such a time as this.

Here's what I learned/was reminded of today!

James spoke at church this morning. I'm so proud of him. And proud to be his lady.

I've read this verse tons of times, but never really thought about this until James pointed it out this morning. There is absolutely no distingushing between "those who love Him" and "who have been called". We have ALL been called to advance the kingdom.

He also said (this is paraphrased), "God's kingdom will advance whether you take part in it or not..."

"...Part of loving God is taking part in growing the kingdom and advancing his renown."

give thanks.

James, Mike, and I watched The Book of Eli last night. If you haven't seen it just know that this entire movie is set in a horrible place and time. Something disastrous has happened to the sun and it has caused death, famine, and drought everywhere on the face of the earth. There is no good left in the world. Yet Eli keeps the faith some 30 years after the disaster occurs.

"Thank you Lord for a warm bed to sleep on, thank you for the food we are about to eat, thank you for a roof over our heads on cold nights such as this, thank you for companionship in hard times like these, Amen." -Eli

We need to remember to praise God and be grateful in the good times and bad. I am currently learning to be content with where God has me in life now, where He is taking me, and daily reminding myself that His way is perfect, and that none of this is about me.

We have our Thanksgiving dinner with a family of 11. I grew up with their 9 children and they are close to me like siblings (although we call each other "cousins".) Andy is the youngest of the bunch. He is 11 years younger than me. But on Thanksgiving day we have a special bond and hold at least one thing in common: we are the only people at the table who prefer cherry pie over any other.


I have one real Thanksgiving tradition. I sit next to Andy every year. We both love this tradition. I figured he would eventually grow out of it, or get too cool to sit by me, but he always saves me a seat. This year as soon as the cherry pie came out he jumped up and said, "I'll get us plates!!" He cut himself 1/4 of the pie. I had to defend him, telling the rest of the family, "It's equal to 2 slices. He'll probably have that much anyway!"


This year his sister Hannah made the pie. I don't have her recipe (it was yummy!), but here is my favorite!

do not worry

These verses seem to keep coming to mind over the last few weeks, so I might as well share them.

"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Matthew 6:25-34

I haven't been worrying so much any more. That's been a struggle for me in the past. These verses keep coming to mind because I have been in complete awe of creation recently. I don't know if anyone saw the moon last night, but OH MY GOODNESS. Our Creator, the God of the Universe, created THAT and HE LOVES & CARES ABOUT US. It's mind-blowing. (I can't dwell on it too long because my mind starts to hurt when I try to fathom something that huge.)


My favorite spot in Tulsa right now is 41st street between Lewis and Victor.


This is not always my favorite spot, just my current favorite. The foliage is gorgeous and the trees create a canopy over the road.


I have the wonderful privilege of driving this stretch of road 5 days a week on my way to work.

healthy eating and donuts

It has been decades (or maybe months...) since my last post.

I don't know if you caught on, but I was really into tea. Mainly because I was managing a certain tea shop (coughTeavanacough) which turned out to be the worst job I have ever had in my entire life. I won't share the whole story now... If I keep talking about THAT I will end up only posting about that. To make a very, very long story short, I got a job at Whole Foods Market! (And the crowd goes wiiild! WOOO!) I am eating healthier, I am much happier, getting a discount on my groceries, however, I am spending twice as much on gas. Oh well, my job is great.

Today at work I got some whole wheat pastry flour. And you know what that means? BAKING TIME!

Whole Wheat Baked Donuts with Jameson Whiskey Glaze


Yields about 6 donuts... or maybe more...
3/4 cups + 1 Tbsp all-purpose flour
1/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/3 cup superfine sugar
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
2 Tbsp unsalted butter (I used Smart Balance Olive Oil Butter Sticks)
1/4 cup milk, scalded (I highly recommend using milk with SOME fat in it. OMG FAT! You won't die. Seriously. It's a donut.)
1/4 cup plain yogurt
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg, beaten

Oven at 350. Mix dry ingredients. Add in butter with pastry cutter. Add wet ingredients and combine JUST until blended. (Over mixing can make them rubbery. And gross.) Then bake in a donut pan for 6-10 minutes.


Cool in the pan for 10 minutes. While cooling happens...

Jameson Whiskey Glaze


Enough for 6-10 donuts... or more...
3/4 cups powdered sugar
1-2 Tbsp Jameson Whiskey
1 tsp vanilla

Add liquids to sugar slowly while stirring. Once it's all glazey and perfect, dip donuts in the glaze. Enjoy!

how to properly make black tea.

Step one: get a cast iron teapot.



Don't believe me? Alton Brown believes me...

If you don't have time to watch the whole video here is this:
Cast iron teapots evenly heat, making the tea fully expand giving you a tasty, healthier brew.

Step two: heat up your water.

Contrary to popular belief, not all tea is steeped at a boiling temperature. I chose (once again) to make Earl Grey Creme as to compliment my cookies. Since it is a black tea I only need my water heated to 195 degrees. Since I do not have an automatic water warmer I placed a meat thermometer in the spout of my tea kettle.





Step three: add your tea leaves.

Also contrary to popular belief, my strainer does not need to be completely full of tea. You only need 1 - 1 1/2 tsp of tea per 8 ounces of water. Since my pot is only 24 ounces I only added 3 tsps of tea.







Step four: add the water and steep.

Do just that. Once the water is exactly the right temperature, pour the water over the tea leaves and set a timer. And tea does not need to be steeped for 10 hours. Black tea only needs to be steeped for 3 minutes, so do just that.








Step five: remove the basket and enjoy.

Once the timer goes off, remove the strainer immediately, pour a nice cuppa tea for yourself and drink. :)











Delightful.

tea and crumpets.

And by "tea and crumpets" I actually mean "tea cookies". :)


It's Monday night in Tulsa, Oklahoma. I just worked a 10 hour shift, had a delicious dinner and watched an episode of Parks and Recreation. At this point I wanted something sweet, healthy and (somewhat) quick, so I decided to make these incredible tea cookies.

Step one: Gather your ingredients.
2 cups of flour (I used 1 cup of all-purpose white and 1 cup of whole wheat)
2/3 cups of powdered sugar
1 tsp of vanilla
1 cup of butter (I used Earth Balance Vegan Buttery Sticks)
1 Tbsp of your favorite tea (I chose Earl Gray Creme)
















Step two: Measure the tea.

If you are using loose leaf tea like I do you have to grind your tea. Measure out 1 Tbsp of the loose tea leaves of your choice (Tip: always use round bottom teaspoons to ensure the perfect measurement) and grind with a mortar and pestle. Yes, I know in the picture you can see a food processor. I tried it, and it was awful. It's worth taking a couple extra minutes to use the mortar and pestle and grind the tea into a find powder. If you hate this idea, cut open a teabag (or 2) and use the boring, tasteless insides.













Step three: mix all the ingredients together.

Seriously. That's all for step three. I told you it was super easy. Tip: Once you're done mixing you should taste the batter to ensure the perfect deliciocity.









Step four: scoop the well-mixed batter into a ball on a piece of plastic wrap and place in the frrreezerrr for 1 hour.

Yes, 1 hour. It will be well worth the wait.

While it chills for 10 billion years, read my entry on how to properly make black tea.









Step five: remove from the freezer.

YAY! Remove from the freezer and place the ball o' dough on a piece of wax paper. Cut into fourths and place 3/4 of the batter back in the freezer.










Step six: roll out the dough.

Roll out 1/4 of the dough between two pieces of wax paper to about 1/4 of an inch in thickness. Cut out shapes using cookie cutters. Mine are awesome.





















Step six: bake.

Place awesome shapes on a cookie sheet and bake for 13ish minutes at 350 degrees. Tip: use a thick cookie sheet for a more even bake.












Step seven: EAT.

Cool on a wire rack and eattum. Yum. You may think that they are flavorless at first, but the aftertaste will hit you like a big, red firetruck. These are best complimented with tea, of course.

great news

Over the last 2 months I have only been to Wal-Mart once. And I still claim it wasn't on purpose. Now, this wasn't intentional at first, but the other day I realized something fantastic. By not going to this dreaded supercentermasterkingsized store I have been happier, I've lost weight, and my relationship with my boyfriend has improved. Yes, I know that sounds completely ridiculous, but I completely credit all of these things to NOT shopping at Wal-Mart. We used to stop in to pick up something for dinner, and before we even got through the doors I was already bickering with him about something that had nothing to do with us. Usually about parents not putting a coat on their kids or someone parking in the middle of the lane facing the wrong way... UGH. Just thinking about it upsets me. Anyway, we started shopping at Target, grocery stores and Whole Foods Market. Come to find out (now this is a doozie.... hold on to your hats, kids).... I have actually saved just as much money by shopping at these places simply by using coupons, shopping during sales and (this is the big one) only buying what I need. Most of you are probably familiar with the "I'm going to Wal-Mart to buy bread" trip that quickly turns into "I'm going to Wal-Mart to buy bread and a 42" plasma screen LCD HD 3D TELEVISION" trip.

I was definitely planning on finishing this post/rant tonight, but I am exhausted due to the Spring forward. There will be more on this later. In the meantime, enjoy/purchase some of the most delicious local music I have ever heard.