Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Birthdays!!

So....I love planning birthday parties.  I find myself going crazy when I look at ideas and wanting to be way over the top.  It's probably good that our budget just won't allow some of the more expensive ideas.  If you ever want me to go over the top for your party I am sure I could manage it!

I am in the midst of planning Lincoln Man's second birthday bash.  We are having a circus theme party. And boy have I found some fun ideas.  I can't wait to have this party and show you the cool stuff I have found.  And I have these awesome cupcake ideas.  I can't show you because it would ruin the surprise.  :-) Hopefully I have a chance to pull it all off.


And since we are talking birthdays I never did post Arabelle's birthday pictures from February nor did I post pictures of Lincoln's first birthday.  I guess that's what happens when you are a crazy busy momma.  You don't always have the time to edit and post a bunch of pictures.  Anyways, that's a goal for the next few days.  So hopefully you will get those.  

All right bloggies have a fabulous night!

Amber

Love This

I am not always a huge fan of the Christian music genre.  Sometimes I just think it's quality is kind of poor so I sometimes am turned away from it.  But I love 10th Avenue North. And there song Strong Enough To Save.  The lyrics are great.  Thinking about God breaking open the sky to save those who cry out his name.  What an awesome thing to remember.  That God is always strong enough to save you.  We are not strong enough on our own now or ever.  Why do we ever doubt him?? We should be praying that we always remember how strong God is and that we truly believe it.



I couldn't find a good video version of this, but this way you can see the lyrics too.
Have a blessed day loves!

Amber

Monday, July 25, 2011

Book Love

I have a confession of sorts...I love books.  I love to read and I have been known on several occasions to finish a large novel in one day, if allowed.  I also love to have an actual book in my hand.  I haven't taken well to the Kindle and other devices because it takes away from my book collection.  So due to this obsession love of reading, you will most likely get reviews of books from time to time.  And you are about to experience this in 3-2-1...now.

So I recently finished reading two books.  One called Mukiwa: A White Boy in Africa and another called The Fear.  Both books are by the journalist and author Peter Godwin.

The first book is really a recounting of sorts of Mr. Godwin's life in Africa.  He was raised in Africa in Rhodesia, now known as Zimbabwe.  This book tells his tale of growing up through the beginnings and somewhat endings of civil war there, being a part of that civil war and the end of British rule in that country specifically.  I really enjoyed this book.  I loved the introspection and way that you felt how the author was truly torn on which side he belonged to at times and where his allegiance was.  And you could feel the difficulty it seemed in decisions he made and places he found himself during the war.  I specifically like how towards the end you find yourself realizing that war isn't always just a good side and a bad side, but that both sides generally feel they are right and maybe they are to a degree.  It was a good book and well written and easy to get through. 

After reading that, I was interested in a book by the same author titled The Fear. This book was truly heart wrenching.  Peter Godwin returns to Zimbabwe right after Robert Mugabe the current president has lost an election.  Instead of turning over power as one would think, he attacks his own people.  They are living in fear and terror and poverty and disease.  It is awful to think of the things that were and are happening to these people at the hands of their government.  At one point while reading, I felt like I couldn't continue reading.  I was too sad.  I was sitting reading and crying for these people.  Praying for God to change their circumstances and save them.  In that moment, I realized I couldn't put the book down.  These people are enduring beatings and rape and massacres basically for trying to stand up for change.  I felt like I needed to finish reading this book to bear witness.  It isn't a book written by James Patterson that is fictional; it is real life.  This is happening in another country to human beings.  These are horrible things being done with complete disregard to age or gender.  They are crimes against humanity and I can't turn away from it.  I finished reading the book and I am happy for it.  I now know and wish I could do something.  Peter Godwin has a website with information at www.petergodwin.com.  I plan on continuing to pray for the people of Zimbabwe and to pray for positive change. 

I am impressed by these books and by Peter Godwin.  It took courage for him to go to Zimbabwe and put himself in the situations that he did.  He interviewed others to help them and to let them have a name and have a voice.  They aren't just faceless numbers, but people with husbands, wives, children, homes, careers, hopes and dreams.  They deserve our attention. 

Monday, July 18, 2011

Head First

Hey there Bloggies!

I hope you are having a fabulous Monday!  I am waiting for my pizza crust to rise and while I do that was thinking about how many people have mentioned in conversation or in comments to things that they don't know how to cook or wish they knew how.  Some people say they are afraid of it or overwhelmed.  I thought I would share my thoughts on cooking.

You have to just dive in head first.  No joke!  Just go for it!

Looking back I realize when we first got married mine and Ry's cooking skills weren't the best.  I mean they weren't horrible; we just didn't venture from the norm very often.  And things we made and cooked were overall a lot more processed.  Then I think we just got bored with our eating habits and realized we owned tons of cookbooks and decided to just start using them. I know right, novel idea.  So how it started for us was we went through and before grocery shopping picked out new recipes we wanted to try.  We had control of the recipes so that way if it looked over the top we didn't choose it.  If it looked simple and like something we could manage we went for it.  Then we bought only the groceries that coordinated with those meals.  And then even more shockingly we actually made those meals.

It was a great chance to get acquainted with our our appliances and gadgets.  And to get used to reading a recipe and looking up things as I needed to.  Sometimes recipes suggest and ingredient I have never heard of or a method I know nothing about.  Sometimes I glaze over and turn the page and never look back.  Other times, I pull out the phone and pull it up in a search engine.  Then I feel a little more empowered to make a decision on that recipe.

Here's the thing.  We have had many recipes that we hated.  And I don't think we've really had anything we had to throw away without eating.

So to sum it up I would say find a good cookbook and a recipe that looks manageable and go for it. Remember it doesn't have to be Julia Child's Boeuf Bourguignon.  I mean you can start with that, I won't discourage you...just be prepared for some time and effort. 

Here are some cook book options I love:
The Pioneer Woman Cooks

29 Minutes to Dinner

Blogs and the internet are also an excellent source for recipes:

www.allrecipes.com
www.foodnetwork.com
www.ohsheglows.com
www.thepioneerwoman.com

So you can do this! Have no fear and go for it!!