines.

There seems to be this understood way of living life. This is what you can wear. This is how you can talk. You can't wear your hair in pigtails without being immature. You can't talk to yourself without being crazy. You can't draw on the sidewalks without being weird. You can't color outside the lines, it just isn't done.

Maybe more people would be happy if they colored outside the lines. Maybe sometimes... the lines are boring. Stay on the page... some boundaries have a purpose. But every once in a while... color outside the lines.

I think I was put here to live my life, to sing at the top of my lungs

To laugh uncontrollably, smile irrepressibly, cry when I want to be hugged.

Perhaps I was put here to color my world with crazy, unorthodox thoughts

To skip when I feel like it, sing if you don't mind it, make sure you know that you're loved.

Sometimes I wonder if earth could be heaven if everyone truly did live

If living is loving and loving is knowing and caring enough to give.

And I think that the sun will always prevail over clouds, and the light over dark

And there is no greater and nobler purpose of being and breathing than this.

Perhaps there is more to living than simply trudging my way through life
Than earning my living and living to earn and hoping to take up time.
Maybe to look up and meet someone's eyes is the most precious instant we have...
And I think I am going to live today... I will color outside the lines.

Snowpocalypse

2011-02-01T20:14:00.000-06:00

Well, I'm a fan of today.
First, I never heard an alarm go off this morning.
Perhaps it did go off, and Morgan turned it off quickly, he's rather skilled at that, but whatever the case, I was not subjected to the indignity of an inanimate object presuming to tell me when to get out of my nice warm bed.

Second, I woke up to a warm house (as Morgan had already lit the fire) and a husband bringing me coffee in bed!!! oh yes, I am spoiled.

Third, I made crescent rolls for breakfast along with bacon and eggs and .... more coffee!

Our friends, Brenden and Sarah, showed up at our door sometime late morning, rather snowy and slightly frozen, as they had walked from school. We then proceeded to spend the rest of the day playing Settlers of Catan (Brenden won), watching a movie, eating lunch (chili, of course. what else do you fix on a snow day???), playing a card game, and watching another movie. We succeeded in spending the whole day being the epitome of laziness in a warm house with the snow blowing by our windows. It was delightful! I recommend it wholeheartedly.

We walked back to school with Brenden and Sarah and then home again. I'm glad we don't live farther from school than we do, because it was rather chilly outside (10 degrees right now, plus wind) but it was fun nonetheless. There was a good couple feet of snow in drifts in some places, and most places have about a foot. I vote snowman tomorrow. Yes? ok, snowman it is.

And to top off this delightful day, class is canceled again tomorrow. And I don't really have any significant amount of homework to do. Yay unexpected free days!

Obviously, school is simply honoring our one-month anniversary. =D
Happy anniversary to me and Morgan! Happy super snuggly snow day!

Oh, Monday...

2011-01-17T14:13:00.000-06:00

So I thought that this Monday would be spared from the normal blah of Monday-ness, being as it is a holiday and all. We had a lovely day planned... up early, eat breakfast, do the books, run to the grocery store, and hopefully have a picnic lunch packed up by 10, so that we could head down to Red Rock Canyon with some friends for a picnic! .... well, that was the plan....

Instead, my dear hubby decided to come down with, not one, but BOTH types of the flue. He says he does not believe in mediocrity. While I, too, normally abhor mediocrity, I informed him that in this case, just a little bit of non-extreme would be just fine. Like, just one flue. That would be fine.

Anyways, so we spent the night not sleeping, and the morning in the doctor's office and came home with a much lighter wallet and a bag full of pills. But they seem so far to be working, as he is finally sleeping now, not being absolutely miserable.

I did make a good discovery this morning as a result of our expedition to find a doctor... there is a Crest nearby! Normally our little latino grocery store does us just fine, but every once in a while there are some things that they just don't carry, and Crest is a lovely alternative, so I was glad to find it.

Well, since I have nothing of extreme excitement to write about today, I may as well attempt a bribe.... Instead of a superbly exciting blog post, would you instead accept a recipe? What's that? You'd love to? Oh, I'm so glad! =D

These sourdough biscuits come from a recipe book in my Mother-In-Laws kitchen, and are wonderful! Easy to make, very simple, light, and fluffy, and very good with lots of butter and some homemade blackberry jam.

Oh look! I'll even give it to you in a pretty page you could print out! Aren't I nice. You should be able to right-click on it and save it or print it. Hooray!

Hope you all have a delightful day.... I have homework to do.... woohoo.

Things I like

2011-01-15T10:52:00.000-06:00

Welcome to the new year....
I do realize that I have been somewhat less than faithful in blogging this past year.... but here is a new year, and new years are times when you get to try again, true? Of course true. So here's to the new year, new starts, and a new try at this whole blogging thing. Maybe now that I'm not trying to juggle a biochem major, planning a wedding, and fixing a house up, I shall have a tad more time. Let's hope so.

I believe I shall begin this new year by talking about the things I like... I enjoy doing that every once in a while, just to remind myself that I like things. =D

I like sun. Most people know this about me. I love sunshine. I love windows that let in sun. I love laying on my back in the grass in the sun. I don't like dark rooms, cloudy days, or anything blocking the sun. Perhaps I am part cat. I do like having my head scratched.....

I like chocolate. Dark chocolate. Do not dilute my chocolate with milk and sweetness. That is mudblood chocolate, half-breed chocolate. I like real, honest-to-goodness, full-blooded, chocolate. Yes, I am occasionally caught eating cocoa powder. It makes you sneeze, don't try it.

I like cooking. Unfortunately, I like the good old-fashioned cooking that uses up a bucket of butter on a pie crust... and makes a pie every other day. This would not be such a problem, except that I also like to eat said cooking. Like to very much, actually. Don't particularly like to stop eating it. And while I do like salad, I certainly don't eat it in the correct proportion to the other things I eat. Like, I may eat two pieces of pie to every leaf of lettuce. Or I would if I had my way. But there is this little voice in my head... I think my mother planted it there (thanks a lot, mom)... it haunts my bites of pie with visions of skinniness... unattainable skinniness... and adds guilt to my pie-eating. So, I eat a celery stick. With lots of ranch dressing.

I like crunchy leaves. During fall, when the sidewalks leading to my house are covered knee-deep in crunchy leafness, I am in heaven. During fall, I generally find leaves in most of my belongings... evidently you don't splash through leaf-piles without acquiring some leaves along the way.

I like pine-scented candles. I am angry at Yankee Candles for making Balsam Fir and Sparkling Pine (my two favorite candles) Christmas-only candles. How dare they??? Why would they limit my candle happiness to one time of year? There is only one solution to this. Stock up. The After-Christmas sale ends Monday. Guess what I'm doing Monday?

Ok, I think that is probably a long enough blog post for today. Thanks for listening.
Take some time today to think about the things you like... and I don't mean trips to Hawaii and that sort of stuff. I mean, the things that you have today that you like. The stuff that makes every day delightful.
It's fun. I promise.

A couple more scrapbook pages

2010-07-26T19:54:00.000-05:00

Digital Scrapbooking

2010-07-19T17:19:00.000-05:00

So I recently re-discovered a hobby that I had messed around with a long time ago: digital scrapbooking.
... Rather than try to explain it, I'll just show you, by uploading some of the pages I've been working on recently. Those reading this on facebook will have to come to the blog to see them, since pictures don't post on facebook.

Random Wednesday Ramblings

2010-07-07T11:54:00.006-05:00

I'm sitting at the dining room table, drinking coffee. It's cool inside here. I'm listening to a new music group one of my best friends told me I should listen to. Clever fellow, Oliver. Knows what music I will like. It's "Sleeping at Last," in case any of you want to check it out. It's not rock of any sort, I assure you... in case you have been scared off by any of my harder music suggestions. =]

The coffee is quite strong. I made it, therefore it is strong. My coffee addiction helps me get up earlier (although it's not really working at this mid-summer point, with the counter-incentive of mono to keep me in bed). Contrary to popular opinion, for me coffee does not get me up by waking me up with caffeine. No, rather, it works because I am so addicted to coffee that I get a headache if I don't have it. And, because my body is used to having it at around 7am, if I sleep later than that, I wake up with a caffeine headache. And that, my dear friends, is how coffee works to get me up. However, as I mentioned earlier, it doesn't work when I have mono. No, I just lay in bed with a headache, but too sleepy to get up. Fun times.

I have a bug bite on my jaw, and another on my hand, and another on my knee. All of them terribly annoying places to have bug bites. BUT we do have lots of blackberry jam to show for the bug bites. How are the two related, you ask? Allow me to enlighten you. Blackberry jam requires blackberries. Blackberries grow on bushes, and must be picked. Picking blackberries from bushes requires close proximity to bushes. Bushes are the home of all sorts of various small biting animals. Hence, we have blackberry jam and bug bites.

I realized the other night how long it's been since I played piano, because I sat down at my keyboard and started in on one of my well-beloved pieces of music, and couldn't play it smoothly. Took me forever to get through it. I was rather disappointed, and vowed then and there to sit down at my keyboard more often.

Which reminds me, I'm taking piano lessons next semester! Those of you who know my attitude towards piano and lessons may be surprised.... I love playing piano. I don't like to be told how. But, I like to get better at playing piano, and I figured the best way to reach that goal would be to go ahead and take lessons. And, my voice lessons haven't been as terrible as I thought they would be, so maybe the piano won't be so bad either. At least it'll give me an excuse to play piano... "I'm doing my homework!" Last semester, piano was a great way to avoid homework.

And on that note, I do believe I shall go play my keyboard. That is, after I upload a couple wallpapers that I made... they are on facebook too. Yeah, I liked them so much that I kinda uploaded them everywhere. =]

Hike

2010-05-28T16:43:00.011-05:00

The summer staff of Golden Bell (where I am working this summer) went on a hike yesterday. I thought I'd share some pictures of the hike.

Explanation of the dot on Morgan's head in these photos: I put a smiley face sticker on his forehead in the morning and he proceeded to wear it all day, to "keep a smile on his face."

Aaron found a hiking stick just his size!

As we got higher there was more and more snow. Dan asked Morgan to make a cap for his head out of snow to keep him cool. Morgan greatly enjoyed his assignment of smashing snow on Dan's head.

Morgan found a snow pile.

And Matt joined him.

There was a lady bug that showed up on my jeans.

David... uh... well... what can I say about this photo?

The hike was absolutely gorgeous, and lots of fun, if slightly exhausting.

Engaged!

2010-05-28T16:05:00.010-05:00

Yes. I'm engaged. I've had so many people ask me to "tell, tell more! tell story!" so I thought I'd put it on my blog (which I was planning to do anyway) so I can just point people here. =]

Ok, so most of you that know me also know that I've been dating Morgan Stephenson:

And most of you also know that this engagement thing has been coming for a while. We were quite serious from the very beginning of our relationship. We have the same calling, are on the same page with God and with life, have the same worldview and just get along in a weirdly amazingly good sort of way.

Everyone wants to know "how he proposed" ... which is a hard sort of question to answer, strangely enough, because the answer begins with a question... "which time?" ... yes, it happened a few times. So here is how that works...

A while back in our relationship it just sort of happened that we started assuming that we were going to get married. Don't ask me how that started or when, but it just was.

Then, this last weekend, we were praying about our relationship, as we do quite a bit, and just working though some stuff together and we both realized that we needed to go ahead and actually make the commitment and get engaged. So, that was, I guess, the first "proposal" which was really just us, in the middle of praying and talking, promising before God that we were going to marry each other. That was in Morgan's little red car, somewhere in Kansas on our way to Golden Bell.

The next day, we went to REI in Denver (a big outdoor equipment store) and Morgan bought some blue cord. Back in his car, outside of REI, he officially asked me to marry him (I said yes) and put a piece of the cord around each of our ankles as our engagement bands. Those of you who know us will probably not be surprised at our rather unconventional engagement bands. =]

Well, Morgan is an incurable romantic and wasn't quite satisfied with that proposal. Back here at Golden Bell camp, we were talking a walk last night. It was gorgeous, there was a full moon, with just enough clouds in the sky to make it beautiful but not enough to obscure the amazing stars. Pike's Peak was glowing with snow in the moonlight. Morgan suddenly stopped on the path. I stopped with him, wondering what on earth he was doing. He knelt down and asked me once more if I would marry him. I said yes. =]

He was satisfied with that one, I think. =D

So yes. I'm engaged to one Morgan Stephenson, and I am quite happy about this fact.

Drop curtain.

Pan Pipes

2010-05-24T23:13:00.008-05:00

So for my physics of music class, I had to make some kind of musical instrument. .... well, get three homeschoolers (me, Morgan, his brother Nathaniel) and a homeschool mom (their mom, Aunt Rene') together and give them a project like that and you can get quite creative! We decided to make a pan flute out of
1. test tubes
2. colored water
3. wax
4. hot glue
5. a glass rod

It turned out rather awesome, if I do say so myself. We put colored water into the test tubes to create the different notes, and then poured hot wax on top of the water and allowed it to cool, sealing in the water. We then hot glued the tubes together, and a glass rod across them for stability. It was really hard to hit the highest couple notes, but it all worked!

School Prayers

2010-05-06T08:50:00.003-05:00

Well, in the middle of finals... and I realized something new yesterday. I don't like to pray about school. I realized that yesterday evening, and I immediately began wondering why. I mean, I pray about everything! God is my best friend, I talk to Him all the time. Why don't I like to pray about the thing that takes up most of my life energy right now?

I think that what it is is that I somehow feel like school is my responsibility. If I just put enough work into it, I'll get fine grades. If my grades aren't the best, well then it's just because I haven't put enough work into it. And praying about it just feels like I'm telling God that I really don't want to put the work into school, so can He please bail me out? Hm. Interesting thought.

...I really have nothing more to say, that was just my thought of the day. =]
What was that? You want a picture?
Oh, fine, if you insist.... =]

Random Thoughts on a Rainy Saturday

2010-05-01T12:11:00.003-05:00

It's raining outside. There's a bird chirping damply away somewhere over to the left, outside the front door. I slept in till 10:30 this morning... wow... when did I get to where I could sleep that late? I never used to sleep in past 8. Not even on saturdays. Not even on rainy, sleepy saturdays like today. Then again, I also never used to stay up past 10. Not even on the friday nights before rainy, sleepy saturdays. Ah the days when I got 8-10 hours of sleep a night. Now I'm lucky if I get 6. Sigh.

School is coming down to that last week-and-a-half. The week and a half when the world disappears in a fog of studying with the dark, indistinct forms of tests looming every which way. I'm telling you, every time I turn around, there is another test leering in my face. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, next Monday, next Wednesday, all of them major tests. The kind you study weeks for. My backpack is surely going to tear apart from all the books I have in it right now. My shoulders will certainly never be the same again. I'm quite sure I'm a couple inches shorter now than at the beginning of this semester, from that backpack. That would explain the freshman chub... I'm just shorter, so the weight has been squished to my middle. Of course.

Our pet betta fish, Peeves, died Thursday. He lived a brave, fishy life in a girls dorm, in a little bowl with pebbles on the bottom, for a year, did our Pet Peeves. What happened was, we kept forgetting to feed him. I thought Dena was feeding him, she thought I was feeding him, and between the two of our forgettings, Peeves sat hungrily looking out at his dormish world from his bowl with pebbles. He got fed every few days, never fear. But as school got more hectic toward the end of this semester, we got more and more forgetful and Peeves got hungrier. Finally he got so hungry that he was just floating around rather listlessly, which brought to our attention the fact that we had been neglecting his feeding. Well I then took upon myself the job of feeding Poor Peeves, since Dena had not been doing so as I had thought. The problem was, Dena did the same thing... so now we were both feeding Peeves. Delighted with the copious amounts of nourishment being dumped into his tiny watery world (with pebbles on the bottom), Peeves ate.. and ate... and ate... and, well... we THINK that may be why he died. Such is the life of a betta fish in our dorm room (in a bowl with pebbles). But hey, we did keep him alive for almost a whole school year. We are kinda proud of ourselves. May our Pet Peeves rest in peace.

Well, I probably should return to working chemistry problems from my long, long list of practice problems. How do you find the wavelength in nm of gamma rays whose energy is 1.50MeV? ... uh... yes?

So I shall leave you with one of my latest pictures, since some of you aren't on facebook and can't see my photo album. This would be me and Morgan. For those of you who don't know who Morgan is, he is my boyfriend and you should talk to me more often. =]

Marshmallow Chase

2010-04-26T15:29:00.005-05:00

My roommate and I were driving down the highway this afternoon, on our way to diligently spend our afternoon in increasing our GPAs by the intense acquisition of knowledge otherwise known as "cramming."

Dena: "Marshmallow."
Self (intelligently): "huh?"
Dena (condescendingly, patiently): "That car looks like a marshmallow."
Self (in a moment of understanding): "Oh! Ha it does. It looks like a small squishy marshmallow. And that squarish one behind it looks like a square marshmallow. The small squishy one must be the girl, and the squarish one must be the guy."
Dena: "Yeah. And the squishy one is trying to get away from the guy. He's chasing her. He's an abusive boyfriend and she's trying to run away from him."
Self: "Go, Squishy, go! He's after you!"
Dena: "She tried to get away on that off ramp, but at the last minute he swerved into it and followed her."
Self: "And now she's trapped off the highway."
Dena: "And she's coming up to a stop sign and she doesn't know what to do. She fakes right, then goes left."
Self: "And he believed it and is turning right. Way to go Squishy!"
Dena: "Good luck, little squishy marshmallow car!"
(mutual cheer for Squishy)

Ah the joys of life made interesting.... =D

More cool pictures...

2010-04-16T17:29:00.003-05:00

Hibiscus

2010-04-14T16:26:00.006-05:00

Messing around with some of my photos today... thought this one turned out rather cool.

A Thought

2010-04-12T16:42:00.002-05:00

I haven't posted on my blog in forever... I don't particularly know why. I think my life just got so crazy... I was struggling just to keep my head above water for so long that I didn't have time to think about blogging. BUT my life is a bit more under control now... Maybe because I figured out that I don't have to be the one controlling it =]

I've learned so many lessons about peace and joy and trust... about love, about living in Abba's hand.

And I hope to continue learning the lessons I've started to learn.

I've learned about being still, and knowing He is God... That's tough for me, because I like to be in control and to Fix things.

I've learned about trust, and knowing He is Good... another hard one because I like to figure things out myself and make things turn out ok.

I've learned about following Him, not others... that sounds easy, but is difficult to see at times. I am not living for others. I am living to respond to Abba and to show His love to others. Whether they choose to respond to Abba is between them and Him... I can't live to make sure they respond. If I do, I will lose myself in the process of trying to make them be something they aren't and don't want to be.

I've learned that I am not invincible... sounds obvious, but for some reason I had this vague notion that I, Danielle Schmelzenbach, was impervious to all the problems of the Little People. =]

I've learned that I am not perfect... another seemingly obvious, I think I just needed it strongly proven to me. =]

I've learned that I am perfect... uh, wait a minute, Danielle, you just said... yeah I know what I just said. Roll with me here. I've learned that I am most certainly not perfect. I've also learned that I am being perfected by my Abba and although I am most certainly human, the journey I am on is a perfect one, one that ends in and leads through holiness and Abba.

I've learned about breathing... stopping, letting go for a while, and just breathing. Not needing to constantly figure everything out. Not needing to constantly fix everything and everyone. Not needing to fight for my life. But just breathing.

I've learned a lot more, but that's enough for now. Hopefully I can start posting a bit more often. =]

Firsts...

2009-12-18T05:43:00.003-06:00

Well, hello, blog, I haven't been to you in a while.
So I'm heading home for Christmas, with a whole pile of "firsts" out of the way now. What firsts, you say? well...

My first time in a classroom (yes, I was homeschool K-12)
My first lab class
My first time living away from home
My first new country without my family
My first dorm room
My first roommate (yeah she's pretty awesome)
My first boyfriend
My first breakup
My first time ice skating (yes I looked like an idiot and enjoyed every minute of it)
My first time playing Halo =]
My first time playing guitar hero (ok, so it helps if you know the songs before you start singing)
My first awesome prof
My first terribly annoying prof
My first voice juries... bleh
My first time eating... whatever that stuff was at the cafeteria. Pretty sure I've never seen it's equal before anywhere on earth.
...well, and many more.

I'd say this has been a rather amazing first semester at college, I've learned a lot... most of it not in the classroom. I'm very ready to go home, but I'm aware that I'll be very ready to come back and hit the ground running next semester as well. I didn't fail my first semester of classes... I don't think... but then again, I don't have my final chemistry grade yet, do I.
We'll call this semester a good first try. ... now for my first visit home for Christmas!

Things I'm Thankful For

2009-11-26T11:12:00.002-06:00

Too many things to list them all... so we'll just go with 10 random things.

1. I'm thankful for mom and dad, whose wisdom I appreciate more every day.

2. My friends who care about me and don't care when I don't know what's going on as I adjust to life in the states.

3. My awesome boyfriend, who not only puts up with my craziness, but matches it with his own.

4.My family here in the states who make sure that I don't have any excuse to feel lonely or not-cared for.

5. Cuddly dogs, such as Harry the Shi Tsu and Ozzie the Schnauzer.

6. Pecan pie and ice cream

7. coffee!

8. 80% cocoa dark chocolate

9. Random trips to a restaurant with Bree (my neighbor) when we get tired of sedexo (the school cafeteria)

10. All the myriad of things that God has given me that make my life amazing.

the end.

My Favorite Things

2009-10-28T18:09:00.004-05:00

These are things that make me happy...

Quietly reading a good book in the same room as good friends.
Eating a small piece of 80% cocoa chocolate very very slowly.
Walking in warm sunshine when the sun in just about to start setting.
Listening to music turned up too loudly.
Drinking a cup of very strong coffee.
Hugging a friend very tightly.
Laughing till it hurts.
Being tickled while I scream at the top of my lungs.
Feeling my phone buzz with a text message.
Playing the piano fast and loudly until I can't hear anything else and I can feel the music vibrating the whole room.
Falling asleep slowly under a warm blanket.
Hearing my neighbor scream my name from the other side of the hall.
Waking up and realizing I don't have to get up.
Taking a really long really hot shower.
The alternating hot-cold breeze that smells like sea salt that comes off a tropical beach.
Drinking a fresh green coconut.
Innertubing down the river behind Kudjip mission station.
Stepping on a dry acorn.
Watching a friend's face light up in laughter.
Speaking in a random language with someone who understands.
Drinking hot apple cider.
Telling someone exactly why I like them.
Being told exactly why someone likes me.
Singing at the top of my lungs.
Standing at the top of an Oregon cliff and looking out at the Northwest Pacific coast.
Having a completely random conversation that makes absolutely no sense to anyone but to those of use having it, while laughing so hard I can barely breathe.

Well, that's enough for now. Maybe I'll write more of these later. The song is right... it does make me feel happy to think of my favorite things!!! =]

wowww, this blog has been dead for a while

2009-09-09T23:21:00.002-05:00

Ok. wow. where to start?

it's been a few months since I posted, it seems. So I shall just make a vain attempt to catch everyone back up on my life with a bunch of random facts about my current state of being.

-I have moved to america. I am now living in Bethany, Oklahoma
-I have started college at Southern Nazarene University
-I am now the proud owner of one little macbook
-I still have my same job (web coding)
-I am loving my life at the moment.

That's really about all for this blog post. Certainly not all that's going on in my life, but whatever. All we can fit in for now. And maybe I'll be better in the future about posting on here. But no promises, most assuredly we are making no promises.

Update on the Whirlwind Masquarading as My Life

2009-07-17T10:28:00.002-05:00

wow, has it really been a month since I last posted on here?! good grief. I hang my head in shame. Well.... not really, I have absolutely heaps of legitimate excuses, but I won't bore you with them.

We have now traveled across the states... and I'm serious, we have traveled ACROSS the states. We landed in Seattle, WA, and drove to Orlando, FL via Los Angeles, CA and Bonita Park, NM. In Orlando, we attened the General Assembly of the Church of the Nazarene (which we are missionaries with). What an amazing Assembly! There is just something about tens of thousands of on-fire christians from around the world worshipping together. I also got to see a bunch of the other missionary kids who are normally evenly spread across the face of earth, so that was cool. MKs are pretty awesome people, I'll have you know.

After General Assembly and spending time with the Grandparents and their church, we drove up to Michigan for their NMI Convention... which is the missions meetings of our church, for you non-Nazarenes reading this. Then down to South West Ohio for that NMI convention. Some pretty amazing folks in all of those places, let me tell you. Hard to be cynical about the church after spending time with those kinds of people.

The things I am very muchly looking forward to now are Missionary Kid retreat at the end of this month (dances little happy dance of excitement); Family Camp after that back at my "home"... haha, yeah, I did live in one place in america, at least for seven years, believe it or not; and the start of school. I'm enrolled in pre-med classes for the first semester and can't wait to get started!

plus, at school, I will finally get a computer! Oh the joy! happiness! but until then, my loyal blog readers who are still checking this blog after a few forevers of inactivity... there will very likely be even more of that same level of activity.

And on that uplifting note... it's time to hit the road again.

Rubbish bin, pram, trolley, boot,

2009-06-14T12:02:00.001-05:00

rubbish bin, pram, trolley, boot.... excuse me, I must use up these words before I have to start communicating with Americans so that they don't sneak out accidentally... rubbish bin, pram, trolley.....

Yes, I am still alive, surprise surprise. And life has not been devoid of happenings for the last few weeks... on the contrary, it has been a bit overloaded with happenings and that is part of the reason that I have been somewhat absent from cyberspace. The other part of the reason is that I am now stranded in the US of A with no computer... that's right, no computer. Danielle without a computer. See, I knew this was going to happen. I could see it coming. I am GOING to get a computer. It just has a date attached to it... the day I start university in a few weeks. See, at the uni I am attending, a laptop is included with tuition. So that's taken care of. But there is this GAP between the time of LEAVING the computer in Papua New Guinea and the time of GETTING the computer at school. Hence, Danielle Without Computer. Ah well. Probably good for me, actually.

So. What has happened in the last few weeks? Well, I can't upload pictures (since I'm using someone else's computer) but I can tell you in a short sort of manner:

1. I graduated from highschool.
2. Graduation party at Kudjip, which was awesome.
3. Left Kudjip on our way to the States
4. Stopped over in Fiji to get some essential work done. 48 hours in the country I grew up in... pretty good, I'd say.
5. Flew to Washington to some friends' house (hi Uncle Tim and Aunt Karla!)
6. Graduation party here, too... haha, such fun. and I did get pics, they just will probably have about a 2-month delay before they make it online.
7. Got in the car and headed out on the beautiful freeways of America headed for Orlando, FL... we will get there in time for the General Assembly of our church.

So. my life over the last little bit in a nutshell. *deep breath*
You can't accuse me of having a boring life.

Graduating...

2009-05-30T16:48:00.003-05:00

Well, evidently I graduated... although for a homeschooler it's a bit hard to pinpoint the graduation because we kind of... ease out of school. There's always something else to learn, another book to read, etc, etc. But I have enough credits, and I start college this fall... so I'm graduating. Here is the email that my family sent out:
--------------------------------------
Dear Family and Friends,
We did it! We're graduating!
Well...Danielle is graduating!
Our homeschooling journey together from kindergarten to
12th grade has worked!Danielle will be starting at Southern Nazarene
University in Oklahoma City this fall.

Though we are not looking forward to the goodbyes, we are overwhelmed with God's faithfulness and
blessings over our last 18 years with Danielle. She is certainly one
of God's good gifts to us!

We've attached her graduation announcement
and invitation to her celebration. If you don't happen to be in the
highlands of Papua New Guinea on May 31, we'll miss you, but you're
off the hook! For those of you who would like to keep up with the next
chapter of her life, she has a blog and would invite youto follow it:
http://lifebydanielle.blogspot.com.Also, here is the link to her
Senior Photo Album:
http://picasaweb.google.com/mk.danielle/SeniorPictures
Thanks for rejoicing with us,Harmon, Cindy and Quinton Schmelzenbach
-----------------------------------------------------------

Now, you guys obviously already know about the blog =]... and here is a link to the
"attached" graduation announcement and invitation.

Coffee Plantation

2009-05-29T18:21:00.004-05:00

On Thursday, we visited a nearby coffee plantation. We found out how coffee gets from cherries to roasted awesomness. Even Starbucks buys from this coffee plantation!

What I was really wishing I could get a picture of was the smell of the roasting room!!!

Sunday

2009-05-25T17:11:00.006-05:00

We went to church with the Dooleys and Katie.
The church was about a 40 minute hike away from the station.

After church, we taught Red Rover to a bunch of the kids and women.

And on the way back from church, we stopped by a waterfall for lunch.

Girls' Night

2009-05-25T16:21:00.005-05:00

Saturday night, Dr. Steph invited all the single ladies over to her house to make pretzels, eat brownies, and play some fun games.

We had a great time, playing Spoons, Pit, and Clay Mania. The most impressing accomplishment of the evening was when, during Clay Mania, Katie sculpted an "abyss"... and Becky guessed it!

What Happened in the Gotcha Game

2009-05-22T17:41:00.002-05:00

Well, I was out of the game within 14 hours, but I couldn't blog about it because you are not allowed to talk about it until the game is over. I did make a valiant effort, though...

I got up early the first morning, and got back from the workout room before the rest of my family was even up (this was to avoid the other members of my family outside, as I didn't know if they had my name).
I then journeyed down to the other end of the station to take up my post awaiting my target: Uncle Scott Dooley. I knew he had to walk by the mail room on his way to work.

As I waited, however, I found myself being shadowed by a sinister character in the form of Jessica Myers. Evaluating the situation, I decided that she must be after me. I was right... but my weapon (a squirt bottle) was more powerful than hers (a water gun)... so I assassinated my assassin and so survived. I then huddled down to wait... and wait... and those of you who know me know that waiting is a very hard for me.

Finally, after about half an hour, here came Uncle Scott. I was hidden quietly on the other side of the mail room, where he would have to pass me before he could see me; in which time I was hoping to get him. His footsteps approached. I was very quiet. He was almost here....
Suddenly, just before he came around the corner, a PNG lady walked briskly past me, saw me, and called out a friendly "GOOD MORNING!!!"
While hearing the steps of my target halt and hurry away, having been so warned that someone was waiting there, I kept my Christian spirit and responded with a cheery, though somewhat strained "good morning."

Uncle Scott scurried around the other side of the mail room, and with HIS superior weapon (an irrigation syringe), got me before I could react in kind. Gotten. *sigh*
And so early in the morning, too.

Ah well... it was great fun. There are many stories about tricks that have been used in this game... like the one where Aunt Judy Bennett dressed up as a local lady selling carrots by the road, hired a little PNG boy to sit beside her, and waited for her target to walk unsuspectingly by. Or the one where Tim Radcliffe climbed over the roof of the building Aunt Gail was hiding behind to get her.

The winner of this game was Uncle Scott Dooley, who survived longer than anyone else (which makes me feel a bit better about being got by him... at least I wasn't killed by an amateur!) Congratulations, Uncle Scott! But watch out...I have learned many lessons... next time I shall be a more experienced, more dangerous opponent!

OceaniaNazarene

2009-05-21T00:58:00.000-05:00

I keep saying that I work as a webmaster, but I don't think that I usually offer much proof
(other than complaining about the hardships of dealing with computers). Well, here is proof.
I just finished a website that I've been working on for a month or so: http://oceanianazarene.org

Let me assure you, it is no small feat to get a website live from my little part of the world!

Self presses the upload button.

The Dear Dell gives me a blank look, like it's never heard the word "upload" before.

Self patiently explains to Dear Dell exactly what is meant by "upload."

Dear Dell clearly explains that the blank look signified not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack of willingness,
and that unless I greatly increase its pay, it is not planning on complying.

Self calmly informs Dear Dell that what we are talking about is not an increase in pay, but the slight chance that if
it obeys it will emerge from this session alive.

Dear Dell jumps guiltily and begins uploading.
Dear Dell stops uploading, and my program dies in a fit of convulsions.

Self raises eyebrows.

Dear Dell quickly begins feeding Self a great number of faulty excuses about it being the fault of the internet.

Self raises eyebrows further.

Dear Dell whines pitifully, asking how Self could possible expect good performance from Dell while providing it with such
internet and power.

Self raises eyebrows further (forehead is beginning to hurt by now).

Dear Dell reluctantly begins its task again.
Dear Dell flickers; becomes unresponsive.

Self coughs in an expectant manner.

Dell is comatose.

Self searches for cause of phenomenon.
Some investigation reveals that the power is out... again.
Self sighs in a manner revealing great internal desire to throw something.

Power flickers back on.

Self patiently re-starts Dell, re-explains task, and re-begins upload.

Dell flickers; sticks out its tongue, throws a tantrum, murders all essential programs, and sits in front
of Self asking what Self is going to do about it.

.......... need I continue?

Anyway, minor and major setbacks for the most part taken care of, the website has been launched. *deep sigh of relief*

Let the Gotcha Game Begin

2009-05-18T03:18:00.003-05:00

The game of Gotcha is... well, we'll let the rules speak for themselves. Here they are, as emailed to the Inhabitants of Kudjip (also known as Kudjipites):

This is an open invitation for kids and adults to play GOTCHA. We will start next week after everyone has a chance to respond. Respond as soon as possible – you will receive your assignment Sunday night

It is basically a game of assassinations (OK Joe, Ethan and Quinton stop drooling). Each player receives an envelope with the name of the person they are to “get”. You “get” someone by splashing them with water (water gun, cup of water, water balloon, etc). If you succeed in “getting” someone then they are out and you take the card of the person they were to get as your next assignment. It is set up in a circle so eventually two people will be after each other for the sole title of Gotcha Champion.

Here are the rules:

1. Water from some container that you are holding with your hand (you can’t just spit on someone or splash a puddle).

2. Out doors only. Anything in doors is out of bounds – homes, church, hospital, cars, etc… You can not attack from inside a building or covered area or vehicle or be attacked in any of those places (this includes basically anything with a roof – no porches either – hospital or home). This rule was just to keep you from getting attacked at the second you open your door, not to let you run next to any building for a time out. So to clarify this rule does not include awnings or where a roof is overhanging – it must be an obvious covered area (ie a porch leading inside a building).

3. The starting time will be Monday May 18th (as in 12:01 a.m.) unless announced otherwise. Ending with one winner (when you end up with your own name you win). This is for before/after school or work (so as to not disrupt PE, recess games, work, home, etc…). The exception is that you are fair game if you go home for lunch - your walk is not at any of those places and not disrupting anything.

4. Once you are out of the game you can not share information with anyone about who your target was or who got you with any other players (remember you are dead, or at least “got”). This is only fair for other players. Just say you are out and tell the stories later.

5. If you see someone is attempting to get you then you can get them first (obviously you won’t take their card since their card has your name). Basically getting your would-be assassin buys you some time – until the person who has their name takes them out and gets your name for a new assignment!

a. If you are attempting to get someone and they take you out first then you are out. After this, basically you are just waiting for someone to come get you wet for nothing – sorry you can only die once, either being “got” by an assassin or botching your attempts to get someone else.

b. Only one person is “got” in an encounter since you can’t take each other’s cards. First person hit is out even if you both end up wet.

c. You can not just go around “getting” anyone you see in case they might have your name. Play fair or it’s 40 lashes with a wet noodle. You can only “get” your target or someone you really think is a would-be-assassin. Truly the game works best where you don’t know who all the players are so it keeps you from just splashing everyone “just in case”. That is no fun, so again play fair.

6. A few suggestions for the players:

a. Be armed at all times outside – it is amazing how well people will find out your schedule.

b. Trust no one (especially don’t let anyone else know who your target is, as the circle gets smaller giving away information can be very detrimental that is why you can’t talk when you are dead.)

c. Don’t act too suspicious or your target may get wise and “get” you first.

d. Have fun!!!

OK – here are answers to common questions before we start (to clarify the rules below).

1. Yes, a water balloon is a container in your hand.

2. A rain-coat, poncho, etc… is not like a Kevlar (bullet-proof) jacket. Whatever you are wearing is part of you and can be hit – there is no protective clothing that can protect you.

3. Can you deflect water with an umbrella or something else? Yes but if any of the water hits you then you are out.

4. Any time that you can not be attacked then you also can not attack someone else. In other words if you are at work or school (and therefore could not be attacked) you also can not see someone walking by and run by and attack them. The purpose of the rule is to not disrupt work by being attacked or attacking. Again this is for “before/after school or work (so as to not disrupt PE, recess games, work, home, etc…).”

5. There is no way to quantify how much water it takes to “get someone” so whether they soak you or just get you with a water gun – they beat you to the draw and you are out. Play fair – if they get you, they get you – don’t bicker about how many drops it was.

...and there you have it. Gotcha.
The game lasts several days... or weeks... depending on the skill and luck of the players. The players are the Kudjipites who have submitted their willingness to participate. But... the submissions were done secretly... so no-one knows who's in or out! This could be a very interesting next couple weeks.
Let the Gotcha Game begin!

The Kid with the Syringe

2009-05-16T20:27:00.001-05:00

I walked into the Operating Theatre this week, in my usual, unsuspecting way. I crossed the entryway, took off my sandals, and began to put on my "inside shoes," the crocs that I wear in surgery. Now, the inside shoes are lined up against a wall, which is across from the trolleys where patients patiently await or recover from surgery. So, as I put on my shoes, I was facing away from said trolleys. I heard whispering behind me, but thought nothing of it until I was suddenly wet... like I'd been shot with a water gun. At the same moment, I heard giggling. I decided to investigate. Turning around, I saw a little kid sitting on one of the trolleys. He had on a poofy surgery cap, and had a bowl of water and a large syringe, with which he was happily dousing poor unsuspecting souls such as myself, with the gleeful help of Gail Dooley. He was our next patient and had become bored with the long wait, so Gail had provided him with amusement. Well, after giving me a free shower, the kid couldn't refuse to let me take a picture of him, could he?

Spirit Week End

2009-05-14T16:37:00.003-05:00

We had a great Spirit Week... lots of fun and goofing off! ... which, incidentally, the MKs here are quite good at. We finished off the week with an evening of fun, games, and sugar.

Each day of the week, we decided who had the best costume, and then on this last evening, the winner from each day came in their winning costume.
Cilla was Military,
Jo was Cinco De Mayo,
Jessica was Mismatch,
Quinton (my brother) was Nerd (can we have a round of applause for Quinton?)

And I was Mafia.

We performed a special song for the gathering of missionaries that came to our final evening. If you have ever heard the VeggieTales "Pirates Who Don't Do Anything," then you will know what tune to put this lovely song to:

The Highschoolers Who Don't Do Anything

We are the highschoolers who don't do anything
we just stay at school and lie around
and if you ask us to do anything
we'll just tell you, we don't do anything...

(nerd)
well, I've never aced PE, and I'm not too good at football,
and I've never left my homework on my locker shelf at school
(military)
and I've never run through hallways and I've never been suspended,
and I've never been to prom in the spring!

(cinco de mayo)
well, I've never gotten swirly-ed and I've never had detention
and I've never gotten beat up by a big tall senior guy
(mafia)
and I've never lost my hall pass, my lunch money's never stolen
and I've never been to prom in the spring!

(mismatch)
Well I fast-forward my teacher, and play ping-pong over Dickens,
and I let myself in with my own set of keys
and I'm always top of class, and I bring to school my coffee....
and I've never been to prom in the spring!

Now, I must explain the last verse a bit...
1. a couple kids use ABeka videos for some classes, and they do on occasion fast-forward the dvds. Not that I am guilty of ever EVER doing that. *non-guilty face*

2. We play ping-pong on a regular table, with our Dickens collection stood up across the middle for a net.

3. several of us do have keys to the schoolroom

4. of course each is top of class, because they are the only ones IN class... we are in all different grades.

5. And yes, we do bring coffee or tea to school. On occasion. Hey, it's basically a supervised homeschool...

After our song, we played a game of Geography Bowl. Parents against non-Parents. It was a lively game, lots of fun, much enhanced by the entrance of a large, unsuspecting cicada which we promply evicted, and greatly livened by the electricity which kept going on and off.

Non-parents won, not that that particular fact is important.
We had a great Spirit Week, a great finishing evening, and lots of fun! Thanks to Katie, the teacher, who made it a wonderful time.

Nerd Day Picture!

2009-05-13T21:32:00.002-05:00

Well, here is a picture from Nerd Day, courtesy of Becky, who, by the way, made a great Nerd!

And She Got Bored Again

2009-05-08T22:39:00.002-05:00

For those of you who don't know me personally, let me tell you something about myself.
I get bored very easily. And I hate to be bored. It's like... my biggest fear.

Soooo, perhaps that explains why once more I became tired of my blog's colours and header, and so changed them! Enjoy.

Mismatch Friday

2009-05-07T23:55:00.003-05:00

Today was "Mismatch Day"...

Mafia Thursday

2009-05-07T18:05:00.005-05:00

Thursday was Mafia Day, as you can no doubt see.
By the way, I love Jo's shirt... the one that says "Loser"... I want one like it. The back says "He who saves his life shall lose it and he who loses his life for my sake shall gain it"... or something like that.

Nerdy Wednesday

2009-05-06T17:14:00.002-05:00

Wednesday was Nerd Day, and there were some awesome outfits... but when I got to the school, I realized that I had left my camera card back in the computer... and there was no time to run back and get it and get back to the school, because I had to be at the office for work in about 5 minutes.... *sigh*
Soooo, the Nerd Day Post Pictures will have to wait until Cilla, Katie, and Becky email them to me. Patience. They shall come eventually.

Cinco De Mayo

2009-05-05T02:33:00.003-05:00

For those who read my blog and are non-americans or Mexicans and don't know what Cinco De Mayo is, it is a Mexican holiday celebrated by Americans... get that... to celebrate... wait, I know this... a Mexican victory. Of some kind. I'm sorry, my history is rusty. Anyway, it's today, so that was today's Spirit Week theme. Same people as yesterday here....

And we have a couple new faces too.
First, Dr. Becky Wallace, whom I roomed with for a couple weeks while my parents were in Singapore. (she blogged about that here) We had a great time together, she's awesome!

And Wiley Riggins, who has shown up on earlier blogs.

Spirit Week - Military Monday

2009-05-03T22:29:00.004-05:00

This week is "Spirit Week" at the MK schools. For the high school, today was Military Monday. We all wore our best military uniforms.

Here we all are: Quinton, Jo, Jessica, Cilla, Me, Katie

And now we have...

Commander Quinton

Lieutenant Josiah

Jessica the Marine

Sergeant Cilla

Officer Danielle

And, of course, the teacher: General Katie

Our activity for the afternoon was Boot Camp... a very dizzy relay race, which included spinning

running

push-up-ing

wheelbarrowing

And some falling

and goofing.

My Quilt

2009-05-03T17:44:00.003-05:00

Danielle made a quilt! Yes, she did... and I know that at this point my best friends are sitting there shaking their heads in disbelief (yes, Calli, I see you) that Danielle could stick with something for long enough to complete it... especially something as sit-down-and-slowly-sew-it as a quilt... but my selfish motives were enough to keep me going, and with the help of Aunt Gail Dooley, I made the quilt.

Here is Aunt Gail:

Here's what the material looked like at first:

And here's what it looks like now!

I did get more pictures of the process, they are in my picasa album... there are some in the April album and some in the May... sorry 'bout that. :)

Suicide Rocks

2009-05-01T18:00:00.002-05:00

Suicide Rocks is a place a ways up the river that runs just below the mission station. To float down this river is a pretty fun Hot Afternoon Activity.

You hike about 20 minutes up the river, carrying the Floatation Devices that you will use coming down the river.

Uncle Jim kindly carries the big one... yes, he's under there...

You arrive at Suicide Rocks, jump in, and start organizing Who will float on What.

Your legs go numb, because the water is so cold, but the part of you that is out of the water is hot because this is a bright sunny day on a tropical island. So on average, you are the perfect temperature.

When everyone is organized, you lift up your feet and begin bouncing down the river... this is a long process of learning exactly how high to lift your feet so that they do not explore the river bottom forcefully (very high), how far back to lean in the tube so that you are not catapulted forward out of the tube onto the rocks (very far) and how not to bounce off of rocks so that you continue mostly to be on top of the tube rather than beneath it (beneath is bad).

You also learn that you do not stop by grabbing things on the side, as that will indeed stop you but not the tube which you were on top of a moment ago but which is now merrily shooting downstream at a rapid pace.

A valuable lesson is that of how not to sit upright in the tube with bits and pieces of yourself dangling beneath as fair game for every pebble on the river bed.

Altogether, I learned quite a bit yesterday. And had lots of screaming, laughing fun into the bargain!

A Cassowary and a CusCus

2009-05-01T17:33:00.003-05:00

The other day, I went with Ben and Katherine over to the house of one of the nurses; so that she could show us her cassowary.
I'm telling you, this thing was one impressive bird. It looks like some leftover dinosaur that forgot to go extinct. And they're BIG, too... this one was almost 6 feet tall. My camera was, I found out, on the wrong setting for most of the time, so I got lots of fuzzy photos, but I did get a couple clearish ones as well...

This is the nurse beside her house.

Here is the cassowary.

And HERE is a little bonus... a cuscus. They are supposed to be of the possum family, but they look kind of like a dreamsicle-coloured bushbaby. (You do know what a bushbaby is, don't you? The african animal that looks like it drinks too much coffee?)

Sunday Night Campfire

2009-04-26T17:20:00.003-05:00

Last night, we had a campfire... several of the missionary families headed up there; we roasted marshmallows, made smores, and had a wonderful time of singing, sharing, and prayer. What a great way to finish up a Sunday!

The Ice Cream Shop

2009-04-26T17:05:00.003-05:00

The Radcliffe children have opened an Ice Cream Shop, open on Sunday Afternoons with homemade ice cream...
They have done quite brisk business, had many suggestions for new flavours, and if they closed the shop now there would be weeping and gnashing of teeth on Kudjip Mission Station.

by the way, the "2K" on that sign stands for "2 kina" ... kina being the currency here in PNG.

When I went there yesterday to... uh... do my part in the support of MKs at business ventures... I saw Aden and Wiley Riggins with these shirts on, and I had to take pictures...

Highschoolers Movie Night

2009-04-25T17:20:00.003-05:00

Katie, the teacher for the MK highschool, put together a movie night for the highschoolers... we watched Evan Almighty, which is a quite hilarious movie... and that was the choice because the guys voted against Enchanted. Imagine that.

Becky Wallace, a volunteer doctor here, hosted the activity. So by 7:00PM Becky's house was full of highschoolers. We had popcorn and cookies... and Gail Dooley provided cute little popcorn boxes.
Katie declared that there would not be caffeine-laden drinks (coke) provided, but if the kids' parents were ok with them coming home wired, then they could bring their own coke.

Here are the inhabitants of the MK highschool:
(left to right)
Quinton, myself, Cilla Radcliffe, Jo Radcliffe, Katie Conner (the teacher), and Jessica Myers.

It was awesome fun, lots of laughter, plenty of sugar, and great friends. We have to do this again sometime!

Scrubbing In

2009-04-21T18:11:00.005-05:00

Yes, my hands were actually clean yesterday. Each finger, scrubbed 5 times on each side... that's a total of 20 scrubs on each finger, making for a total of 100 scrubs on the fingers, if you are counting, plus 5 times on the front of the hand plus 5 times on the back of the hand (we're at 110), plus up the arm to the elbow a few times, making for a grand total of about 150 scrubs. That's why it's called scrubbing in, I suppose....

Then, if you touch anything... anything at all... even a little bump... you must start the whole thing over again. Fortunately I didn't touch anything.

Yes, I passed Auntie Margaret's test and can now name each instrument for minor surgery... I wonder how I could get my last name applied to a forceps? It's about as long as the names they have now...

And, Auntie Margaret let me scrub in to help with a fairly simple surgery. She's at the right side of the picture, halfway out. The surgeons there are Dr. Jim Radcliffe (at the left) and his son Ben (at the right).

Also I thought I'd share this little thought from the Operating Theatre... when you don't have a bread knife... you can always use a scalpel for the OT staff tea. Auntie Margaret assured me that it was a new scalpel.

Oh wow! the internet is still there!

2009-04-19T20:26:00.005-05:00

I was sort of wondering... after all, I hadn't been on for... a while.

I finally got back online, after a couple weeks of traveling, and peeked at my inbox. Gulp.

But here I am back again, at.... uh... home. Kudjip-home, that is. And I'm settling back into life in the highlands of PNG.

Other than the fact that I'm back, there's not much more to say (but don't worry, I'll find something anyway)... just everyday life on the Kudjip Nazarene Mission Station....

I went into the Operating Theatre for a couple hours Thursday morning, watched a couple surgeries. I asked Auntie Margaret (the awesomest scrub nurse ever) if she would help me learn the names of some of the equipment and tools and things... and trust me, there's a lot of complicated-looking stuff in there. She lent me a big blue book "Auntie Margaret's Operating Theatre Procedure Manual" which I am now studying. I have a strong suspicion that I shall have a test tomorrow, on surgery day.

And, I made candied peanuts this morning from some peanuts the Myers gave us... I do like peanuts plain, but ANYTHING is better with sugar on it. So now, I need to eat all of those that I'm going to want, because when my brother gets home from school, he is going to inhale the rest of them.... welcome to life with a teenage brother!

Also this week... or last week, rather... this last week... whatever.... we switched furniture with Erin Meier... here's her blog post about it
See, Dad, Quinton, and I all have allergies and would prefer to sit on furniture which is as dust-free as possible, no matter how uncomfortable it is. I for one, would probably rather sit on a plastic bench than anything else.
Erin does not have this kind of allergies, and leans more toward furniture that you can sit on without wincing.
However, in our house there was fluffy, squishy, comfortable couches that held dust marvelously and which mom must needs sit on alone while the rest of us looked sneezily on; while in Erin's house there was furniture with removable cushion covers and wipe-down-able armrests which were not the most conducive for curling up with a good book. Sooooo... we switched! And the inhabitants of both houses were quite delighted with the result. Much fewer sneezes for us, much more squishy couches for her! There's pictures on her blog post.

Well... it's almost time for lunch, so I shall end this blog post, which was meant to let you all know that I am still alive, and in the general vicinity of the planet, though most certainly quite dangerously near it's edge.

Talofa Samoa

2009-03-28T22:49:00.018-05:00

I spent this last week in Samoa.
This was my first trip there; and now I have spent time in each of the six countries in the two Church of the Nazarene fields that we work in: Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Fiji, Tonga, and Samoa.

Samoa was the only one missing, and we don't want a missing country, now, do we?

Dad went to Samoa for some meetings... and I tagged along, taking notes for the meetings, making myself useful, and getting to see a new country!

We were fed very well... the Samoan umu us very similar to the Fijian lovo (island earth oven) which I have grown up with and have no problem consuming large quantities of.

After the meetings, we took a boat over to the island of Savai'i, which is a beautiful, sleepy little island.

One very unique thing about Samoa is their traditional house, or "fale." Due, I suppose, to the climate of this tropical island country (which could possibly be described as "hot" and "humid"), fales are built with... no walls. There are woven blinds which can be lowered for privacy, but remain up in the day. They are actually very comfortable and cool... I was just about ready to take up residence in one myself, if I couldn't get back to the air-conditioned meeting room!

You know, I do have a note to give here regarding the air in our part of the world. I have visited these places (such as New Mexican mountains, where my mom's from) that pompously claim to have "air." Bah! When you arrive, in full expectation of promised air, you can find no such thing. Oxygen is thinly spread and apportioned in much too small portions for human consumption (in my humble opinion). And you can't feel the air at all! I mean, I like to be able to FEEL my air. And in my part of the world, with a norm of 98% humidity, at 80-90F degrees, right at sea level, you can certainly know beyond a shadow of a doubt that you are surrounded by comforting, thick air. You can almost swim in our air. And that's how it's supposed to be... isn't it?

Attention for Using

2009-03-23T14:12:00.002-05:00

... the instructions on my water heater. I laugh at this every morning when I take a shower, and have meant to blog about it for years. So now, as I prepare to leave my home in Navua, I thought, well, I won't have another chance, I might as well do it now. Here we go: the label on the front of my water heater, word for word....

Attention for using

-Type of gas must be fit for the requirement in the heater's name plate.

-Should be mounted out the doors where there is a top ventilation.

-Never use the heater near to combustibles or acidities.

-Do mention to close the gas valve after using.

-Never leave the heater without guard when it is using.

-In winter, please put out the water in the heater after using, so that to avoid frozen.

-Only a qualified technician should attempt to re-install and maintain the heater.

....I love transliterated things. [=

webMASTER

2009-03-21T15:45:00.005-05:00

I have spent the last few days coding like crazy... see, we are about to release a new website, and I'm trying to get as much as I can done before I leave my computer and internet.
And no, I'm not going to tell you the new site name yet. Sorry.

ANYWAY, after many solid hours of coding, I've come to notice a few things about my job, which of course I shall share with you all. lucky you.

If you do web coding, then you will relate to this post.
If you do not, then welcome to a little window into the life of a webmaster.

I love the term "webmaster." It sounds so... MASTER-ish. I mean... hello, what do you do, I'm a webMASTER. mwa-ha-ha. Whoever came up with the term must have been a webmaster.
Ok, so now that we have established that I love the name of my job, we shall move on to other things about it.

What do webmasters do? Well... essentially we spend our days staring at a small, thin screen through which we view and manipulate the world. We do this by typing away at a little keyboard in strange isoteric languages and then clicking a magical button labeled "preview" which displays our craftmanship. *type type type* *preview*

I am not quite sure why we must use such weird-looking code, complete with symbols and shortcuts and whatnots, why can we not just type "put that thing here." I have, however, come up with a workable theory. That is this:

We are paid for what we do. If everyone could do it, everyone WOULD do it, and we would be out of a job. Therefore, we must make what we do look as impossible as possible. End of theory. But, fellow webmasters, murder me not. It's just a theory.

The existence of code languages, whatever their purpose, does make for some interesting characteristics which usually mark a webMASTER and set them apart from the other inhabitants of earth.

Characteristic 1: When asked where the mop is, they will answer their mother in the following way:
div class, kitchen. object id, mop. position, relative. float, left. end div. *blink blink*

Characteristic 2: They will have uncontrollable bursts of warning such as, "MOM! SAVE A COPY OF THAT CARROT ON A THUMB DRIVE BEFORE YOU CUT IT UP!!! You might want to roll back to the previous state. Your internet could cut out, leaving you with a half-cut carrot! You really should save a copy."

Characteristic 3: They will be obbessed with spelling: "No, no, spell it c-o-l-o-r, not c-o-l-o-u-r. Even though the latter may be used in the majority of the world by the majority of people, the former is the only one which the programs will accept. If you spell it the latter way, you will end up with *shudder* Default Coloring."

I could continue here, but since probably only a small portion of my audience is getting this post at all, I should probably stop. I shall leave you with a joke, which most of you will probably not get.

There are only 10 types of people in the world: those who understand binary, and those who don't.

Amen.

Don't worry, that got most of my coding jokes out of my system. I shall attempt a post for regular, sane, normal people in the near future.

Oh, would you look at that...

2009-03-18T01:01:00.003-05:00

...Danielle got bored with her blog's design and decided to change it. Took me an hour, too. Appreciate it. [laughter]

And since I used up all my "work-on-blog" time with changing the design, there shall be no long post, because I have to get back to work.

[sigh]

Around the World in... two weeks

2009-03-12T14:10:00.013-05:00

Yes, in the last two weeks we have hit four different countries. I do realize that isn't exactly ALL the way around the world, but it sure did feel like it.

We have been having fun though... shall I show you each of the four countries? Yes? Ok, here goes.

First up, Papua New Guinea, which affords some great airplane-window shots.

Sorry, that's the only picture you get of PNG... for now. I'll take you on a picture tour of Kudjip later.... when I get back up there with a working camera. May I remind you that my camera batteries have been dead for the past couple months? I got new batteries in Australia... which is the next country on my list. We spent a couple days there, but the highlight was, of course, Krispy Kreme donuts in Sydney! (the only place in this part of the world with Krispy Kreme donuts)

(Dad has a Krispy Kreme donut in his hand there, in case you were wondering what that picture had to do with what I was talking about)

From Australia, we went on to Port Vila, Vanuatu to spend a few days with Uncle David and Aunt Sylvia Potter. Also, Aunt Becky Morsch arrived there to spend the same few days (plus a few more afterward). The few days were packed with hard work...

aside from the work the adults were doing, Quinton mowed the entire lawn (that lawn is pretty huge!), and I found a school book and read 377 pages of it. *takes a bow*

Here's some pictures from Vanuatu... I'm sure that you will feel very sorry for us... having to work in such a place...

Yes, very sad, I know. Forced to live and work in such places. .... :)

Finally, country number four... FIJI!!!! Back... uh... home.... from... home.... ehhh, forget it. I have so many homes I can't be bothered with trying to call the right one "home" at any given time. As a matter of fact, I believe I have a right to call most of the airports in our part of the world "home"... I mean, how long do you have to stay in a place before you can say you lived there? I have definitely lived in Brisbane airport. Two coffee shops there to alternate between. Internet kiosks in between them. But not free internet... Free internet is in Sydney airport. But then again, Brisbane has better food in the International Departure Lounge....

Where was I? Oh right, Fiji. We got into Fiji and hit the ground running. Hopefully we can get a bunch of this piled-up work done before it's time to fly out to the next country. Oh, did you want a picture of Fiji?

Sorry, you got one of my brother instead. ...

Annnd breakfast is ready so I must sign off for now.

Coming up next is my wonderful series of photos titled "My Home"... including beautiful photos of Brisbane Airport, Air Pacific airplane seats, in-flight magazines...... ahh, good memories.

How Marvelous is Thy Handiwork....

2009-02-26T00:58:00.006-06:00

literally.

Yesterday and the day before I was able to hang out at the Operating Theatre, and watch surgeries. How amazing is that?! NOW I have to figure out how to spread my time between school, shadowing a doctor, watching surgeries, and work (ehm, work= computer coding).

There were several surgeries yesterday and today, but the one that really was amazing was a hand repair. A guy came in with his hand chopped up... uhm, I'm not exaggerating. The tendons were cut in two different places... all of them.
Doctor Jim and Doctor Niles spent almost two hours carefully locating each part to each tendon, matching up the pieces, and sewing them together. Let me tell you, it does NOT look like that nice, clean, neat, obvious picture that's in my Anatomy textbook. How is one supposed to know if THIS particular thing is the tendon to the first finger?!

I was reading in Psalms the other day... you know that familiar verse that says I will give thanks to Thee for I am fearfully and wonderfully made... marvelous is Thy handiwork and that my soul knows right well. ... or something like that (I don't have a Bible in front of me).... Well, as I watched those doctors put a hand back together, that verse took on new meaning. Something as seemingly simple as a hand.... is not so very simple at all.

Then, yesterday I was able to actually scrub in and help with a surgery! ... and that was very cool.

Living in PNG

2009-02-21T15:24:00.003-06:00

Well, we have been in PNG a few weeks now.... and people keep asking me what's it like? Do I like it? Have I adjusted?

Well... this blog post can't answer those questions completely, because I'm never quite sure of the answer myself at any given time! But I shall try.

PNG is awesome.... I still am glad that this move took place before I have to leave for university, so that I am getting a chance to be in the place where my parents and brother will live after I leave.

This place is very different from Fiji.... probably more similar to Fiji than to the States, but still, very different. Much of the cultural protocol I grew up with doesn't apply here. The language I learned to stumble through with much sweat and tears is met here with blank looks. The friends which I am used to seeing twice or three times in a week, are suddenly nowhere to be found.

However, I am learning new cultural protocol. I am learning a new language (Tok Pisin is much easier than Fijian, let me tell you!) I am learning to love a new people, and am making new friends. This country will never replace the one that raised me. These friends will never replace the ones that have put up with me through my teens. But I'm coming to accept that perhaps they don't have to. Perhaps.... I don't have to let go of the old country to embrace the new. Perhaps they both can have a place in me. I already have two homes. Maybe it's time to add another.

Over the last few weeks, I have cried... But I have also laughed... so hard that I cried! What a wonderful life God has given me.

I have been keeping pretty busy over the past few weeks... school, of course, in the MK highschool, which I have enjoyed after having been homeschooled all my life. (Of course, I'm still using Sonlight Curriculum, Luke, don't worry.) I have shadowed Uncle Andy several times... if I keep enjoying it as much as I have been, I will simply have to go into the medical field! I have made a trip into Mt. Hagen and to the market... pretty awesome market there. It's a bit bigger than Suva market and Singatoka market; but along those same lines. Only lots more variety. Even strawberries!

Yesterday we had a farewell service for the Sweseys and Thrashers, who have been missionaries to PNG for 10 years (Sweseys) and 20 years (Thrashers). Also present at the farewell was a mumu... the PNG version of a lovo. The food was about the same as is present at a Fijian lovo, with the exeption of the sweet kaukau replacing the dalo. I think I like kaukau better (sorry, Fiji).

Last night we had a movie night over at Uncle Andy and Aunt Judy's house with a bunch of the missionaries. We all took snacks, of course! We watched The Princess Bride, which looks like a sappy movie from the cover, but is actually really funny. And did you know that the title on the cover of the DVD is the same right-side-up and up-side-down? No seriously! Look at it next time you happen to see it. Quite clever, these movie peoples.

Also, this last week was my friend Oliver's birthday. I couldn't post a happy birthday blog ON his birthday, so I'm putting in in here today. Happy Birthday Olli!

Well, that is all I have time for this morning [audience breathes a sigh of relief].
From the ends of the earth,
Danielle

Call Me Shadow

2009-02-13T15:49:00.004-06:00

Just wait a few paragraphs, and I'll explain the title. We probably need a little background first.

Background Fact 1: Our family has moved to Papua New Guinea.

Background Fact 2: We are currently living on the mission station at Kudjip Nazarene Hospital.

Background Fact 3: This is near Mt. Hagen, in case you want to pull out your map of PNG. (you do have a map of PNG, don't you?)

Background Fact 4: It's really cold here. ... That is totally irrelevant, but I thought you might like to know.

Background Fact 5: I am quite interested in the medical field, trying to decide whether to go into it myself and if I do, what to go into it AS. So, living here is a dream-come-true for me.

NOW we get to the title. Uncle Andy Bennett (that's a link to his blog, which is awesome, go check it out, that's an order) gave us a tour of the hospital soon after we got here. At the end he mentioned that if we wanted to "shadow" a doctor we were welcome to... we could follow them around all day as they did rounds and saw patients. Thinks I to myself, omgosh, I would love to do that.

Sooo, yesterday I shadowed Uncle Andy. I had an awesome time! I didn't get queasy all day, which, if I'm going into medicine, is a good thing. Now, Mum and Dad got queasy when I was telling them about my day........
I'm trying now to figure out what is the minimum amount of days I can squeeze the last of my school classes into so that I can spend the most amount of days at the hospital. I think Uncle Andy may be stuck with a new shadow.
Ehm, small clarification here, .... that is not to be construed as meaning that I don't like the MK highschool, I love it, and Katie (the teacher) is awesome.

Now, I would love to post pictures of our house, and the hospital, and all that, but I am prevented because my camera batteries decided to die, and my camera decided not to like the new batteries that I have. It wants different ones. I tried to reason with it, and tell it that it didn't need fancy special batteries EVERY SINGLE time; it could compromise and take next-level-down batteries once in a while, couldn't it? But it would not listen, and held firmly to it's attitude, which is really selfish of it. So. Until such time as I can get the batteries that my camera wants, I guess there shall be no pictures. Sorry, people. Blame my camera, not me. I tried.

And now this First Blog Post from Papua New Guinea shall come to an end....
I love it here, I think God has blessed our family greatly by calling us here, and I'm so glad that we came before I leave for university.
I do, of course, miss Fiji... after all, it was my home for 8 and a half years, since I was 9.
I miss my friends terribly; but have only cried about that once.
But God knows what He is doing, and I do love the place He has brought me to for this time in my life, and the people He is allowing me to get to know. I'm so glad He is in control of my life!.... He seems to be doing a pretty good job.

Love from the ends of the earth,
Danielle

When God Whispers

2009-01-27T23:54:00.006-06:00

I'm not the kind of person that normally listens to hymns. My iPod pretty much has the same songs on it as the internet radio station TheBlast.fm (that's Christian Rock; don't follow that link unless you like fairly hard music). My favorite bands are Disciple, Skillet, etc.... you get the point.

But, I play the piano, and one of my favorite pastimes is to play... hymns! I have this big ol' hymnal (the large version of "Sing To the Lord" by the Nazarene church, for those of you who are interested) and I'll play for hours, just turning the pages and playing whatever comes up. Usually, I do this when I'm stressed... or frustrated... or tired. Some of my best times with God have been while playing hymns on the piano. I guess, because it's different than what I normally listen to, it's something special... and the words to some of those classic hymns are incredible.

I have my old favorites... How Firm a Foundation (you have to sing every verse to that song); Oh the Deep Deep Love of Jesus (love the tune to that one)... but once in a while I'll find a brand-new one that I have never heard before. And sometimes the words will just hit me over the head... it's like God just reaches down, taps me on the shoulder, and goes "I have something to say to you right now. Listen to this."

That happened this afternoon.

I've been a bit stressed lately. I'm extremely excited about this next chapter of life, but today, nevertheless, I was stressed. Several things play into that. Moving is a stress anytime. Add that to moving away from where I grew up. To a brand new country. To be followed closely by another move and the start of college. Leaving friends (that is proving pretty difficult for me). Annnd then... a close friend of mine's dad passed away a few days ago.

Add that to stupidly small things, like frustrations of trying to work out plane reservations on the phone, and making sure my suitcase is under 20kg; and you have a very stressed Danielle sitting down to the keyboard this evening. Ehh... maybe God just thought it was time to remind me of a few truths.

I was playing a favorite (Guide Me O Thou Great Jehovah), and then turned the page to hymn number 97. I'd never seen it before, but just started playing at the beginning without reading the words first... reading them for the first time as I played.

Well, the tune is amazing too; but I can't put it on my blog easily; so the words will have to do. I started crying halfway through the first verse.

Be still my soul; the Lord is on thy side.

Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain.

Leave to thy God to order and provide;

In ev'ry change He faithful will remain.

Be still, my soul; thy best, thy heav'nly Friend

Thro' thorny ways leads to a joyful end.

Be still, my soul; thy God doth undertake

To guide the future as He has the past.

Thy hope, thy confidence let nothing shake;

All now mysterious shall be bright at last.

Be still, my soul; the waves and wind still know

His vioce who ruled them while He dwelt below.

Be still, my soul; the hour is hast'ning on

When we shall be forever with the Lord,

When disappointment, grief, and fear are gone,

Sorrow forgot, love's purest joys restored.

Be still, my soul; when change and tears are past,

All safe and blessed we shall meet at last.

Perfect Struggle

2009-01-24T14:55:00.007-06:00

I keep thinking I'm gonna have it all together one of these days. You know, wake up and suddenly I am the amazingly wonderfully perfect person that I want everyone to think I am. Uh... don't they?

But it hasn't happened yet (sorry to disappoint you!)... and I'm beginning to think it never will. And I'm beginning to wonder if... maybe... just maybe... that isn't the point. Maybe, the point of life isn't to become perfect, or to get it all together. Maybe... just maybe... the point... is the struggle. Allow me to clarify.

Sometimes I look at the circumstances around me; the questions I'm wrestling with; the issues I'm dealing with, and I just have to say to God-- Couldn't You have made this easier? Couldn't You have made this clearer? More black-and-

white? More obvious? I can think of at least 1253 ways that You could have worked this out so that it was more clear, and less of a struggle!

Following the logic that I am not smarter than my Creator, I am sure that He could think of even more ways to make the answers more obvious. You know, a writing-on-the-wall kind of thing? And sometimes I just have to wonder... why didn't He?

And I wonder if maybe... just maybe... the point... is the struggle. Maybe... the point of life isn't to become perfect, but to become close to God. Maybe... maybe He chooses the less-than-obvious pathway to force us to come face-to-face with Him again? Force us to once more wrestle with Him as He shows us the seemingly hidden trail? Perhaps the point of this struggle is not the

answer to the question, but the close inspection of the Face of God. And perhaps... it's not wrong to wrestle with questions... maybe... just maybe... the point... is the struggle.

Big girl, don't cry; perfect princess, don't fall

Big boy, don't stumble; don't blink at all--

Fulfill perceptions; nine-tenths of the law

'Cuz God's in heaven-- on earth no flaw.

Denied confusion now fills my ears--

"I have no struggles; I shed no tears"

Can't allow these questions after all these years

'Cuz God's in heaven -- I'm perfect down here.

Now shed facades; break secret fears

In honest condition, He draws me near

This conflict is what makes me real

Though God's in heaven, He meets me here.

This desperately searching through pathways confused

Recurring undoing; this grasping for truth;

This molding, this breaking, this healing, this shaping,

This conflict, this question-- my child,

You're perfect.... in the struggle.

It's a Small World

2009-01-20T11:48:00.006-06:00

It is! They (the omnicsient They) say that every person is only six people away from everyone else in the world.... So, you know someone who knows someone who knows someone... and in six layers out, you know the whole earth. I think an exception must be made, though, for missionary kids... I mean, the sheer volume of people we know.... in the number of countries we know them in. Rarely does someone mention a country that I do not say "hey, I have a friend there!" (or at least think it) I mean, I have friends from everywhere from France to Argentina to Switzerland (hi Rachel!) to Dungog, Australia. (you knew that was coming, Olli.)

Well, anyway, where I was going with this is that it's about time to leave Fiji, because we can't walk a block in town without stopping to chat with someone we know.... day before yesterday, in Suva, in one store-complex (what we call a mall...a tiny, tiny mall) we met 7 people that we knew... stopped and talked with, found out how their cousin-brothers were doing, etc. By the time we got to the car, we were laughing and saying that it was about time to leave this country and go make some new friends... we know everyone here!

So, yeah, that's my random thought of the day.

Pizza and Youth

2009-01-17T20:18:00.009-06:00

Well, as a farewell to the Q and I, Malcolm (our youth pastor) took some of us out for pizza before youth on Friday, which was great fun.

Below: Malcolm and Abel

Below is The Q, Olli, me, and Leah ...ehh, for those of you who don't know, Leah is this awesome friend of mine from youth; she's lived in Spain so we speak Spanish to each other just to frustrate Q and Olli ;)

Me and Priteeka, Malcolm's wife.

And yes, I am going to post just a couple more pictures from youth... come on you guys, I have to,-- I just love my youth group!

Anyway, we had a great service... I guess I won't be back at Vital Connection for a while anyway... but I would love to go back whenever we come back back to visit Fiji. God is really using that group of teens.

As always, more photos at my picasa album, and also there's some on Olli's.

Afternoon with those crazy people who are brave enough to be friends with us....

2009-01-11T12:34:00.018-06:00

Well, yeah... so we got the whole gang together for one last...uh... get-together...before we leave.
Roches, and Schultzies.
So for those of you who don't know our (very) good friends, this is an introduction. Meet the Roches and the Schultzies, who have put up with our family for many years, the poor people. They are a huge part of what has made me who I am today... so, uh... blame them.

Now, I gotta esplain something about these pictures: I had a cold yesterday. Sooo, I look like I'm crying in all the photos. And I'm not. Not in all of them. Only in the last few, after we had group prayer and, thanks to Calli's prayer, I ruined what makeup I had left. In those I am crying. But in the rest I am merely the victim of a slight cold.
And yes, I feel better today, thank you all for wondering.

Well, the cameras came out right away, to make sure we all actually had documentation of the fact that we did know each other. Below is Calli (Roche) playing with Olli (Schultz)'s camera....

then, Quinton playing with Olli's camera...

and finally, Olli's camera back in the hands of it's rightful owner....

Of course, we had to get some photos together.. again, to prove that we know each other...

yeh... I'm crying in that one.

And I dunno... something about this one just really captures our personalities..... :D

Ok, so it's REALLY hard to hold the camera out yourself and get good photos, especially with my camera which is on the larger side.

After the required session of seeing-whats-new-on-each-others-iPods (I am so buying some songs by The Wedding, Olli!... and August Burns Red wasn't half bad either...and whatever Underoath song that was...eh, back to mah blog post...) and some quick xbox challenges, we headed to my room and played Taboo. Which is... well, you know what Taboo is, you have this card with a word on it and a bunch of words related to it, and you gotta get your team members to say the word without using any of the other words on the card. yeah, fun game.

Jemmi was enjoying herself...

Annnndddd we also did a short round of arm-wrestling... I, uh, lost to both Calli and Quinton.

Below is Abel Schultz and Mark Roche...

So finally at the end of the afternoon, Lynnie Roche suggested a group prayer... thanks a lot, Aunt Lynnie! I dunno for SURE, cuz it was kinda dark, but I think you could count the dry eyes afterward on one hand...

And the mandatory group photos:

the kiddos... ok, ok, I'll name them again, here we go, from left:
Acacia, Calli, me, Abel (in front), Olli, Quinton, Ed, Jemmi

and the mums and dads, of course:

eh, from left we have: Jill and Peter Schultz, Lynnie and Mark Roche, and dad and mom.

Twas a fun afternoon, and the other photos are (as always) in my picasa album... or in the slideshow in the sidebar to the right...and there are also some in Olli's picasa album.

So, it's kind of caught me off guard how hard this whole goodbye-to-Fiji thing is... and then I realized that I've never actually done this before. See, I was pretty young when we left the states, so it wasn't too tramatic for me... more of a big adventure than a goodbye-to-home. And since then, I've only ever said goodbye for short times, or to people I'm used to being away from, or to people I've only known for a short time. So this is the first time I'm saying goodbye to home, and to really good friendships with some years of history to them, that I am used to having nearby and seeing every week or so. Anyway, I've been having a good cry every once in a while, mixed in with the excitement for this next "big adventure."

God's still in control, though... and it's a good thing, too!

Birthday Wishes... and a Crazy New Year

2009-01-07T12:25:00.003-06:00

Well... I turned 18 yesterday. Not quite sure what to think of that.

One the one hand, I'm really excited and think it's so cool... like, I never actually thought I'd really turn 18... that's just... weird. I'm an "adult." ... yeah, the people that know me are laughing right now. I didn't think it would feel like this to be 18. Wasn't I supposed to be ... mature? Ready for adult life? ... I still feel like my age is hovering somewhere between 9 and 14. Most assuredly not 18.

I had an awesome birthday... was awoken by my family singing happy birthday ... yeah, they actually came into my room, the brave people. And, if any of you have ever heard my family sing happy birthday... there is really no more to say. If you haven't... then, well... you are missing out. My family believes that all harmony and tune should not exist on birthdays. Therefore, the goal is to see how much we can murder the birthday song. yeah, anyway, so I woke up to that.

Then we went over to the Pac Harbour beach for breakfast, which was fun. Mum made a pumpkin pie for breakfast... hey, how many days of the year do you get pumpkin pie for breakfast? The week after Thanksgiving, and then no more pumpkin pie, which is really sad, cuz I really like pumpkin pie, so mum made me some.

Theeennnnn, mom and I went into town and we met up with some of our friends at this awesome little Indian restaurant that I am gonna miss like crazy when we leave, because seriously, food just shouldn't be that good. So we had a wonderful lunch with Aunt Jill, Aunt Lynnie, Shekinah, Acacia, and Calli.

Finally, my neighbor, Kaki, made us an awesome birthday curry dinner. And I ate waaaayyyy too much. Because Kaki's curry is amazing.

Lots of wonderful people wished me happy birthday... Calli wrote me a letter that made me cry (thanks a lot, Cal); Olli posted a birthday post on his blog; Savannah sent me an ecard; my facebook wall has tons of posts on it from everywhere from Singapore to Oklahoma City to Papua New Guinea... so that was special.

Now, turning 18 is supposedly a big deal, right? I mean, this year I head off to college, moving to the US of A, kinda scary... but expected. Being the OCD control freak I am, God decided to throw a few curve balls my way this year. So this should be a rather interesting year....

See, my dad just got put in as the FSC (Field Strategy Coordinator) for the Melanesia and South Pacific fields of the Church of the Nazarene. Which means... we are moving. To Papua New Guinea. That happened kind of fast, so I'm still in a bit of shock... here I thought I had 6 months left in Fiji. BUT, I am really excited... it's one of those freak-out-one-day, excited-the-next kinds of things.

First of all, my family and friends who are not from this part of the world need to learn a new term: PNG. Means, Papua New Guinea.

Next, they need to pull out their old globes which they bought when we moved to Fiji, and find PNG... it's the other half of what used to be Irian Jaya and is now West Papua, right above Australia. Found it? Alright, that's our new home. And yes, it is as remote as it looks.

I'm really excited to get to spend some time around the hospital up at Kudjip. I can't wait to really get to know the missionaries up there that I have met briefly and know are awesome people. I want to learn Tok Pisin, because I just think it's the coolest language ever. I am proud that I will be part of the group of MKs that "survived Dusin" (the PNG orientation process). I am really glad that this is happening a few months before I leave for the states, so that I can be a part of it. So yeah, mostly good feelings here...

Of course, a couple sad ones: I'm gonna really miss my friends and my youth group. Because, I have the most amazing friends and my youth group is like... wow. However, with visits back, and with the wonderful world of internet (email, blog, chat, facebook), I won't be leaving them forever. And hey... part of being an MK is saying goodbye... haven't we already discussed this?

So that's what's happening in my life at the moment... I think that 2009 is gonna be one of those buckle-your-seat-belt-and-hang-on years. How exciting! Don't ever say that my God is boring!

January 1, Day 7 - Goodbyes

2009-01-03T23:36:00.011-06:00

Well, we did actually wake up this morning, wonder of wonders... and headed over to the Flemmings' apartment, where the other kids-who-were-still-here were staying.

We still didn't know what we were doing, but we decided to head to chinatown and Vivo City, and see what happened.... ended up relaxingly hanging out all day, which was wonderful.

We finally had to say goodbye... yep, it was as terrible as I feared at the beginning of the week that it would be. But... it's part of the life God has given us... and I don't think that any of us would give up the awesome relationships we forged last week to avoid the pain of goodbyes.

And now it's time to ... well... launch out on the next stage of life. It promises to be something of a wild ride, with some of the things that are happening.... well, but more about that on the next blog post. I think it has been a life-changing week. Isn't God amazing?!

December 31, Day 6 - Back to Singapore

2009-01-03T23:17:00.014-06:00

As the title says, this was our last day in Telunas... we left for the ferry at around 10:30 AM.

Of course, while waiting on the dock for our boat, the guys started tossing the football around...

Come on, you know what happens next....

Football goes swimming. It was recovered, by the way.

We got some good pictures of our wonderful leaders, who made this a life-changing week.

And yes, of course they were a bit crazy....

On the boat ride back, some other iPods' batteries died... so mine was drafted, of course, because I have awesome music....

The ferry ride back...

We arrived back in Singapore late afternoon, and quickly cleaned up and took the MRT (hm, does that stand for Mass Rail Transport?) to the New Years Eve party at Uncle Verne and Aunt Natalie Ward's apartment that night.

Ok, so what do YOU think a party will be like when you deprive teens of sleep for a week, feed them caffeine and chocolate, and then keep them up until one o' clock?

below, from left: Maria, Brenna, me

yeah, it was fun... and crazy... I think the four of us playing Rook were laughing so hard we were crying. We also looked at pictures from the last week.

We took the MRT back to the Rigsby's apartment just before they shut down for the night. (The MRTs, that is. The two younger Rigsby siblings had shut down for the night long ago.) We planned to meet up the next day with the other kids whose planes didn't fly out until late the next night.... now, we had no idea what we were gonna DO all day, but that never stops us.

December 30, Day 5 - Making Choices

2009-01-03T22:17:00.016-06:00

Our verses for today were 2 Timothy 2:1-7, 14-26, which talk about believing that it is possible to make a choice and be strong in Christ through all circumstances.

We had a very interesting activity today. We were told to meet on the beach, with something that could be used as a blindfold. We then hiked up into the jungle behind Telunas... a much more up-sloping trail than the one to the waterfall. Halfway up the trail, our guide, Yoshua, stopped us. He told us to put on the blindfolds... gulp... and then he led us the rest of the way up blindfolded so that we could not see where we were going. Our leaders then explained to us that we were going to be shown a rope, which was part of maze. We were supposed to follow the rope through the maze and find the end.
Here is the rope... be careful where you step... and if you need help, raise your hand.

I take a deep breath... well, but of course I can do this. How easy. Find end of rope. All you gotta do is hold onto it, and walk. The end will be there somewhere. In complete darkness, I started out... carefully, as I did not care to twist my ankle up here in the middle of nowhere. Step... step...step...step... oh, there is a tree. Feeling around the tree, I found that the rope turned. Followed the rope in it's new direction. Step...step...step...step... another tree. Another turn. Step..step...step...step... another tree, another turn. People are starting to grumble. This feels suspiciously like a circle. Being the person I am, I start to count steps. 20 steps, turn right. 20 steps, turn right. 20 steps, turn right. I have soooo tripped over this root before.

The leaders called out at intervals, reminding us to hold onto the rope tightly, and to raise our hand if we need help.

Suddenly I start hearing some exclaimations, and the footsteps of some of the kids move off in a different direction. I must be missing something. I hold to the rope tighter, and sure enough, on the other side of one of the trees, where the rope turns, there is another rope, leading off the other direction! Yes! a way out! holding to the new rope, I set off in a wonderful new direction. 20 steps. turn right. 20 steps... and this tree holds a colony of ants, how lovely. All of us discovered that tree, by the way. 20 steps, turn right... hm, now this feels suspiciously like another circle.

"Hold the rope... and raise your hand if you need help!"

Suddenly a little light came on in my head... maybe I DID need help! Maybe... just maybe...
my hand went up.

Noelle was behind me immediately, asking how she could help. I whispered, "are you allowed to show me the way out?"

She took off my blindfold, and led me to the side. Sure enough, there were two triangles of rope, connected by another rope, that I had been travelling confidently around and around.
"Good job" she whispered.
Yoshua announced, "One person has found their way out!"
Groans erupted from the group...

Well, as you can no doubt see, the point of this activity was that there are some things that we simply cannot figure out on our own. We have to ask for help. And usually, there are people who are willing to help us figure things out. We just have to ask. A well-made point, and one which I will remember every time I see a small yellow polyester rope, or run into an ant-filled tree.

below: me and Brenna coming back

When we got back, we had some fun jumping off the dock, swimming, playing volleyball, etc....

One dock was quite high... and I did conquer my fear and jump off of it, I just don't have a picture of that on my camera. Go figure.

Sam and Verne did have a bit of fun with those who tried to push them in....

We got some group photos today, with our rendezvous t-shirts on...

We had another bonfire tonight, roasted marshmallows, and sang... my camera apparently has an excruciatingly bright flash, so I was instructed to warn everyone before I took a photo at night... which resulted in lots of photos of people with eyes closed or hands over their eyes... but I won't make you see all of those.

We had a few heated discussions over whether you were supposed to burn marshmallows or slow-roast them... there seem to be some strong opinions over that issue... anyway, moving on.

During our night meeting, we talked about making choices as to what we were going to focus on in our lives... the difficulties and disadvantages that come with growing up as an MK/TCK, or the privileges and advantages that we have. Accepting our disadvantages, working through them, and choosing to joyfully focus on the positive is sometimes much more difficult than it sounds. We talked about how many times our "disadvantages" are just in our own minds... they are things which we believe that simply aren't true. We each wrote out a list of these lies, and threw the list into the bonfire... which was fun!
I think it is going to be very hard to leave that list in the bonfire and not take it back out and reconstruct it piece by ash-filled piece... however, with God's help it is possible!

After a few more games... and talking... we... went to bed... well, some of us did... eventually........ hey, we are teens at a camp. Who needs sleep?!

December 29, Day 4 - Culture Shock

2009-01-03T21:19:00.013-06:00

I woke up at a more reasonable time this morning, headed to breakfast, and then did devotions. Our verses for this morning were 2 Timothy 1:8-12. Included in these is one of my very favorite verses in the whole Bible (it's actually my profile on facebook):
"I know whom I have believed, and I am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day."

I love this verse because as my world shifts and changes drastically every once in a while, and as my identity seems shaky, this verse really speaks a solid, unshakeable identity that is grounded in something other than me or my surroundings. Another thing that hits me about this verse is that God is able to keep what I have committed to Him. In other words... for Him to keep it, I have to commit it to Him. My achievements, my desires, my ambitions, my friendships, my world... if I commit it to Him, He is able to keep it.

After breakfast, we headed out on some boats bound for a waterfall! ... on the way, we stopped by some charcoal kilns

About an hour boat ride took us to the beginning of our hike to the waterfall... about an hour and a half hike through the jungle, which was nothing new for most of us, but pretty cool nevertheless. Some of us saw monkeys... I got a real good look at the tree shaking after the monkey jumped.

We made good time to the waterfall, so we got some extra time to swim

And we took a couple group photos that make us look like some edition of Survivor...

We hiked the hour and a half back to the boat, and then rode back to Telunas. On the way back, some of us discovered that if you stick your hand out of the boat, into the water, it creates a fine mist that disperses evenly over all the passengers behind you....
yeah, anyway, we got back to Telunas in time for lunch, thankfully, and make short work of the amazing food.

Our activity for this day had to do with culture shock... demystifying something that we were all familiar with. We were divided into two groups, and each of our groups were given a list of rules and goals that defined our culture. Then, one of us was sent to the other group, and one of them was sent to our group. We were not allowed to tell them the rules that defined our culture, they had to figure them out by interacting with us... and the one of us that went to their group had to do the same. Then, the two explorers went back to their original groups and explained what they had figured out about the other "culture." This was repeated until everyone had had a chance to see if they could figure out the other culture.... a very interesting activity, as the two cultures were quite different. A discussion followed, having to do with how to figure out other cultures... and also defining what culture shock is and how to deal with it.

This topic was continued in the night meeting, with an explanation of the stages of culture shock.
Hm, lets see, I have my little work-sheet right here... ah, here we go:

Stage 1: Initial
- in this stage you just observe the culture you have entered, taking in the new sights and sounds, but not interacting with the culture

Stage 2: Fascination
-you want to try new things out, taste new foods, engage the culture- everything is exciting... this usually lasts 1-3 months. then comes...

Stage 3: Conflict
-things are no longer fascinating, but instead are draining, frustrating, and unfamiliar. you are trying to figure out how things work, and are failing miserably, and you want to go home. How long this stage lasts depends on choice... you can stay in this stage forever, or you can choose to accept your surroundings and where God has placed you and move on through the conflict stage to the ....

Stage 4: Recovery
-things are ok, manageable, familiar. still frustrating, but you sort of know how things work, so it's not so terrible. this leads to ...

Stage 5: Integration
-things are fine, enjoyable, fun, and natural. this culture feels like home.

Now, these stages aren't always clear-cut... even though after 8 years in this culture I would say I am fairly integrated, there are still things that frustrate me to no end. And our leaders also explained something that we have experienced at least some: when we re-enter our passport country, the same stages of culture shock happen all over again!

1. Ooh, look at that, people actually check themselves out of the store with a credit card... weird.
2. let me try, let me try!
3. dude, this is terrible. how can you stand this? it's so confusing...
4. ok, ok, I think I have it...
5. of course I can check myself out with a credit card... here, let me show you.

Some good discussion, great tips... and best of all, we found out that we weren't alone, that there were... well, at least 11 kids... who went through the same things we did!

These discussions didn't stop at the meeting, by the way... they continued on to the dinner table, on the beach... etc...

below: Maria and Esther

After meetings we played games until late.... of course....I mean, you can sleep when you get home!