Listen to Me!

Last night at group we split into 2 groups of 7 and talked about barriers to hearing God. I was one of 3 in my group who identified "a rational mindset" as our biggest barrier. It's the idea that God has to communicate the same way humans do - if we can't, he can't.

Ever hear something in your head and not really know if it was you or God? I do that all the time. I'm getting noticeably better at telling the difference. Sometimes I know a thought wouldn't be there or be there so firmly if it wasn't God. But sometimes God seems to whisper, and I can't tell if I'm just daydreaming or not. It's in those times that I'm bad about the rational mindset; "God doesn't talk like that. At least not much." Phooey. Funny how I can believe different things in different situations.

God works beautifully. I got a personal story from a teacher named Beth Moore this week. She tells of a time this happened to her - and it's hilarious. So, if anyone is wondering what in the world I'm talking about, just ask me to e-mail that to you.

In other news:
Guess who's staying up tonight as close to dawn as possible? We are we are!!!
We've got PADS' overnight shift Saturday night, so we're hoping to wake up about 4 PM Saturday. We'll go to church Saturday night and then I've got girls' night out with the lovely ladies from our house group.
Come Sunday, I'll be loopy.

Sunday is also the first meeting of a group I'm in which I'll just call "the welcoming committee." We're gonna talk about what it's like for new people at church their first 30 seconds in the door. Then somehow try to make it better. Obviously, I'm just gonna be filled in on the first meeting - I'd sleep through it. Actually, I probably will sleep through it.

Oh, and our local paper wrote a good article about our church that explains what "type" of church it is. I can forward that to anyone who requests it. I can't figure out how to put the link in here.

...My Face

Ok, so I know it looks like I'm just trying to work in another picture of The Fluff. But in the picture where the bracelet really looked best, my hand was flat-out yellow. (Y'all can thank Bethany for asking for the pic.) This is what David gave me for Valentine's.

Let's see, I need to give y'all the update:
Last Thursday at group we got to hear an explanation of how the dinosaurs fit in with the Bible, which is so way cool. And by some bizarre twist, I made a salsa sale. David and I are going grocery shopping tonight and I'm cooking salsas tomorrow - I've got 26 tomatillos and 14 jalapenos on my list.
Saturday we went to the mall (me for the first time in IL) and scoured it for snowboots. I got very mild frostbite last week and vowed to fix that. I tried on some pretty rad knee-high boots but couldn't zip them over my um, well-shaped calves. So I ordered some on-line which should come as early as tomorrow.
We also went out for our first Valentine's dinner as hubby and rib. SO WAY VERY COOL TOTALLY EXCITING HOW GOOD IS MY LIFE!!! (I think you get the point.) Oh, it was Italian.
Sunday we helped a friend take home a new mattress and spent a while at Burger King with him.
Oh, I forgot; Friday night we had PADS from 10:30-2. Basically, we just read Reader's Digest from 2000 the whole time. I think our PADS stuff averages out to about once a week.
So that's what we've been doing.

On a different note, I honestly think my face has changed in the last 6 months. I was staring at it in the mirror the other day, laughing hysterically. I kept seeing facial expressions that I never have before. It looked like somebody else's face! It was so weird! My guess is that the fact that I've taken on a new identity in the last 6 months has literally changed how I look. And it makes sense! I think differently and feel differently, so that would alter what's seen on my face. It's amazing. I didn't know it was possible to have that happen. But I love what I see! Looking in the mirror is like looking at the face of a delighted stranger. I usually have wide eyes and a big smile and I can honestly say I think that girl's really pretty! She looks so different from what I know as "me."

Our lives have different "seasons" that vary in length. But I'm confident that this half-year of being David's Rib and getting closer to God has been the best "season" my life has had so far.

Our Precious Furball

Does timing get any better?

Congrats, Hubby

My Monster is getting more difficult to deal with. He managed to trick me for the first time ever. I can always read him like a book, and several days ago I figured out that he'd gotten me a vase for Valentine's and hidden it at his office. Yeah. Well. He knows I can read him, so he's been pretending that he didn't want me to know he'd gotten a vase.

Turns out, the vase at the office was a bracelet hidden in his dresser drawer. I'm not sure what I'm gonna do now that he's figured out how to dupe me. Who knew that marriage would teach people how to trick each other.

Anyway, not all bad. Vases don't sparkle! I love being in love!

Snow - Feb. 14

All of these were either taken in our courtyard or from our back sidewalk. The one that looks like nothing but snow is what's left of David's snow angel from last night. It has no head - he didn't want to put his head down. Something about the cold...

Let it be known, David disobeyed his Grandma. She told us to throw snowballs at each other, and when I made one, he hid behind the door. Mm, mm, mmm. For shame David Locke. For shame. :P

Happy Valentine's!

A huggable little Valentine from us to you! Happy Valentine's Day!

Shrimpies

Look, Ma! I figured out shrimp now! I don't know if it's good. We'll probably eat it tomorrow or even Friday. Hmm. No, that'd be gross. It's tomorrow. They're called Key West or something. (I mean the shrimp, not the recipe.)

Quiche Recipe

This is a picture from a friend's wedding. Funny, method worked for me, too!

I just walked in deep snow for the first time. Holy cow. I'd only walked one block before I was breathing hard. It's unreal. Reminds of walking in 2 feet of water.

Ok, so Mom wants my quiche recipe. (picture in previous post) So here it is, straight from America's Test Kitchen:

Quiche Lorraine

pie shell: 1 1/4 c flour, 1 tbs. sugar, 1/2 tsp. salt
2 tbs. shortening, cut into 1/2 inch pieces and chilled
4 tbs. butter, cut into 1/4 inch pieces and chilled
4-6 tbs. ice water

Process the flour, sugar, and salt. Process in shortening until it looks like coarse sand.
Pulse in the butter until it resembles coarse crumbles.
Transfer to bowl. Add 4 tbs. water and stir until dough comes together.
Form into 4 inch disk, wrap in plastic wrap, chill at least one hour.
Roll and put in pie pan (I think it may fit just in the bottom of a 9x13). Freeze 30 min.
Line the chilled crust with foil, covering the edges too.
Fill with pie weights (beans, pennies).
375 for 25-30 min. It should look dry and light in color.
Remove the foil and weights.

custard: 4 ounces bacon (4 slices), chopped while still raw
1 small onion, chopped
5 large eggs
1 c whole milk
1 c heavy cream
1 tsp minced fresh thyme (yeah, gotta use fresh - mmmm)
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/4 tsp. salt
4 oz. Gruyere cheese, shredded (1 c)

Fry the bacon in a 10 inch skillet over medium heat until crisp.
Transfer to a paper towel lined plate and pour off all but 2 tsp of the grease.
Add the onion and cook on medium until lightly browned. Toss with bacon and set aside.
Whisk together the eggs, milk, cream, thyme, pepper, and salt.
Sprinkle the cheese and then the bacon mixture on the bottom of the still-warm pie shell.
Put the shell in the oven and pour egg mixture in until it's 1/2 inch from the top.
(I totally filled mine - it was fine. And leftovers are decent scrambled eggs.)
Bake at 350 for 40-50 minutes.
The top should be light brown and a knife inserted 1 inch from the edge should come out
clean.
Cool on a baking rack.

Do all the chopping, shredding, etc before ever putting the shell in the oven or you won't be able to put the custard in while the shell's warm.
Leftover thyme can be measured into ice cube trays, covered in water, and frozen for later.

You Come and I'll Share

Look, Ma! I made quiche! Made the pie crust, chopped the thyme and everything! It was fun.

And I stuck those flowers in there just to show you. That was a David-and-I-together thing. He liked 'em, we bought 'em, I arranged 'em. There's 3 of those spread around the kitchen.

Finished Kitchen

Ok, so here's the pictures of the mostly-finished kitchen. I'm trying to add some extra touches without adding any extra mula. I'm thinking of hanging some dried herbs/peppers/flowers somewhere. And I'd like to replace that cross with something colorful. Otherwise, it's pretty good. I now have a place for my mixer and a fruit/veggie bowl. And I found a good place for my taters and such in that cabinet. I like this a lot better than the handkerchiefs-all-over-the-walls set up I had. That's in the earliest archive month if you want to look (I think). If anyone has any other suggestions, feel free to send 'em.

Big thank you to my idea-full sister, and to my mirror-hanging, sticky-tack-smooshing, stand-back-and-see-if-it's-straight-yet Hubby.

Big Flakey Thing

Check out this bodacious ice crystal thing growing on our kitchen window. It's wacky shaped, but probably covering a square foot. I think if you click on the picture you can see it with more detail. It's beautiful - like a massive snowflake. (This, by the way, is totally what my glasses did Sunday morning.)

In other news, David and I are doing fine. They have an air conditioner at work to keep the server room cool and it only is built to work down to an outdoor temp of 15 or so. So it crashed and they had to turn off some computers to cool stuff down. That's bizarre to me - that it actually is that cold outside.