Pumpkin Quotes,Pictures,Recipes and Rambles

    One of my favorite things about fall is pumpkins-I know i'm certainly not the only one with this love because as soon as the leaves start changing and the air gets chilly I can immediately hop on Pinterest or Facebook and find recipes, pictures, quotes, and some rants and rambles all about pumpkins and how wonderful they are. I can say that I have already done my rant,ramble and recipe, but have yet to do my part in sharing pictures and quotes, so here it goes:

Quote:
Linus: He'll come here because I have the most sincere pumpkin patch and he respects sincerity. 
Sally Brown: Do you really think he will come? 
Linus: Tonight the Great Pumpkin will rise out of the pumpkin patch. He flies through the air and brings toys to all the children of the world. 
Sally Brown: That's a good story. 
Linus: You don't believe the story of the Great Pumpkin? I thought little girls always believed everything that was told to them. I thought little girls were innocent and trusting. 
Sally Brown: Welcome to the 20th century!

(gotta love charlie brown...)

Pictures:
Yesterday Steven and I took the train out to Highwood for Highwood Pumpkin Festival -the goal of this ginormous fall gathering was to beat their pumpkin carving record of last year in hopes of making it into the Guinness Book of World Records for the most carved and lit jack-o-lanterns. This year their goal was 32000 pumpkins! Steven and I proudly contributed a whole ten pumpkins...aren't we helpful? Anyway, enjoy our masterful creations:

     As if this post isn't already long enough, I have another recipe to share as well! This weekend I was reading through a couple different blogs and one blog led to another blog and so on until finally I came across SproutedKitchen and found a recipe for Almond Date Truffles then shortly after I stumbled upon Anja's Food 4 Thought and she had a recipe for Coconut-Kissed Almond Date Truffles. I always get a little over excited when I find recipes that are dairy free/gluten free, are really healthy for you, and taste great. Anyway, with these delicious looking inspirations I set out to make my own version with a pumpkin twist. They turned out magnificently!

Ingredients:

1 cup of Dates

1/4 cup of shredded sweet coconut 2 tbs for coating

1/2 cup of pumpkin

1 tbs maple syrup (the real stuff)

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp cinnamon

1 dash of salt

1/4 tsp ginger

2 tbs cocoa powder

1 tsp chia seeds

In a blender combine pumpkin and dates

add in the 1/4 cup of coconut

then add ginger, maple syrup, vanilla, and cinnamon

while you are blending, on a plate or bowl combine cocoa powder, remaining coconut
and chia seeds. When everything is well combined in the blender (still a little chunky), form into balls
and roll in the cocoa/coconut mixture

It may look a bit like an alien with chia seed eyes and coconut tentacles, but
let me assure you they are very tasty little aliens.

They made a very tasty dessert at the end of our meal of chicken puttanesca, olive oil and rosemary bread
and a glass of key lime seltzer water.

The Ramblings of a Searching Christian

    I have recently been struggling with thoughts of how I ought to handle my time as a Christian. There are so many things that I desire to squeeze into my daily routine, but how many of those things should I actually spend time on? I have been allowed this short life on earth for a reason, and that reason is to glorify and honor God by doing whatever He calls me to do.
    Now I realize that God does not call us to live secluded lives like monks and nuns, but to what extent do I take my interaction with the world?(Romans 8:5  "For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on things of the flesh,but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on things of the Spirit".)

*Should I ever be watching movies whether they be "Christian" or not?( Eph. 5:15-16: "See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, Redeeming the time,because the days are evil.")

* Should I ever go shopping and enjoy spending money on things that will only pass away and for the time being only serve to gratify my flesh? (Proverbs 3:13-15 : "Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding for the merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of silver, and the gain thereof than fine gold. She is more precious than rubies: and all the things thou canst desire are not to be compared unto her.")

* Should I ever listen to non-Christian music even if the lyrics aren't bad? In the Bible music is
primarily used as a form of worship, though it is recorded that David used music to sooth king Saul (perhaps a form of entertainment) it was done simply with instruments (and knowing David, if he was singing it was probably spiritual songs.) You know how after listening to a song, somehow over the next couple hours or days, whether you want to or not, you start singing that song? Well I desire my life to be a living sacrifice-as a Christian that's what it should be-but how am I accomplishing that when I'm singing a song that has nothing to do with praising God and was written by someone who knows or cares nothing for God. (Psalms 19:14 - "May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be pleasing and acceptable in your sight, O Lord my Rock and my Redeemer.")

    My life is not my own, I have turned it over to Christ and with that being said shouldn't I spend all my time at His feet or out on his errands? (1 Cor 6:19-20: "What? Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit,which are God's.")

    These are all just the ramblings that have been tumbling about in my head and frustrating the living daylights out of me, for I long to please my Lord and Savior,but I'm not sure how. What is too extreme and what is acceptable? I am supposed to live in the world and yet at the same time, not be of the world.
 The link below is one that I found to be fairly insightful as to how we should manage time.
Keys to good time management

A Few of my Favorite Things

Since I find myself with a spare moment this morning and a child laying contentedly against my arm while happily talking to himself, I have decided to quickly share with you a few wonderful things that I have been into recently.

 #1-
Groupon

There are so many fantastic deals on this site! Yes, it certainly helps to live in the city, but if you click on the "goods" tab there are lots of items that you can buy at great prices (and they change everyday).

#2-
Vitacost

This is also a wonderful site that I have started using. They sell all kinds of health food products and vitamins at discounted prices. Also, if you spend $49 shipping is free. I recently bought some protein powders, vitamins and powdered peanut butter all for around $55 - that is great savings!

Beginnings of Fall

    I love fall, though I'm pretty sure I say that at the beginning of each season. However, since I am in the "fall spirit" at the moment-fall is my favorite! There is so much to love: beautiful leaves,cuddling up with a nice hot drink, delicious fall foods (which I have been purchasing every Saturday at the local farmers market), and pumpkin (foods, candles, decorations).
    Since my return to Chicago I have been cooking up a storm, but haven't had any time to blog about any of it. But in light of this wonderful season and the pumpkin goodness that comes along with it, I am going to post some muffins I made this past week. I have been reading about the wonderful health benefits of oatmeal and I found these wheat- less muffins made from oatmeal-they were delicious! I actually made them twice...the first time I followed this recipe with a few modifications such as, applesauce instead of yogurt and honey instead of brown sugar. Anyway, the second time I made them I replaced both the applesauce and the banana's with pumpkin (since plain pumpkin isn't as sweet as applesauce and banana's I would suggest adding more honey or brown sugar) to make a lovely and healthy fall treat. Happy Fall!

Our little corner of the world

    Alright, here we go again-update number two! Our trip back to Chicago after our summer-long stay in Pennsylvania, was a lovely and relaxing little trip. Steven and I rode with his parents in their cute little hatch back car stuffed with all of our darling little trinkets and toys collected over the summer. Er...make that some of our darling little trinkets (my parents drove behind us in a mini van packed Tetris style with our things, like we were newly weds moving into our first home). I may have gone on a shopping spree for foods and household goods almost everyday, but hey, the expensiveness of all these fancy designer stores and what-not  here in Chicago was seriously cramping my thrifty style!
    Anyway, I basically redecorated the place and stocked my cupboards fuller than they have ever been before-come on blizzard or famine, I'm ready for you...well maybe not, unless I plan to eat copious amounts of crackers with BBQ sauce for a long time (they were cheap). Anywho,  I'm sure this has been a bunch of incoherent nothingness to all of you so I will cease my ramblings and give you something a little more interesting: Pictures!

These are the glasses I used to make some delicious homemade butter.
However, the red trying pad underneath the drying rack is what I'm trying
to show off, but doing a fairly poor job. It livens up my counter space.

Fresh tomatoes just purchased from the farmers market. They are
sitting in a basket from the salvation army (my favorite place), next to
a whole grain baguette that doesn't have to do with anything, but just in-case you were wondering.
Oh, and all of these items are sitting upon my wonderful convention oven.

Some yummy herbs sitting on my kitchen windowsill. They are
planted inside some pots that I painted to match my kitchen.

My kitchen is now Asian themed-hence the adorable Asian tea set and chopsticks.
I also have the red bamboo place mats to add a bit of color.

Tea set on top of a lazy-Susan 

My lovely little table

I bought this at the Hobby Lobby in the clearance section. I wasn't sure at first
what I was going to do with, but I thought hey, I hate having to drape towels and wash
clothes over the sink-why not hang them up? 

A few of my prettier cooking ingredients

These were originally plain old paint lids, but with a bit of work,
they have turned into wonderful accents to my kitchen.
I painted them black and white and though you can't see it in this picture they have
the fruits of the spirit written on them in Chinese.

You can kind of see the figures in this picture

On to the living room! The pillows are kind of hard to see, but
I made them. Found some great fabrics and wala!

More pillows and little black rug purchased from the dollar general
(yay for back to school sales and college dorm supplies!)

I love sitting down in a dimply lit room with candles, a good record and a
cup of coffee.

Another candle and a plant

My favorite part of this picture is the divider next to the stand.
I also got this at the Hobby Lobby on sale for $28 down from $135

Our poor book shelf has been through so much in the past couple years. It has been
stuffed beyond what it can bear. I have decided this year to free up some space for his new books he will be
getting, so I decorated with them. I set them on the top of this stand and put some pictures in front of them and
some dried flowers. It has a great vintage kind of feel. The tree on the wall I made out of  about 22 twigs I found out side. I just nailed them individually to the wall to form a tree.

Our entryway. I finally got a coat rack! 

Just a few things I wasn't really sure what to do with so
I set them up on top of my dresser-they also look kind of vintage.

Candle, jars, and paper flowers.

Moments

    Ah yes, life. You know, that thing that passes by moment by moment and you don't realize just how quickly it passes until one day you sit down and start reminiscing and you realize that those memories are ten years old. So much happens in those little seemingly unimportant moments and I constantly have to remind myself that I need to enjoy the moment I'm in, instead of jumping to the next one.
    It has been a little while since I have made an update about my life's trek, simply because there have been so many moments between my last post and this one and they are all so important and exciting-it feels like such a daunting task to catch up with everything. SO having said that, I will try little by little to bring things up to date.
    First, and most importantly and excitingly and...just overall great thing going for me right now is: I'm a Nanny! After much frustration and tears (having to work at Panera where I really wasn't doing anything I had a passion for) and then prayer (realizing hey, I'm stupid, why don't I pray about this?)-I landed a job as a nanny for a wonderful Christian family in a nice neighborhood, conveniently located,normal consistent hours, doing something I love. God. Is. Awesome.
    A few little details about my job: First of all, it really doesn't feel like a job-you know the saying "Do what you love and you'll never work a day in your life." This definitely applies to me. The little boy I watch just turned one about two weeks ago. His name is Adam and he is a pretty easy going little guy. I watch him from about 7:30am till sometime around 4:00pm. They also have a five year old daughter named Norah who spent the first couple days with me before school started. She's a bundle of energy which always livens up the mornings before she goes to school.
    So right now my day looks something like this: Get up at 5:30am (only downside to the job, but I'm getting used to it), take a bath-funny story: Our hot water heater is broken so Steven gets up at 5:00am to boil water for me to take a bath in. Steven and I ride the train downtown together and then go our separate ways. After I'm done working I head home, put dinner in the oven, eat, go to the gym, come home and make the dinner for the next day and by then it's getting close to 10:00pm which is when I go to bed. Phew! Long day, but it's productive.
    A little random side note: I have recently joined the world of Pinterest and am already fairly addicted. When I have the time I spend quite a few of my fleeting moments glued to the Pinterest app on my new Kindle Fire (which is one of the greatest inventions ever).
    This concludes the first in a series of rambles about the moments of my life.

Home Is Where The Heart Is

    They say "Home is where the heart is," but I'm not sure my heart knows where home really is. I have just come "home" from a wonderful summer at well..."home"?
     This past summer Steven and I worked with Child Evangelism Fellowship in Altoona, Pennsylvania. I can't even begin to describe what a huge blessing it was to be able to work in the ministry again in my hometown. It was wonderful to go to our home church and to fellowship with our family and long-time friends. I want to thank all of you who have prayed for us faithfully-we have been incredibly blessed!
    Now I am "home" in Chicago where God has seen fit to place us for the time being. I prayed all summer that God would prepare for coming back and that he would give me His peace that passes all understanding and though my heart yearns for Good ol' Pennsylvania, I find myself at peace here.
    But really my home is not in this world at all-I am an alien to this land and therefore wherever God wants me is where my heart will find it's home.

Days Like These...

    These past few days have been absolutely gorgeous! A little bit on the excruciatingly hot side, but never the less very beautiful. Days of summer always remind me of all that I am thankful for (though I always have something to be thankful for). Its all that good ol' vitamin D that makes people happy and brings out the best in them. So here I have compiled a list of all the things that days like these make me thankful for:


On Days Like These...


...I am thankful to be close to family, laughing and appreciating each others company.


...I am thankful for all the nature that is around me (being apart from it for so long makes me appreciate it so much more).


...I am thankful for swimming pools and the sweet relief they provide in the heat. This morning I woke up so incredibly hot that I ran down the stairs and jumped in the pool.


...I am thankful for delicious lemonade that seems to complete the summery atmosphere. ( I made some blueberry lemonade yesterday and it was quite delicious)

Blueberry Lemonade

Blueberry Lemonade

Ingredients: 1/2 cup blueberries, water, 1 cup lemon juice,and 1/2 cup sugar (I used sugar in the raw)

Directions: 

1)In a blender combine the blueberries and about a cup of water *blend*.

2)Strain the blueberry/water mixture through a sieve and into a pitcher.

3)Pour in lemon juice and sugar.

4) Fill the rest of up with water.

5) Stir.

...I am thankful for yummy summer foods! (Yesterday I made some fried green tomato's).

Fried Green Tomato's

Ingredients: 3 green tomato's, 2 eggs, 1 cup masa (or 1/2 cup flour and 1/2 cup corn meal), season salt, Mediterranean seasoning to taste, and olive oil for frying.

Directions:

1)Cut the tomato's into thin slices and season them with salt. Let them sit for about five minutes.

2)Cover the bottom of a frying pan with oil and heat on the stove.

3) while the oil is heating mix your masa and Mediterranean seasoning together and crack your eggs into a bowl.

4) Dip your tomato's in the egg and then in the masa mixture.

5) Plop them into your pan with the oil and cook until brown on both sides.

6) Sprinkle some season salt on top.

...I am thankful for iced coffee/frappuccino's! I usually have coffee every morning, but this morning was way too hot for a hot drink, so I made my self a little frappuccino.It was soooooooo creamy and yummy. 

You can see all the cream collected
on the top! Mmm...

 Frappuccino

Ingredients: Milk, espresso, grandma's molasses, and ice.

Directions: 

1)Brew espresso (or coffee however you usually do)

2)Fill the bottom of a blender about an inch or two.

3)Pour in your espresso (or coffee)

4) Put in as much ice as you want according to how icy you want it.

5) Blend.

...Most of all, I am thankful for a God who has blessed me with far more than I need.

Blessings Abounding

    I have been neglecting the online world as of late. That by itself is a bit of a blessing. I have been so busy working with Child Evangelism Fellowship, spending time with family, friends, and Steven, that I don't give much thought to hopping on the computer every once in a while.
    Since my arrival in Pennsylvania about a month or so ago, I have been working hard alongside Steven to set up 5-Day clubs (where we go into people's homes,backyards, parks, day cares, and community centers to teach the children about God), recruit teenagers to teach the clubs, work our way through mounds of paperwork, and then finally train the teenagers (Christian Youth In Action or CYIAer's) to teach the clubs.
    Steven and I just got back from the first week of training with the CYIAer's. We taught two classes, evaluated our CYIAer's, and spent time building team unity by getting to know them. We have been blessed this year with some incredible and wonderful people with a love for God and a desire to see children come to know Jesus as their Savior. I am so very grateful for the opportunity to be a part of their lives this summer and to see what God has in store for each of them.
    Monday starts our second week of training where our CYIAer's will get to experience teaching a 5-Day Club for the first time. I ask that you would pray for our group as they endeavor on this mission for the children. Pray that hearts will be touched, lives will be changed, and also that fun will be had! We are looking forward to what God has in store for us this summer!