Eric Tingstad and Nancy Rumbel

Christmas time, Christmas time!

That means Christmas concerts! My parents and I went out last Saturday to such a concert being put on by Eric Tingstad and Nancy Rumbel: professionally known as "Tingstad & Rumbel" on their Cd's. They've been doing music together for 25 plus years. Both went to school for music. Eric plays classical guitar, Nancy plays the ocarina, english horn and the oboe (and a lot of percussion instruments, she pretty much plays everything) and the combo of the two of 'em makes for very wonderful background Christmas music for hanging stockings, trimming the tree, wrapping presents, sitting by the fire etc..

Tingstad & Rumbel, Mannheim Steamroller, A Carpenter's Christmas, Motab and some of the classics (Frank, Ella, Bing) was pretty much the x-mas playlist in my house growing up.

The concert was great! I've never seen someone play the oboe so well. Nancy makes it look so easy. And Eric is an amazing classical guitarist, I got dizzy watching his fingers move so fast.

And now it's official! Christmas time is here

I hope everyone has a great Christmas!

$1 Thrift Store baskets

This is what happens when Christina finds a $1 basket at the thrift store........

Imagine what else could happen from Christina going thrift store shopping. The possibilities.......ENDLESS

So, I absolutely LOVE the fall. The layering, the leaves changing, even the constant drizzle of rain (for WA). I decided to express my love for fall by making this thrift store find creation. It is my Thanksgiving day centerpiece which, I'm happy to say, will have at least another day of glory before it's place is taken over by a monstrous turkey.

Late night fun for a crafty girl with no work tomorrow (HA) that's what this all was really.

I hope everyone has a great Thanskgiving! Happy Turkey Day!

Under the Sea

I went to the Halloween dance this year. Hadn't actually planned on going, in fact, up until about 4 O'clock I had every intention of staying home. But then after perusing through our old Halloween costumes, finding the mermaid costume, trying it on and finding that it actually fit?!??!! (a shock because my mom made it for me when I was 15..and no, I'm not bragging here) I counted it as a sign that I should attend this dance. And so I donned my fins and shells and got ready to boogie down!

It was a fun time. I hadn't been to a good dance in a long time. For a bit there I thought I'd forgotten how to boogie down. But it all came back when the music started up.

Now for a shift in focus: I'm gonna get deep here, so hang on!

In church today one of the speakers gave an analogy. He compared our lives and how we combat temptations and sin to scuba divers and having the proper equipment. He referenced Disney's "Little Mermaid" and talked about how Ariel lives under the sea, but more than anything (as she sees the human world above the sea) wishes she could be a part of it. This speaker said, "For us, what we want most is to be able to receive eternal life. To return to live once again with our heavenly father. We want to be part of his world. But we live on this earth, having a mortal experience so it's necessary we have the proper equipment that can help us to get closer and closer to the surface." He said, "When we don't pray or read our scriptures, it's like we're refusing to wear our oxygen mask and then when we're suffocating we wonder what's wrong, why we're having such a hard time."

Anyway, I thought it was a really cool analogy. And his talk definitely had an impact on me. So I just wanted to share that with y'all.

Oh and remember! Just keep swimming, just keep swimming, just keep swimming, swimming, swimming... :)

An obsession

So, anyone who knows me well, knows that I like to cook.

Wait, no..let's try this again. I LOVE to cook. In fact anything related to food is pretty much a-okay with me: Food Art, food shops, food ads, food shows, food cars (ie the Papa John sedan-who cut me off today on my way to work..was I upset? No, he and his car were food related) food animals?? Okay, so just put the word 'food' in front of it and you have at least a 75% chance that I'll accept it.

I'm crazy right? So read this: I'm sitting at my computer, it's about 12:30am. And I think to myself "I should head to bed, work tomorrow!" But what should happen? An email is sent to me, a RECIPE EXCHANGE email. So instead of doing what any normal person would do (save responding to the email for tomorrow when my eyelids aren't so heavy and I have more of a brain to work with) the thought of searching online for a recipe to send for this recipe exchange, has me so excited all of a sudden, that all my mind is preoccupied with is checking out my favorite recipe web sites and getting a fabulous recipe to send off.

I clearly have an obsession.

Elder Stephen Beacham

Ahhh! The day finally came. My brother Stephen officially left for his mission. He's now in Manchester, England at the missionary training center. He'll be there for two weeks and then transfer out to Dublin, Ireland where he'll be serving as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

I lovingly uploaded this picture of the two of us at Olive Garden. Don't we look awkward, lol. It was our last meal together before he left.

How I shall miss my little bro: waking up to him belting Michael Buble at o'dark thirty in the morning, his original style of hip hop dancing in the kitchen, the midnight grocery store runs, Hulu nights. We had a lot of fun together :)

I know he will be a great missionary though. I've created a mission blog for him, if anyone wants to see how he's doing http://elderstephenbeacham.blogspot.com

Godspeed Elder Beacham!

Waffles worthy of a second post!

So, I don't normally post twice in one day....hmm in fact it's rare if I post twice in the same month. (I'm not an avid blogger) BUT this weekend, amidst car shopping and being spiritually rejuvenated, I also found the MOST AMAZING WAFFLE RECIPE EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes, yes it's THAT good. This is no exaggeration.

Make and eat these waffles and you might be surprised what wonderful things happen to you. Perhaps me getting a car could have some connection to the waffles...who knows, who knows.

Now before I give you the recipe, I must give credit where credit is due. The website where these waffles are found is teriskitchen.com. I don't know anything about Teri; don't know if she's some adorable old grandmother, keen on filling the world with her delectable breakfast foods or if she's simply a chef student who decided to make herself a web site, but I thank her from the bottom of my heart for these waffles.

And so I give you:

THE MOST AMAZING WAFFLES EVER

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup all-purpose flour (see variation below)
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 2 tablespoons sugar (or sugar substitute that equals sugar portions 1:1, such as Splenda)
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted (see variation below)
• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• 1-1/2 to 2 cups reduced fat or nonfat milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Place the flour, sugar and baking powder in a medium bowl and whisk with a wire whisk to combine well. Add the eggs, butter, oil and 1-1/2 cups of the milk; beat with the whisk just until smooth. Add more milk as needed to thin the batter to a pouring consistency, being careful to keep it thick. Heat your waffle iron and bake according to manufacturer’s directions. Serve immediately.

Notes: The batter may be made the night before, covered and refrigerated. Add a little more milk before baking if it has become to thick. Waffles freeze very well. Just bake them a little lighter than usual, let them cool on a wire rack, wrap individual portions in waxed paper and place in a freezer bag.

ENJOY!

Mi Coche!?!? and conference

Turns out Puyallup has more than just a fair. They have a semi-annual car event called "the Wallup in Puyallup." All of the car dealerships in Seattle gather to one central location and people come from far and wide to peruse through the new and used cars displayed there (all of which are being sold for killer prices!!)

That's where I found this beauty. Meet my new car. A 2006 Toyota Camry. I'm in love. Can't stop driving......and driving ..and driving..

Sure beats the bus, that's for sure :)

Aside from getting a car, I also listened to conference this weekend. Jeffrey R. Holland gave a stirring testimony. His talk was probably my favorite, although all the talks were great.