Ch-ch-changesss

Howdy, ya'll !

After a month of no posts  again, I think you'll understand why once I explain all that's been going on! Some good, some bad, but all within God's perfect plan. 

So here goes:  We are moving on from full time ministry at Camp Haluwasa. We love Camp dearly  and have called it home for the past year and a half, but know that God is calling us to new challenges and opportunities. It was scary and sad to make that decision, but Mark has already started a new job and everyone has wished us all the best here at camp. I don't know if it has hit us quite yet, because we are still living at the camp, but we are excited to see what else God has in store. 

Mark is incredibly gifted in leading worship and many opportunities have been presented for him to pursue that as his ministry. We hope and pray that one day God will fully provide for us through a worship pastor position. Not sure what that would look like, but in addition to leading worship for a church, Mark would also love to be a shepherding pastor and just spend time with people and disciple them.

So that's our biggest news. We will be renting a house near both of our parents for six months and then if the Lord wills, we will buy a home. 

Next up: our house was robbed three weeks ago. We don't know who or why, but they took cash and jewelry, and few other odds and ends. Thankfully, neither of us were home. But they stole my engagement ring. I'm pretty crushed about that. I'm trying to have a good attitude, but it's tough waiting for insurance to tell us what they'll give us so that we can buy a new one. Thankfully we had all kinds of receipts and credit card statements proving that we owned some major items but we're in a waiting period right now. Hopefully I'll receive a call today. 

 

So we are home together every night now, which is wonderful. We're not necessarily any less busy, but we do get to spend time together on a more consistent basis than in the summer. There's lots to pray about, so please lift us up when you remember. 

We know the Lord is going to do big things!

Cold Brewed Iced Coffee

Here's another method I've been using this week:

1/3 cup ground coffee (medium-coarse grind is best)
Milk (optional).

1. In a jar, stir together coffee and 1 1/2 cups water. Cover and let rest at room temperature overnight or 12 hours.

2. Strain twice through a coffee filter, a fine-mesh sieve or a sieve lined with cheesecloth. In a tall glass filled with ice, mix equal parts coffee concentrate and water, or to taste. If desired, add milk.

(From the New York Times, 2007)

I'm about four years behind the curve but this stuff is REALLY good. And you don't have to use a hot coffee maker. AND it cuts down on the acidity. So as per another blogger's recommendation, I used the Cafe Bustelo coffee and it has a smooth, rich taste. Since I don't have a fine mesh sieve, I used a funnel and a coffee filter. It does take a bit of time to get all the coffee through the filter, but for right now it's working.
Once you have your coffee concentrate, "stick it in the frig." It should last a while, like up to three weeks! (It'll go before then, promise.)
You can google other methods and recipes for cold brewed iced coffee to make it en masse.

Enjoy!

Iced Coffee?

I confess:
I have an addiction to Starbucks' Iced Coffee.
"May I have a Venti Iced Coffee with three pumps of Toffee Nut?"
I blame it on working there. I'm trying to break the habit and go less, but with working 5 a.m. shifts, it's pretty tough to get by without coffee. (And truthfully the TJ's stuff just doesn't cut it for me.)

So anyhow, I do know how to make it at home, and I do, it's just never quite the same! But I thought I'd share how to make it. Starbucks has a method they call "Double Brewing" that they use to make iced coffee in the store, and it's really all about ratio. They use a medium roast, (which, by the way, has more caffeine, but more on that later) usually Gazebo or Tarrazu, and they use

the same amount of coffee for a whole pot, but only half the water.

So for example, if you have a machine that has a 12 cup capacity, you would use the amount of coffee for a 12 cup pot, but only 6 cups of water. Then you would use the same volume of ice in your pitcher, and pour the hot, double-brewed coffee over top. Chill, and then serve over ice.
Super easy!

Here's a few hints/tricks I've picked up over the years from working there, and being a loyal customer :)

• You can customize your drink! If the standard recipe is too sweet, order less pumps of syrup. Tall = 3 pumps; Grande = 4 pumps; Venti = 5 pumps (Unless iced, then Venti gets 6 pumps)
• Starbucks recommends using 3 Tablespoons of coffee per every 3 cups of water. They sell coffee scoops that are 2 tablespoons, and I highly recommend them for consistency at home.
• The "bold" coffee Starbucks is known for has a darker, richer taste, but it has less caffeine that lighter roasts because it was roasted longer.
• Beware of White Chocolate Mocha syrup...it has approximately 60 calories PER PUMP!!
• Standard sugar syrups (Vanilla, Hazelnut, Toffee Nut, etc. have approximately 20 calories per pump.

Hopefully this gives you some insight into a few of the Starbucks "secrets."
Peace!

Sorry for the delay...

Yup, another gap in blogging for several months. I guess I'll never be too great at this, however, I am seriously busy all the time! (Even when I don't need to be..) We had an incredibly busy month of May starting with a visit to a pastor friend's home near Tom's River and church presentation for Camp during the first weekend. Then we had my beautiful cousin Emma's (who was also my flower girl) First Holy Communion the second weekend. The third weekend in May was the wedding of our dear friends Kris & BriG. I was so busy preparing for their wedding all month that I barely took pictures of all the amazing homemade ideas she used, because I was just too busy having fun! I drove down to Cape May and had an awesome time with all of her girlfriends from along the East Coast. BriG is a bit of a free spirit so she makes friends wherever she goes. Such a fun girl, and really passionate about children in foreign countries. K&B will be most happy together, wherever they are! And the last weekend in May was of course, Memorial Day, which we spent Sunday, Monday, Tuesday in Wildwood with my very gracious aunt and uncle...who live two blocks from the beach. oh yeah.

We've been surfing a few times, have seen dolphins like, every time, and I finally tried kayak surfing. SO FUN! My husband is also amazing in the water. If he had more time to surf and do water sports, I'm sure he'd be awesome already. It's an amazing sport and I so look forward to September when we get the best waves in NJ and we have more time to spend in them.

So now camp has officially started, the staff is here for training, and the overnight campers arrive Sunday night! Keep us in prayer as we go headfirst into the camping season. Pray for our staff- that the Lord would sustain and refresh them, and that He would speak through them. Pray for the campers- that the Lord would speak to their hearts, that they would acknowledge the Spirit and accept Jesus Christ as their Savior, and that they would go out and be active in faith and get plugged into a church.
And lastly, please pray for Mark and I. Camp is very stressful and offers little rest. Pray that the Lord sustain and refresh Mark throughout these next six weeks, that he would be able to stay focused and spend time with the Lord. Pray that I would have the best attitude possible when we can't spend time together, and that I pray for him and support him with the Word. Also, we have some very big decisions to make in the coming months.
Pray that we rely on the Lord 100%.

Pray that He would guide us and make every step clear. Thanks so much for making it to the end of this lengthy post if you're still with me!

Peace.

Inspiration

I've always loved the ocean and wanted to live out the surfing lifestyle. I guess I started obsessing about it when I was in middle school, but I never got on a board until college. And I never stood up and rode a wave until last year.
All the while, I was, and still am, pretty scared of the ocean. Really, of what's in the ocean. But I shouldn't let fear rule my life. The Bible says to fear not. So this year I want to get out there and ride fearlessly. I want to live out my dream of actually being able to paddle out there and ride over and over again. It was the most exhilarating feeling to stand up and let the wave carry me to shore. I remember triumphantly pumping both fists in the air and my husband and instructor cheering me on. I felt I had won a victory over my fear. Then I let it cripple me again just a few weeks later.

So here's how I should be inspired: By the real-life pro surfer
Bethany Hamilton.


I think everyone is pretty familiar with her story. Thirteen with big dreams, all seemingly shattered when a 14-foot Tiger Shark bites her arm off in the water.
And you know what? She's winning championships left and right.

With one arm.

Obviously she has not let fear rule her life. And she gives Jesus the glory for all of it. Especially losing her arm.
How inspiring.

Little Updates

I'm thinking an update is overdue
There's been a lot going on, as usual, in our lives and in our ministry! March isn't over yet, but it has been SO busy. We had the Junior and Teen retreats, a lovely friend's wedding, led worship (Mark, not I!)at several different meetings, went to a funeral, and last night a church presentation. We ate with three different family members this week so I only had to cook once! My new schedule has been working out beautifully and I'm praying it keeps going like this.

So the wedding! My friend Lindsay! I'm so happy for her and her new husband, Justin. They met on eHarmony about the time I met Mark. She planned out every detail to have a romantic modern vintage theme using a black, white, and red color scheme.

Here's my favorite shop of the beautiful bride.

Everything came out perfectly. Except for the fact that her dear uncle was holding on for dear life, and sadly passed early the next morning. (So that explains the funeral). My heart aches for the family, and it's even harder to digest because he is the same age as my father. I cannot imagine life without my father.

This coming month we have a few guest groups at camp, but when May comes we all hit the ground running. Mark and I are getting excited for a few short trips coming up though! My cousin Phil is coming in from California to look at some colleges on the East Coast. We're taking him up to visit NYU for the day this coming week, and the following weekend Mark and I, and our two buddies, Josh and Drew, are going on a short backpacking trip in the Shenandoah Valley! I'm excited to do something Mark loves so much, and I always have a good time with the guys. It'll be a great time of fellowship, I'm sure.
So yeah, we have a few slow weeks around here and then May will be busy. every.single.weekend. Not just because of camp, but because everything happens in May. I'm feeling the exhaustion already! Hopefully we'll be squeezing in plenty of time on the beach. and surfing.

Sorry I've been absent for the past few weeks! I am still working on the living room with Mama. I have been scouring Etsy for inspiration and a few key pieces to add to the vintage Hawaiian theme of the room. The valances are complete, we have bamboo Roman shades, and the ugly door has been painted. I've also acquired a collection of Hawaiians from one of the full-time Crew members at TJ's so I can cut them up for pillows, and I would also like to frame the top half of one for a collage.
Collage, yes, that's what I'm going to do on one wall. The mirror from the previous post would look lonely by itself, so here's what I'm thinking:


A fun little souvenir plate..
(From the Daisy Gert Etsy shop)


And framing a vintage map.
(From the Gossamer Memories Etsy shop)

Both of these would look great with the mirror and the framed Hawaiian. I'm just doing this whole project little by little so I'm not dumping a load of cash all at once. Mama and I have also been discussing making a stenciled border around the room too instead of painting everything. I found some awesome stencils on Etsy from the Royal Design Stencils shop, but I think this one will flow best with the theme:

Awesome, right?


Life update: The Junior & Teen Retreats are this weekend and next, my lovely friend Lindsay (Linzel =)is getting married next weekend (!), helping BriG with many projects for her and Kris' wedding in May (also !)and I got switched to mostly mornings at TJ's and down to just three days. Pretty stoked about all of the above.
God is more than loving and gracious and generous to us.
He is the reason for all good things.