More Bread

Today I baked a loaf of Light Whole Wheat bread from Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day. It turned out so well! I had tried the 100% Whole Wheat a few weeks ago, but it was so dense and heavy...we didn't really like it (and didn't eat much of the loaf--thankfully, I had halved the recipe). So I tried the light version (about 1/4 whole wheat flour instead of all whole wheat flour). Yum, yum, yum! With some honey butter from Our Best Bites (leftover from the tea party) it was a pretty tasty snack! Next I'll be trying it for grilled cheese. The crust is crisp and chewy, and the inside is moist and really flavorful (it reminds me, as does the basic recipe, of ciabatta bread). I'm trying to find out if we can replace our store-bought sandwich bread with some 5-minute bread...what a tasty experiment!

Recent Outings

I guess it's been a while since I've posted...summer days tend to slip by so quickly! But I thought I should mention a couple of the more exciting happenings of the last week or so.

First, a friend invited me (and some other friends of ours who couldn't go when we did) to the Ann Arbor Street Art Fair. It was like the Black Swamp Arts Festival in BG or the 4th Avenue Street Fair in Tucson, but MUCH bigger. The vendors stretched out over a large part of the beautiful college campus and the downtown area, and we spent most of the day browsing. Although I didn't buy anything, it was fun to "window" shop. We also stopped for lunch at a little Korean restaurant near the fair. It's been really fun to get out and see some of the events and try some of the restaurants nearby, and I'm so thankful that this friend of mine always thinks to invite me along! I think I'd like to go up to Ann Arbor again to see the campus without all the fair hoopla--it seemed really beautiful.

Second, and most exciting, Mark and I have just celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary. It's kind of hard to imagine that we've been married for 7 years already! We've certainly experienced some wonderful times, some difficult ones, and everything in-between. And I couldn't be happier that he's been with me through it all. God has certainly blessed me through our relationship and the love, stability, and happiness it has provided. Saturday, 7/23 was the actual anniversary, but we continued celebrating this week with a 2-night getaway in Perrysburg. We didn't think ahead enough to plan a bigger trip (like going to Niagara Falls, which is a contender for next year), but we thought it would be nice to do something more than just go out for dinner (which was basically all that we had in the budget in previous years). So, we looked at some Bed and Breakfast options nearby, and then I remembered the commercials I'd seen for Belamere Suites. They offered a great weeknight special, so we booked it! We enjoyed a little break from the ordinary, but realized that we didn't really need a relaxing get-away in the middle of the summer (like we might during the more hectic times of the school year). Still, we're glad we did something different. And, we did celebrate on our actually anniversary with a house favorite--homemade pizza:

New Design

Unless you read by RSS feed, you'll probably notice the new look of the blog. I didn't mean to change it--I was exploring the "design" tab and didn't realize I'd actually changed the design rather than just previewing new ones. And, I can't get back to the old design...I was quite frustrated, but perhaps I was due for an updated look anyway. So, I'm trying to relax and enjoy the new template!

Verse 14

I'm a couple days late on this one, and I'll admit that this is a verse I already know pretty well (at least the first part). But it's one of my favorite passages, and I came across it again yesterday. I also want to keep working on the old verses, which I still haven't managed to memorize as well as I'd like. Anyway, here's verse 14:

John 1:1-5

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

Tea Party

About a month ago, I decided to plan a little gathering for my friends in BG. I had some recipes I wanted to try, and I was missing seeing everyone regularly at school, book club, or common meal. Yesterday was the big day. I started cooking on Sunday, and I'd been pretty busy getting things ready each day since then. But everything came together for yesterday afternoon's tea party (well, almost everything--I totally ran out of time to make the scones, but it turned out we had more than enough to eat without them!). I should also mention that most of the recipes came from my favorite food blog, Our Best Bites. I had a pretty good turnout, and I think this might become an annual (or semi-annual) event! Thanks to everyone who stopped by! Here's some pics of the food:

Caprese salad:

Pistachio and almond poppy seed breads:

Sugar cookies:

Chocolate covered strawberries:

Garlic artichoke and hot corn dips (both from Our Best Bites): 

Fresh pineapple:

S'mores marshmallows: 

Yum! And since I went a little overboard on quantities, I get to savor the leftovers! :-)

Zoo Trip

On my birthday, Mark told me he'd like to take me to the zoo as my present. He knew I'd been wanting to go, so this was a great idea! We finally went on Friday (we were waiting for a cooler day--it's been dry and hot here lately). We got there in the late morning and stayed till mid afternoon. That gave us time to see all the exhibits we were interested in, and we enjoyed it. (I do think that the Rio Grande Zoo is a little better, though...) By the time we got home, we were totally exhausted! But it was an excellent birthday gift (thanks again, Mark!). Here are some pictures:

 The zoo is separated into two sections on either side of this highway, connected by this bridge.

 "I love my zoo" is the zoo's slogan and a very catchy jingle. Thanks to this clever advertizing, I've been dying to go!

 Here's Mark with the penguins (I took this one for Mark's mom :-).

The highlight of the visit was seeing Lucas, the one month old baby elephant (and his mom).

They even had dinosaur statues!

I'm not sure if we'll go back (unless someone who visits us wants to), but we did have a great time.

Verse 13

July? Can that possibly be right? Although I'm a bit flabbergasted that the summer is halfway over already, I have been looking forward to July because that's when Global Connections (a Christian organization in BG) begins its outreach to International Seasonal Workers at the farms in and near town. On Thursday, I (with two other ladies) had the privilege to go out to two of the camps where the workers live to introduce myself and pass out information on the upcoming activities we have planned. It was so fun to meet people (and to practice my Spanish!). It also got me thinking about our responsibility as believers to serve others. So that's the inspiration for the next verse.

Romans 12:10-13

Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor; not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted in prayer, contributing to the needs of the saints, practicing hospitality.

I especially hope the last two items on the list will be exemplified in the way we interact with these seasonal workers this month!