Oh Blog...

I want to start blogging again. I have a lot I want to write about. I want to write about new experiences, along with the food, film, and fiction adventures.

I am now the proud owner of a sewing machine. I am slowly learning. So far I've just made two burp cloths...not super fancy but I MADE THEM! Babies burp (crazy projectile spit-up) on them...so you don't want them too fancy. :)

I also was given a really nice Canon camera by my photographer sister. I just need to buy a lens...they are expensive. I can't wait to start learning!

So those are two new things I will be experimenting with and learning about.  I think I will love writing about these adventures, and I hope you enjoy reading about them.

I have a new baby girl! She is 2 months old now and I'm so in love. Being a mommy of two awesome little ones is something I thank God for every second, even in the seconds that seem hard. I'm learning to be thankful for all the moments. With the second baby here now I am 100% certain that time is flying by at speeds I'm not crazy about. God has been showing me that it is okay. I don't need to sit around and pout about it...that will just guarantee that I miss a moment with my babies.
So here's to enjoying all the moments, even the ones where I feel like freaking out. :)

Love,
Amber

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

Last weekend Peter and I had the crazy chance to go see a movie!!! WOW!...when you have kids movie going doesn't happen very often. My amazing mom said she could watch him and we were really blessed. It was a lot of fun. I hadn't been surrounded by teenagers in awhile. It was very entertaining. :)

We got to see The Hunger Game: Catching Fire. I loved it. I thought it was significantly better that the first one. I also felt that it stuck to the book as best as it could. It was longer than I thought it would be...but I liked that, gave them more time for more details. There were some random parts that I knew were added to the story line...so much more kissing. Oh well. ;)

In my opinion Jennifer Lawrence is a great actress.  I enjoy her movies and the interesting roles she's able to portray.

Go see The Hunger Games in theater if you can! I thought it was worth the money.

Something else I have to say...
MY BABY SISTER HAD A BABY!

 I fell head over heels in love with him.

 Desmond James Pauls was born November 21st, weighing 7.11. My goodness, he is so tiny and amazing.

I love that I get to be his aunt...and look forward to more nephews and nieces being born! I had the sweet opportunity to help my sister and brother- in- law leave the hospital. I wept in the car afterwards. I was so overcome with thankfulness that God would let me be near my family during this time of our lives. I am so thankful.

Hope you all have a beautiful thanksgiving. Be thankful.

Colossians

Doing my devo this morning this scripture completely blew me away.

"He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities-all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making PEACE by the BLOOD OF HIS CROSS. And YOU, who once we ALIENATED and HOSTILE in mind, doing evil deeds, he has NOW RECONCILED in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you HOLY and BLAMELESS and ABOVE REPROACH before him, if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the HOPE OF THE GOSPEL THAT YOU HAVE HEARD, which has been proclaimed in ALL CREATION under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister." Colossians 1:15-23

This seriously blows me away. Doesn't it freak you out that we can stand before God blameless and holy??? Oh my goodness. This only happened because of Jesus making PEACE by the blood he poured out on his cross. His death brought us peace. His death saved us from death...how does that not blow your mind away?!
Mine is blown.
Thank you Jesus.

Lots...

Hello.

Today I felt like making scones. I love scones. The only recipe I've ever used is one that my dear friend Tammy Weaver gave to me when I stopped working with her in the hospitality department at YWAM Montana. She made me an entire book of recipes...she's an amazing cook. The scones are called, Rebecca's Scones. These scones are so easy and very yummy. Perfect if you're having people over for tea/ coffee...or if you just want to devour some. :)

Recipe:

2 cups flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of salt
6 tablespoons of cold butter (the cold part is important in any scone or pie crust)
1 egg
1 cup heavy whipping cream (yum)
1 cup of chocolate chips or berries. You can add whatever you want or leave them plain.

Directions:
Mix dry ingredients. Cut in butter till coarse - looks like small peas. You can use a fork, pastry cutter, or food processor...or even hands. Add the wet ingredients until moistened. You can either roll out the dough and use a cookie cutter, or just spoon them onto a cookie sheet. Bake at 400 for 7-10 mins.

Hope you try these and love them.

A few weekends ago Peter and I got to go watch a movie with my my sister's and their husbands. It was fun. The movie, that I was convinced that I needed to see, was World War Z...I went to my sisters house very afraid. I am not that girl that watches zombie movies or that horrific show Walking Dead...but this movie did look less scary and appeared to have a good/interesting story line.

I spent most of the movie asking Peter when something scary was going to happen...he had already seen it. God blessed me with a husband that allows me to sit next to him with a pillow over my face asking him what's going on...I am thankful. All in all this movie was really good. It was not the gross zombie violence that other movies have going on. I really enjoy Brad Pitt's character and I loved the story line. I did not enjoy the up close encounters with zombies chomping their teeth together. Freaky! Did any of you see this movie? What did you think?

Lastly I leave with you a book that my husband is listening to and that I have been able to listen to a few times. If you need to laugh please read this. It is called, "Dad Is Fat", but Jim Gaffigan. I love him and he makes me laugh. I plan on reading the entire thing. His view on parenting is hilarious.

Thanks guys!

Reading

I have finally finished the O'Malley Series by Dee Henderson. I have one left called Jennifer. Dee Henderson wrote it quite a while after the series was finished. I'm pretty sure it will be good and sad.

Reading these books was great. I enjoyed the message and hope of Jesus that was displayed throughout each book. I loved that they weren't cheesy. It might sound weird but I did enjoy the darker side of these books. I love a good mystery.

I took my time with reading these. I'm usually a speed reader. I had to take a break after book five. It was really sad throughout. I enjoyed it, but needed a break afterwards.

This is me exactly...

I am sure most everybody has read this series already...I was very late into learning about them. But if you haven't, go for it. They are worth your time.

I am still dealing with some intense morning (all day long) sickness. Trying to remember that there is a little human growing in me and that it will be okay. You can pray for me. :) I want to enjoy each moment with the baby (Benjamin) growing outside of me as well. He is so fun.

Hopefully before the new baby comes I'll get to experiment in the kitchen again... :)

It's been awhile...

Many of you who read this are my friends on Facebook. So you found out yesterday that I'm pregnant. We are so excited and feel extremely blessed.

At the same time this pregnancy has come with the dreaded morning sickness. Apparently I was spoiled with my last pregnancy.  As you can imagine, the thought of experimenting with food has not gone over well. My poor husband as eaten a lot of Bagel Bites recently...so sad. Haha. :)

To avoid the subject of food, I will tell you about what we started watching on Netflix. We just discovered Fringe.

I will admit my childhood crush on Joshua Jackson as "Charlie" from Mighty Ducks. I thought he was soooo cute...hehe. I always thought the Mighty Duck series were the best movies.  In my opinion he isn't the most amazing actor ever, but I like him in Fringe. The relationship between his character and his father is very funny and endearing.

The father, Walter Bishop is played by John Noble. He is an incredible actor. The main female character is Olivia Dunham, played by Anna Torv. I had never seen her in anything before. She's good.

The show can be so intense and grotesque, but so good at the same time.  Netflix has all the seasons on their website. Check it out.

Hopefully someday I'll be able to handle food again. Thanks for reading. :)

A Cookie

I looked up on Pinterest "chocolate chip cookies made with honey."  I found this great recipe. I just made them and they look beautiful.

I did not add raisins, but I am sure they would be good as well.  I also used cinnamon instead of pumpkin pie seasoning...that didn't sound too great to me at the time.

These cookies are not completely free of processed sugar because of the chocolate chips. I used semi-sweet.  All of the other ingredients contained no processed product. Yay! I'm trying... :)

Also with this whole not eating a lot of processed sugar I saw a difference in my face. I was struggling with a lot of break outs...can be really irritating for a 27 year old. Stopped eating so much sugar and my face stopped freaking out. Now I had heard this before but chose to ignore it...go me.

 So now I can say, yes it is totally true! I know this because over the weekend I went down crazy road and ate a lot of sugar. Immediately my face broke out. So if you struggle with this I hope you are encouraged.

Note: Honey is a good replacement for sugar, but it is still high in calories. FYI. :)

Have a great evening!