funeral

"Above and beyond any considerations of convenience or efficiency, the principal reason why obedience is so essential for the disciple of Christ is that it forms part of the mystery of Redemption: Christ revealed to us His mystery; by his obedience he brought about our redemption." Church document: Lumen Gentium

Tomorrow, Friday June 29th, in the morning. Greg and I will be attending the funeral of a sixteen year-old boy who was killed earlier this week in a tragic car accident. Our prayers are with him, his family, his friends, as well as with the other boy who died in the accident. We will, in a special way, be praying fervently for the lone survivor in the accident, for peace in his heart.

Requiem aeternum dona eis Domine, et lux perpetua luceat eis.
Te decet hymnus, Deus, in Sion, et tibi reddetur votum in Jerusalem:
Exaudi orationem meam, ad te omnis caro veniet.

(Grant him, O Lord, eternal rest, and may perpetual light shine upon him.
It is right, O God, to sing to thee a hymn in Zion, and in Jerusalem render thee a vow:
Thou hearest our prayers, to thee all flesh must come.)

The Beauty of Eucharistic Adoration

This was sent to us by a priest friend of ours' Fr. Beaumont. This is his parish.

Fifty reasons how I know we live in the country:

1. we have to check our shoes for "creatures" before we put them on
2. "creatures" is a commonly used word in our home – it is used to describe bugs, insects, amphibians, reptiles, etc.
3. the creatures here are more plentiful and more diverse than anywhere I have ever seen
4. we have to do a thorough creature check of our bed and bed linens before we get in
5. … because there has been a creature there before
6. … it was a scorpion
7. my dear husband has to wear snake boots when weed whacking
8. … Because we have rattlesnakes outside
9. … And we’ve seen them
10. … And killed them with a shovel
11. we grocery shop once a month
12. …. And have a freezer in the garage
13. …. Because the nearest grocery store is at least a LONG 25 minutes away
14. our town has no stoplights
15. no sidewalks
16. no chain stores
17. no fast food
18. it does have gas station
19. … it has run out of gas before
20. we break a sweat and get short of breath walking to the mail box
21. we have farm insurance
22. we don’t have cable
23. … we get 2 channels
24. three words: no cellphone reception
25. to feed our pet king snake my dear husband rounds up a lizard who got into the garage
26. we have a well, that was dug for us
27. we have a septic tank, that was put in for us
28. we had to request the electric company to put up a power pole so that we could get electricity to our house
29. our stove uses propane
30. our driveway has turns
31. we have acres
32. we have wildflowers growing on our property
33. … and poison oak and all sorts of other things
34. all the neighbors home school, for several reasons, but one being our town doesn’t have a school
35. we light controlled fires to protect against dangerous fires
36. you have to take your shoes and clothes off when you get inside, because they are dirty!
37. we have a mud room, and it usually has at least a bit of mud in it
38. we have breathtaking views
39. we can watch sunrise and sunset from our dining room table
40. it gets dark at night – real dark
41. it gets quiet at night – real quiet (except for some toads and crickets and other "creatures")
42. we built an electric fence
43. sometimes our pig gets loose (yes, our pig)
44. we’re closer to a national park than to an airport or a mall
45. people here wear cowboy boots and hats, and not because they are dressing up for the fair
46. my dear husband likes to sit out on our front porch
47. … with a beer
48. … and his shotgun
49. … and shoot ground squirrels
50. we love it

"On each occasion I say: 'Lord, thy will be done! It's not what this or that one wants, but what You want me to do.' This is my fortress, this is my firm rock, this is my sure support." ~ St. John Chrysostom

Meal Plan Monday

Ok, so some people do themes on their blogs, others are more random… I think ours will tend toward the more random side of things. This week I am playing along with Menu Planning Monday. Check out the site for more:http://orgjunkie.blogspot.com/

*I do not promise to do this every Monday. Leave a comment if you want a recipe.

Menu Plan Monday … -- gotta love the farm fresh summer fruits & veggies --
Monday –
Breakfast: homemade "luscious orange loaf"
Lunch: leftovers (stuffed bell peppers for the dear husband, bbq chicken pasta for me), fresh fruit
Dinner: homemade shake & bake chicken breasts, homemade rice pilaf, fresh corn on the cob, fresh zucchini, fresh fruit
Tuesday –
Breakfast: orange Mennonite muffins & yogurt
Lunch: leftovers (steak & rice pilaf for the dear husband, salad for me)
Dinner: Roast with mushrooms from crockpot, fresh corn on the cob, fresh green beans, fresh fruit
Wednesday – (meatless – we have been fasting on Wed. in June until the Feast of Sts. Peter & Paul on June 29)
Breakfast: orange Mennonite muffins (you see the trend … we acquired a LOT of free oranges)
Lunch: hmm not sure yet, maybe tuna salad for my dear husband and egg salad for me, fresh fruit
Dinner: homemade corn chowder, baked potato, fresh green beans, fresh fruit
Thursday – usually always a leftovers day…
Breakfast: orange Mennonite muffins & yogurt
Lunch: homemade chicken soup, fresh fruit
Dinner: leftover roast with mushrooms, homemade rice pilaf, fresh zucchini, fresh fruit
Friday – always meatless in memory of Christ’s suffering and death on the cross for the remission of our sins
Breakfast: orange Mennonite muffins & yogurt
Lunch: leftover homemade corn chowder, fresh fruit
Dinner: salmon, either rice or potato, fresh veggies, fresh fruit
Saturday –
Breakfast: homemade coffeecake, scrambled eggs, bacon, fresh fruit
Dinner: Chicken, Broccoli & Cheese Casserole, some other veggie, fresh fruit
Sunday –
Breakfast: I am thinking of making eggs benedict… we’ll see…, fresh fruit
Dinner: Barbeque tri-tip, homemade baked beans, fresh veggies, fresh fruit
Desserts this week: rice krispie treats, brownies, chocolate ice cream

cold during the summer

this will be a brief post... i just wanted to express my discontent with the airconditioning in my office. i am very blessed to live in a country so well-off to have airconditioning in almost every building. i am also very blessed to have a job where i can earn money for my dear husband. but, does it have to be 54 degress inside when the forecasted high for today is 95?!?! during the summer it is natural to be a bit warm - most people would be fine with the a/c set on 75/80 with some fans on. or even without fans, 70 would be reasonable. i think 68 might be some standard temperature level, with 65 good for those who overheat easily. but 54?!?! The recommended temperature for your refrigerator is 35-38 degrees... that's only 16 degrees away! 16 degrees in the other direction would be 70 - very comfortable for a day at work in a cubicle.
Anyway, i am wearing a long-sleeved sweatshirt and closed-toed shoes. i blow on my hands every once and a while to warm up my typing fingers and i am about to go on a walk outside to warm up. (Its beautiful outside by the way.) again, airconditioning is definitely a blessing, not a curse, but i'd love to save my office a few bucks and warm it up a bit. i think my heart-rate has slowed and i am definitely yawning more... but that might just be because its monday... hmm

time flies when you're having fun!

two years ago today greg asked sarina to be his girlfriend :)

(the picture is from summer 2006 after my brother's wedding)

two years ago today we had no idea what the next two years would entail. In the last two years I have lived in 4 cities and my dear husband has lived in 3 cities. We have been through graduation, job changes, family changes, weather changes, several moves, house selling, house building, vacations, holidays, sad times, happy times... We've been to several different countries. We've seen the Pope. We've flown & driven all around America visiting family and friends. We spent a school year teaching teenagers about purity. We went wine tasting often. We went to church together every Sunday. We tested our potential parenting skills by babysitting several children overnight. We fell in love. We are in love. Oh, and we got married too!! In all of that, we have definitely laughed more than we cried.
On the way into town for work today I asked my dear husband if he could have ever imagined that two years ago today that two years from then he would have build his house and married his wife. He said no, but he's very happy with how it worked out and we both agreed that these last two years have been the best in our lives so far!
We both offered our lives in service to God, offering our vocations to His glory. Neither of us knew for sure what He was going to choose for us. But I know I can speak for both of us when I say that we couldn't be happier with the path our good Lord has chosen for us. Praise Him from whom ALL blessing flow.

Happy Anniversary Dear Husband!

Phillipians 4:4-7 ~ Rejoice in the Lord always. I shall say it again: rejoice! Your kindness should be known to all. The Lord is near. Have no anxiety at all, but in everything - by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving - make your requests known to God. Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

the nice lady across the road that always has treats

I have always wanted to be the kind of wife/mother/homemaker that always has treats available for kids who come to visit our house. Maybe it comes from my childhood when my parents always supplied the neighborhood kids with sugar cereal after school and my mom always had a full-stocked candy jar on the counter.
My dear husband agreed to bake some oatmeal cookies with me the other day (usually he helps by being in the kitchen with me and occasionally measuring out some ingredients... I love when he joins me). The cookies turned out great! I have posted a recipe below. I am not exactly sure if this was the recipe we used, but its close enough. It yields about 4-5 dozen depending on how big you make them.
But back to my title: the nice lady across the road that always has treats. We now live across the road from a family with several little boys. They have found out that whenever they make it all the way up our driveway they are rewarded with treats from me. Most recently it has been a vanilla bundt cake with caramel glaze, oatmeal cookies on two occasions, and we even gave them 3 slices of my homemade cheesecake to share between them :)
I love being the nice lady across the road that always has treats (and by the way, my dear friend Emily gave me a candy jar for a bridal shower present and you can be sure that it is stocked and on my counter for any kids who come to visit)!

ENJOY!
Oatmeal Cookies
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
3/4 cup vegetable shortening
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup water
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 cups quick oats, uncooked)
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Heat oven to 350°F. In large bowl, beat brown sugar, shortening and granulated sugar until creamy. Add egg, water and vanilla; beat well. Add combined oats, flour, salt and baking soda; mix well.
Drop dough by rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.
Bake 11 to 13 minutes or until edges are golden brown. Remove to wire rack. Cool completely. Store tightly covered.

first post

well, here we go... into the world of blogging.
Greg has been blogging for years and I have done my own version of e-mail blogging, but now that we are married and everyone seems so interested in what we are up to :) It makes sense to join the crowd and post updates, photos, random thoughts, and anything else we care to share with our family and friends. Visit often and leave comments.
Blessings,
Sarina