Great Coffee

I think I have finally found my favorite blend of coffee.  It's called Mahogany and it's made by Caribou Coffee.  When Chad and I lived in Minnesota, we used to go to Caribou Coffee a lot for their lattes.  My favorite was the Raspberry White Mocha and Chad likes the Caramel High Rise.  We found a small Caribou Coffee here in Springfield so we went there a couple of days ago.  We ordered our lattes but they also gave us a small free sample of their Mahogany blend whole bean coffee.  I took it home, ground it up, and drank every last bit of it up. Simply my favorite coffee thus far!  I went back to day and bought a pound of it.  I love having coffee early in the morning and late in the evening. 

It's nice having coffee to drink in the morning, especially when I'm drawing or writing.   Here's what I'm working on so far.  I'm writing and illustrating a children's book called The Calendar.  It's about the biblical appointed days- Passover, Feast of Unleavened Bread, Feast of Firstfruits, Pentecost, Feast of Trumpets, Day of Atonement, and Feast of Tabernacles.  I'm also including the weekly Sabbath and Purim and Hanukah as well.  Here's a picture of the Feast of Tabernacles.  I should be done in about a month and will have it up on Amazon for those interested in purchasing it.

Well, off I go.  I still have laundry to do before the Sabbath begins.  Shabbat Shalom!

Leviticus 23:3 (NASB)

 ‘For six days work may be done, but on the seventh day there is a sabbath of complete rest, a holy convocation. You shall not do any work; it is a sabbath to the Lord in all your dwellings.

My Studio

I wanted to show you my art studio today.  There's not much to it- my desk, my chair, my lamp, my laptop, and my art supplies.  When we used to live in Minnesota, I had a special little nook for my art studio.  But since we live in a smaller apartment now, my art studio is wherever I have room to put my desk and chair, which for now, is the living room.  I write and illustrate children's book that teach kids about the Messiah and His Torah.  I'm not a classically trained artist.  You probably won't ever see any of my drawings in a fancy art gallery.  For the most part, I draw simple, child-like illustrations that are filled with lots of color.  I love color and I am a firm believer that the Messiah's Kingdom is going to be filled with color.  Probably even with colors that we have never even seen yet.  Right now, I'm currently work on a new book called The Calendar.  It's about the Father's calendar- His holy days, the Sabbath, Purim and Hanukkah.  It takes a while to write and illustrate these books.  When I'm done, my husband goes through the long and difficult process of digitizing everything.  I then self-publish them through Create Space which allows me to sell my books on Amazon.com. 

 Here's some of the supplies that I use during the creation of a book.  First, is my index card with my notes for ideas for my drawings.  I find that I often need to list things out before I start.  This card looks pretty neat.  Usually, I have written and drawn over all of it.  I guess I'm getting more organized!

Next, is my mechanical pencil and gum eraser.  I had a hard time drawing with a mechanical pencil at first, but after some use, I really like it because it always remains sharp.  The only thing I have to do is replace the lead when it wears down. This pencil was originally Chad's and he gave it to me.  Tres special!

Next is my watercolors.  On my first book I used color pencil, on my second and third book I used watercolor, and on my fourth book, I used computerized color.  I found that I really liked the computer color the best because it was brighter and more consistent. For my fifth book, I will use the computer color again, but after Chad digitizes the picture, I will watercolor the original picture and put it away in my own personal file.

Here are my watercolor brushes.  I like the University series.  I have small, medium, and large.  I find that I use the small one the most.  Many of my drawings are very small and I like it that I can use a very fine watercolor brush to paint inside small spaces. 

And finally, because I like my supplies to be together, I have a little caddy where I keep most of my supplies.  It helps me to know where everything is at so I don't have to spend extra time wondering where my stuff is.

Oopps!  I can't forget this.  Here's my cup of coffee, which I really like to sip on when I'm working.  Yum, Yum!

Thanks for stopping by my studio today.  I'd offer you a cup of coffee but I think I drank it all!

Genesis 1:1 (NASB)

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

I Passed My Test

I am estatic.  I passed my social work licensing exam (bachelor's level).  After a pretty hectic morning of getting to the test site, I sat down for the four hour test and completed it within two hours.  I got my results right away!  Here's a picture of me with my unofficial test results.

The official results will be sent to the social work licensing board and I should be receiving my license shortly after.  I am so grateful to the Lord for helping me through this.  I know that without His help, I wouldn't have passed this long, and difficult test.  I am also grateful for the prayers from my husband and friends.  Thank you all so much!  Here's a Bible verse to meditate on whenever you need the Father's help.

Proverbs 3: 5-6 (NASB)

Trust in the Lord with all your heart
And do not lean on your own understanding.

In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He will make your paths straight.

Happy Carrot Cake

Well, my husband has been itching to get into the kitchen to make his SCD (specific carbohydrate diet) carrot cake.  When I couldn't come up with any more excuses to keep him out of the kitchen, he sat down and I helped him make it.  Because he's minimal weight bearing, he sat at the table and I ran around gathering ingredients for him.  We make a pretty good team.  

Chad started off my mixing in 1/2 cup butter, 2 eggs, and 1-1/2 cups of honey together.  He had me sit it all on the warm stove top so that the butter would melt.  For some reason, this looks really good to me and I think I could have eaten this just the way it is.

The next step was to finely shred 1-1/2 cups of carrots (about four medium carrots).  After the fourth carrot, his arm was getting tired!

Then, he measured out 1-1/2 cups of almond flour, 1 tsp baking soda, 1 tsp cinnamon, and a pinch of salt. 

Then, all the ingredients were mixed together in a big bowel.  Look at how strong he is!

Finally, Chad put everything in a 2-quart greased baking dish.  He baked it at 350F for 1 hour and 15 minutes.  This made our apartment smell good and made it warm and cozy!

While the batter was safe and tucked away in the oven, he began working on the frosting.  He took some dry-curd cottage cheese, which is also called Farmer's cheese, and mixed it with honey to taste.  I think he used about 5 tsp of honey.  He kept it in the refrigerator until the cake came out and had cooled sufficiently.   He then coated the cake with the frosting. 

And voila, Chad's Happy Carrot Cake!

Now here's a Bible verse to sweeten your day.

Proverbs 24:13 (NASB)

My son, eat honey, for it is good,
Yes, the honey from the comb is sweet to your taste;

Morning Bee

I love early mornings.  The darker the better.  There's something so cozy about being awake when it's dark and everyone else is asleep.  I love that my husband is tucked safely and warmly in his bed, still asleep and wearing his little stocking hat to help keep his head warm.  Simply adorable!  My favorite early mornings are rainy, thunderstorm filled ones.  I love the boom of the thunder, the steady patter of rain, and the dark billowing clouds that blanket the sky.  It almost looks like a big blanket that the Father puts over us.
I have always liked early dark mornings but I think I really developed my love of them from living in Alaska for 12 years.  Alaska gets dark in the winter, and stays dark for quite a while.  Not only did I really learn to enjoy the dark mornings but I found that I was very creative during those times.  We used to have wood fireplace and every morning I would wake up, add extra fire wood to the stove, and use the light from the fire plus a small lamp to write or do whatever else I wanted to do for the day.  Since we live in an apartment without a wood stove now, I adapt my routine a little.  Here's me in the morning, happy to enjoy another day!  I rarely turn on any lights as I make my way around so just a warning, the pictures will be a little dark.

I go and turn up the heat because I like it very warm.  Dark mornings are made to be enjoyed in the warmth and coziness of your house!

I then light a candle.  This reminds me of the light that comes from the wood stove we used to have.  In addition, it makes the kitchen smell nice, especially if you use cozy scented candles. 

Then I make coffee.  I have a small coffee pot so I make enough to enjoy one cup at a time.  Plus, I love the smell of coffee in the kitchen. 

Then I pray using my Voice of the Martyr's prayer calendar.  Because I am surrounded by such blessings, I always want to remember those who are going through very difficult times and pray for those who have not yet received Yeshua as their Messiah.  Many of our brothers and sisters in Yeshua need our prayers and we must not forget them.

Well, I just wanted to show how an average morning starts for me.  Nothing too fancy or out of the ordinary.  What I do later depends on what I have going on.  Since I am scheduled to take my social work exam on Thursday, much of my days have been dedicated to studying.  Here's a verse to help you start your morning.

Psalms 90:14 (NASB)

O satisfy us in the morning with Your lovingkindness,
That we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.

Test Blues

Today I really needed a pick me up.  I have been studying for my social work licensing exam (bachelor's level) which I take on this Thursday.  It's a four hour test and I have to report to the test site at 7:30 in the morning so I can begin exactly at 8 a.m.  I took a one day prep course in Kansas City last month to help prepare and they gave me a study guide to go through.  For the most part, I'm glad I took the course.  They report a higher pass rate for those who take the class than for those who don't.  I wish I had taken the exam when I had first graduated in 2005.  I didn't so here I am now, studying like a neurotic chipmunk trying to get ready for it.

Because I've been studying for a while, I really needed a snack to cheer me up.  I rounded up my wonderful husband who is currently using a cane to get around, and drove to a local Taco Bell.  Because we're on a budget, we got something off their dollar menu, which was wonderful snack by the way.  We also stopped at a gas station and picked up a couple of sodas.  Because I wasn't ready to go back yet, we took a little ride in the country and enjoyed the sites. In our house, my husband does most of the driving when we're together.  Since he has a painful ankle, I've been doing it instead, and I think it has been contributing to his upset stomach lately (ha ha!). 

As we meandered back to our apartment, I couldn't resist the urge to stop at Michael's to see if they had any deals.  My husband reminded me about the $1 yarn sale.  He didn't have to say anymore.  I left him in the car to enjoy the heat from the greenhouse effect and went in and spent almost twenty minutes trying to figure out what color yarn I wanted for a future knitting project.  I finally chose a color that I think would work well for some wonderful cotton socks. 

We finally made it back to our apartment where I spent a good amount of time studying once again.  I'm looking forward to Thursday so I can finally take my test!  Here's a Bible verse to cheer up your day.

Phillipians 4:13 (NASB) 

I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.

Hello

Hello and welcome to my blog! Here's a picture of me with bee antenna!  I love bees so I thought this would be a most fitting picture for my introduction post.

Today was cold!  There as a thick sheet of ice over my car.  We used to live in Alaska but I was not accustomed to seeing ice this thick.  Yikes!

Although I tried warming the car up, the defrost wasn't doing too much in the way of getting the ice off.  My poor husband, Chad, had to get out and scrape, even though he has a very painful ankle from a hairline stress fracture.  He set aside the cane he's using and began scraping.  My hero!

Here's me trying to stay warm.  Maybe if I sit in the car, I'll help to warm it up faster (ha, ha).

After we got most of the ice off, we went and got a couple of donuts from a gas station and headed on over to the Southwest Missouri Humane society.  I've been volunteering there for a few months.  I did it after our dog George, died, from cancer this past July.  It was truly one of the hardest things I ever had to deal with.  We did our best to save him.  We even had his leg amputated to help stop the spread of the cancer.  Six months later, the cancer came back throughout his body and we had to make the painful decision to say goodbye to him.  So in honor of his life, and the life of our other dog Katie, who died unexpectedly 2 1/2 years earlier, I began walking dogs at the humane society.  It's been rewarding to help there.  Not only do I walk dogs, but I bathe them, clean up after them, give them treats, tons of love, and help by writing little descriptor cards that I hang up outside their kennels to help give prospective owners better insight on the dog's personality.  I also draw a cute little picture with it in hopes of catching everyone's attention.  Although I've really enjoyed my time there, there are times that have been very sad for me as well.  Sometimes, for various reasons, they have to euthanize some dogs.  That is hard to deal with when it happens.  Because of that, I'm planning to stop going there, that is, after my favorite dog who is currently residing there gets adopted.  Here she is below.  Her name is Bluebell and she is a pointer mix.

Bluebell was a former resident of the humane society here, but she got returned by her owners for "being too active."  I don't know what that means because from the time I have spent with her, I think she could be the world's most professional couch potato.  Although she likes to walk and get out, she really likes to sit down and relax too!  They say she's gained lots of weight since her first visit there.  She is rather chubby, but in a cute way.  She's got patches like a Holstein cow- it really makes her stand out.  I have been trying to help her get adopted.  I wrote up a nice descriptor card for her and included a really cute homemade drawing.  I asked for them to put her on television for the Pet of the Week segment- which they did.  I was there when she was on television and she looked absolutely adorable.  The only reason that I think she's not been adopted yet is because of her "unusual hobby" of climbing chain link fences.  I guess no one wants a dog who can easily climb a 6 foot chain link fence.  Just by looking at her you would never guess she could do that but apparently she scales them and jumps when she gets to the top.  Anyway, besides praying for her often, I told the human society that if for any reason they have to euthanize her (she's been there too long, there's not enough room), to give me a call and me and my husband will adopt her.  I'm really praying that someone else will though because the apartments we live in don't allow pets so I don't know how we'll manage that.  We might be moving in August though, so if we do end up adopting her, hopefully it will be around that timeframe.

Here's a little Bible verse to encourage you for the day.  It comes from Proverbs 3:5-6 (NASB)

Trust in the Lord with all your heart

And do not lean on your own understanding.

In all your ways acknowledge Him,

And He will make your paths straight.