Papa

I had posted a couple of times about how my grandfather, Papa, was in the hospital and I haven’t posted since August 7th. Quite alot has happened since then. On Saturday, the 8th my aunt Tana came from Wisconsin. On Monday, my friend Erin who also lives with us came home early from a trip. I picked her up from the train station. During this time we continued to visit Papa every day in the hospital and every night, to gather around his bed, sing hymns and pray together. We sang the Doxology every night.

On Tuesday, August 10, I woke up to Gramma’s cries of “He’s gone!” and I knew that Papa had gone home. Apparently his heart just stopped while they were turning him. I was surprisingly calm. I stayed in bed for a few minutes and talked to my husband before coming out of my room to see Gramma. Tana was there since she was staying at the house. We hugged Gramma and reminded her that Papa was now fully healed with a totally new body, that he was where he was meant to be. And we sang A Mighty Fortress Is Our God. I certainly felt like I needed to be reminded that God is a mighty fortress! Gramma was worried that we didn’t know the nurses that were with him in the end, but When my uncle went to the hospital he found out that it was the nurse and assistant that we had seen there the most. Praise the Lord!

The rest of the days of that week are starting to blur together in my mind. Pastor Dennis came and talked to us that day, read some scripture and prayed with us and also gave us a couple of “grief” books. I think it was the next day he came back with an assistant pastor, Keith, who would run the celebration of his life for us so that we could start planning. Gramma chose Sunday afternoon. Papa was a founding member at our church, so we knew alot of people would want to come.

Those next few days are a blur of work and family here all the time and I couldn’t sleep half the night. I made the program which had to be at the church office by Friday morning so they could print it. I made the slideshow video to be shown at the service. I also ended up writing and submitting the newspaper obituary. It seems that they charge by line, so I was the one tasked with getting it down to a manageable length and emailing it in.

The rest of Tana’s family, her husband and three kids, arrived on Saturday so we were really all together then. Sunday came and the celebration was beautiful. I read the scripture that Gramma chose, 2 Corinthians 5:6-9; “Therefore, being always of good courage, and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord– for we walk by faith, not by sight– we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord. Therefore we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him.” I also sang a duet of Father’s Eyes with my mom. I didn’t know until recently that we had both sung this song as a solo in church before (fun fact: when my mom sang the solo Debbie Voigt played the piano for her). So it was an appropriate song for more than one reason.

We also had a grandchildrens’ tribute during which I shared. Here is what I said.

It is my privilege to be Dewain and Melva’s first grandchild. I think I was about four years old when Papa took me to see this very sanctuary being built. I know that I have been blessed more than I deserve by having gotten to see Papa almost every day of my life. Along with the great Godly example he set, I learned many practical things from him like letting all the air out of a plastic bag before closing it. I can’t imagine a grandparent being more influential. When I was growing up, Gramma watched us while my parents were at work. When I was in the fourth grade I had to do a Mission project for school, like most kids in California. I think it was Papa’s first year of retirement and he got really involved in the project. He planned it with me, provided the tools, and instructed me on sawing styrofoam. When it came to writing the report he took me to the library for research and helped me photocopy pictures out of the books. After we had glued the pictures onto the typed pages of my report, he wanted to take me to make copies of those pages again, so that the pictures would be embedded onto the page but Gramma stopped him. She said “no! they won’t believe that she did it.” “But she’s doing it!” Papa said. He was also a chaperone on my class trip to Mission San Juan Capistrano.

During high school, I started living at my grandparents’ house for proximity to the school so that I could take a zero period class. I stayed there through college and until I got married in 2008. About six months after I got married, my husband had been laid off and though we had started a business we got to a point where we couldn’t pay the rent. My grandparents had both been sick and it made sense for us to move in with them. Jerrod and I have been living with them for over a year, and I am very thankful that God caused us to live with them so that we got to be with Papa in his last year with us. I didn’t realize it at the time but now I know what a blessing it really was.

One thing that sticks out in my mind about Papa was his amazing charity, where charity means the love of God which allows us to love others. The best example of that I can think of is that he was even kind to Telemarketers. He would say to them; “Well, we just had our windows replaced a few years back so we don’t need any new ones, but thank you for calling and good luck to you.”

The video was well received. Here it is if you’d like to watch. The first song is actually from our church CD.

My dad spoke which was one of the most emotional parts for me. His own father died when he was 13, so he’d actually known his father in law longer (28 years). He started out giving his “You Are Important” speech, which is all about how important we are to those people close to us. He then talked about how he tries to remember to make people feel important because they’re someone’s son, daughter, brother, sister, etc but he’s not that good at it. Papa did that effortlessly. The open sharing was pretty amazing. We heard from a woman who said that he was there when she came to Christ, a woman who thought that Papa was a pastor when she was a little girl, and quite a few people who said they thought that they were Dewain’s favorites. I know that there are many more stories of things that Papa did for people that we don’t know about because he was so kind, caring, and humble.

We had his burial on Monday. He was cremated so we didn’t have to rush it and didn’t have a casket at the service or anything like that. We picked a garden spot at the cemetery for the ashes to be buried and we just had a little family thing. My dad spoke and read scripture, we sang a few hymns, etc. We all had dinner together that night.

Tana’s family left Tuesday morning and Gramma cried a little when they had gone. She hugged me and said she was so glad I was there. It’s weird but I haven’t cried that much since he died. I cried alot more when he was in the hospital. I think I sort of got started grieving early, but I also know it hasn’t totally sunk in yet.

Tuesday and Wednesday were our first “real” days without him. The hardest thing so far is that I can’t ask him anything. I think of questions about things in the house or whatever, and I know that normally I would ask Papa. But I can’t, so we have to muddle along and figure things out on our own. We tried to set the automatic sprinklers yesterday and I’m still not sure if it worked! I don’t like to say that he died, though I know he died in body, because Jesus conquered death and I know Papa is living with Jesus in heaven. I don’t like to say that we “lost” him, because we know where he is. I feel strongly convicted not to talk like everyone else does, partially because I’m very sensitive to the power of language, and partly because I realize that, as Christians, we don’t think of death the way everyone else does. I don’t even like to say that he’s “in a better place” because “everyone” says that not always thinking of what it means. It’s not just a better place, it’s the best place. Papa is in the best place, in the presence of God, probably in a place of high honor and he’s probably got a giant mansion that we’ll all want to visit.

Papa Update

Papa(my grandfather) has gone into a coma and is totally unresponsive. Be was able to make the decision himself when we brought him back in not to do brain surgery, which would have been extensive and risky. He was totally unresponsive yesterday. They do not expect him to recover. We are just letting God be in control of how long he will be with us.

Praise God that we brought him back to the hospital that night and did not wait till morning. I can imagine how terrible it would’ve been if we had not been able to wake him up at home.

Most of my family was with him at the hospital for most of yesterday and before we all left for the night, we surrounded him and had a great time of prayer.

Thank you to everyone for praying, we still need it, especially the family and my grandmother.

I sang this song to Papa yesterday. I don’t know if he could here me, but it seemed like he liked it.

Praise Him! Praise Him! Jesus, our blessèd Redeemer!
Sing, O Earth, His wonderful love proclaim!
Hail Him! hail Him! highest archangels in glory;
Strength and honor give to His holy Name!
Like a shepherd, Jesus will guard His children,
In His arms He carries them all day long:

Praise Him! Praise Him!
Tell of His excellent greatness.
Praise Him! Praise Him!
Ever in joyful song!

“Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Prayer for Grandparents

My grandfather, Papa, needs immediate and unceasing prayer.

On Tuesday he tested with low blood levels(anemic) and the doctor ordered a blood transfusion for him for the next day.

On Wednesday he was at the hospital most of the day and received two units of blood. He was brought home that night. He was very weak and drowsy but we put him to bed hoping he would feel better the next day. They said it should take 24 hours for the new blood to get around and we waited through Thursday, doing our best to care for him.

Last night we didn’t think he was recovering like he should. We agreed that he should go back to the hospital where he could at least get full care through the night before getting a consultation with his doctor in the morning.

At the hospital they did a scan and found that he has blood on his brain. He must have hit his head at some point during a fall and I’m not clear on how it works, but the coumedan(blood thinning medication) caused it to puddle instead of clot.

Please pray for healing for Papa. Please pray also for our family, especially Gramma for calming. She can get very worried and anxious and easily wear herself out. The last time Papa was in the hospital, she got severe pneumonia and had to be hospitalized for a month.

My uncle took Gramma back to the hospital this morning and I haven’t heard anything new yet.

Papa is so smart, it’s hard to think of anything being wrong with his brain. He was an engineer at Rockwell when they made rockets and missiles, and he has a great dry wit.

Please pray for healing for Papa, wisdom for his caretakers, and calming for Gramma and my family.

Fairy Princess Bread

As soon as I found out about fairy bread, I was scheming about how to make it far more complicated more fun. Fortunately for me, my cousin’s second birthday was approaching.

The idea of fairy bread is simple and clever, and of course I would make some with my homemade bread. But why stop there? Why not make a special bread, a whole fairy bread loaf? The idea ruminated in my mind and as I tried to fall asleep the night before I planned to make the dough, the modifications were complete in my mind.

Fairy Princess Bread

So named because it’s not just bread for fairies, it’s not just bread for princesses, it’s bread for a princess of the fairies. Alternately, it could be the bread that fairies make for princesses.

Adapted from Soft American-Style White Bread recipe from Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day.

• 3 cups lukewarm water
• 1.5 tablespoons granulated yeast (2 packets)
• 1.5 tablespoons Kosher salt
• 2 tablespoons sugar (I actually forgot the sugar, so you can safely leave it out if you like)
• .5 cups butter, melted, plus extra for brushing on the crust
• 7 cups all-purpose flour (1-2 cups could be switched out for whole wheat flour)
• .5 tsp almond extract (you could up this to a full teaspoon)
• 4-5 medium strawberries, pureed or mashed
• 20 drops neon pink food coloring (you could use red, but the drops may not be the same)
• 1 tsp honey
• Neutral-tasting oil, Pam, or butter for greasing the pan

Note: This recipe makes about twice the amount of dough you’ll need for the four mini loaves I show. My extra dough is currently sitting in the fridge(it’ll keep happily there for 7 days), and I plan to divide it in 2-4 pieces and put them in the freezer for future use. You can do the same, make more bread, or halve the recipe.

1. Mix the yeast, salt, sugar, and melted butter in your stand mixer bowl, a 5-quart bowl, or a lidded food container. Add the strawberries, almond extract, and 20 drops neon pink food coloring. Stir so that color is distributed.
2. Mix in the flour without kneading. I stirred a bit with a fork first, scraping the sides and turning the flour over to make sure the liquid was evenly distributing it’s color onto the flour, then used the dough hook on my stand mixer. You can also use a spoon or your hands to mix the dough the rest of the way.
   
3. Cover loosely and allow to rest about two hours.  I use a tea towel or cloth napkin and just put it over my mixing bowl, leaving it right on the stand mixer. If you used a lidded container, set the lid on loosely so it’s not airtight(unless your container has holes because it’s for bread).
   
   Seriously, this was my most tall rising bread ever.
4. To make mini loaves, grease your loaf pans. Using wet or floured hands(I used wet hands here), take about a handful of dough and shape it into a ball to put in a mini loaf pan. The dough should fill the pan a little more than halfway full.
   
5. Slash the top of the loaf. Let the dough rest for 40 minutes (1 hour and 40 minutes if the dough was refrigerated).
   
6. Preheat oven to 350°F. Melt 1TB butter(I microwaved in a coffee cup for 15 seconds) and mix in 1 tsp honey. Brush the tops of the loaves with the honey butter and top with sprinkles.
   
7. Bake for 30 minutes, turning halfway through. I put them on a baking sheet to make it easier. Larger or smaller loaves may need adjustments in cooking time.
   
8. Turn them out of the loaf pans right away and let them cool on a rack or on their sides so the bottom doesn’t get soggy.
   

I tried out a few different things on the bread. Cream cheese, peanut butter, and butter(all with some sprinkles of course). They were all really good.

You could also try jam, cream cheese and fruit, or make little sandwiches. Another variation would be to bake the bread in muffin tins or mini muffin tins to make individual fairy bread loaves.

I ended up serving it the traditional fairy bread way; butter and sprinkles.

I think Chloe might enjoy the bread more when there’s not a party going on! Extra loaves can be frozen whole and reheated in the oven, or frozen in slices and toasted. I imagine Chloe has some pink fairy sandwiches in her future!

Mother’s Day 2010

For years, every Mother’s Day my mom would say “I’ll make lasagna.” I would say “No mom, you’re a mom. I’ll make the lasagna.” I’d start to make it, but then partway through I’d get sent to the store or something and she’d end up finishing it. I should mention that we were always at my grandmother’s house, so of course she wanted to do something for her mother too.

This year was probably the most successful ever. I made a big quiche, using the crust recipe from this quiche at smitten kitchen, and the quiche procedure from Alton Brown. I used ham, cheese, broccoli and spinach. The hardest part was how long to bake it! Since it was so big, I wasn’t sure how long it would take, and I debated a bit whether it was done or not.

It turned out pretty well. Gramma said it was better than Polly’s and Marie Calendar’s. There’s just something wonderful about grandmothers, isn’t there?

My mom loves croutons, so I put together a salad bar for which I made my own croutons. I’d never made croutons before, but I read lots of crouton recipes and came up with my own version.

I used the end of a loaf of European Peasant Bread that I made earlier in the week. I cut up my bread and melted some butter in the microwave. I seasoned the butter with garlic salt, pepper, dill, and parsley. I put all the bread cubes in a ziploc bag, poured in the butter mixture and tossed the bread cubes in the bag.

I lined a pan with parchment paper and dumped the bread cubes onto it, separating them so that none were on top of each other. I baked them in the oven at 350°F for about 16 minutes(poking at them every 8 minutes to see if they were crunchy), then turned it up to 375°F for about 10 more minutes. If I make them again I’ll probably try staying at 350°F for like 30 minutes or 375°F the whole time for like 25. I took them out of the oven and let them cool on the counter. They got alot harder as they cooled and became croutony.

They came out really well. My mom was eating them by themselves, she was like “This is part of my present, right? I get to take the leftovers home in a baggie?”

Fairy Bread

I just learned about fairy bread. Apparently it’s an Australian favorite for kids’ parties.

Fairy bread is just buttered bread with sprinkles on top. Ever since I found out about it and started looking at pictures of it on flickr and whatnot, I’ve been thinking about how I would make it. My cousin is turning two next month, and it sounded like a great thing to bring for her party, especially with my fresh baked bread. Yesterday I had to see how it actually tasted, so I cut half a slice of bread, buttered it and put on some pink sugar and valentine colored non-pareils. It was actually pretty good, but I think it would be better with a little different bread. My loaf was the second of a batch of dough, so it had gotten a little sourdough flavor. Now I’m thinking about coloring my bread dough. Is that crazy?

Bread Log: April 18, 2010

Friday, April 16 – I made two batches of dough! First I made a batch of Light Whole Wheat bread with 2 cups of white whole wheat flour instead of 1 cup of whole wheat flour. Then I made a batch of olive oil dough.

Saturday, April 17 – We made calzones for lunch with olive oil dough. I brushed them with olive oil and sprinkled on garlic salt and parmesan before baking. They turned out huge so we cut them in half. They were really good though.

Sunday, April 18 – Today we had a second late Easter party since so many people couldn’t make it on Easter. I made a batch of rolls, half with light whole wheat dough, half with olive oil dough. I brushed them with butter and baked in muffin tins.

Also, I learned about fairy bread today. Apparently it’s an Australian staple at kids’ parties and it’s just buttered bread with sprinkles on top! It looks so cute and simple. My little cousin is turning two next month and I’m already scheming about making it to bring for her birthday. I was trying to think of different things I could do to make it cool, and then I thought… colored bread! I could tint my bread dough pink or purple. Now I just want to make my next batch of dough pink. Is that crazy?

The book: Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day

Potatoes and Broccoli Au Gratin

I’ve been browsing lots of recipes and food blogs lately, so it only made sense that I document our meal last night. I have to make dinner anyway, right?

A while ago there was a food item on a plate of leftovers from my church MOPS group which I volunteer at that I loved. It was a sort of a hard boiled egg casserole or salad with this cheesy stuff on top and it was just so amazing. I ate it cold, but I couldn’t tell if it was intended to be served hot. Weeks later, there was a day when I couldn’t stop  thinking about it and really wanted it for dinner. Finally, I googled it and found what looked like my dish, Hard-Boiled Egg Casserole. I had to make it right away. I even went to the store and got Half and Half and Gruyere cheese instead of substituting milk and parmesan or something. It was not only wonderful, but exactly what I’d had!

What I found, though, was that I liked the sauce even better on my broccoli than I did on the eggs. So the dinner that I made last night was based on that. I halved the sauce recipe and used that for this dish.

Potatoes and Broccoli Au Gratin

based on Hard-Boiled Egg Casserole

Ingredients

• 2 TB butter
• 2 TB flour
• 1 cup half-and-half
• 1/2 cup grated gruyere cheese
• grated parmesan cheese (I actually used a cheese blend)
• salt
• pepper
• dill (I use dried)
• Trader Joe’s Aioli Garlic Mustard Sauce (or mustard and garlic powder)
• small-medium red potatoes (or any potatoes, really)
• broccoli (fresh or frozen should be fine, I used frozen)
• deli sliced ham or leftover ham (0ptional)

Wash your potatoes and poke holes in them with a fork. I put them in my casserole dish and then microwaved them. I used the “baked potato” button, but if you don’t have one, just microwave them for a few minutes.

Seriously, it seems like my potatoes are always undercooked if I don’t precook them except in a few situations. When I saw that my grandmother microwaves her potatoes before making scalloped potatoes and ham, doors opened in my mind. I guess you could also boil them first.

Meanwhile, start making the sauce. It’s basically a sort of a roux, so if you’ve made macaroni and cheese from scratch you’re ahead. Melt the butter in a saucepan and add in the flour. Cook and stir until it makes a sort of paste. Add a little more flour if you need it.

Add the half-and-half gradually as you stir until it starts thickening. Add in salt, pepper, and dill to taste. I didn’t measure these, I probably used 2-3 shakes of sea salt, 4-5 grinds of pepper, 2-3 shakes of dill. If you don’t have/like dill you can safely leave it out or replace it with something you have/like. Parsley, maybe?

Add the garlic mustard sauce (or garlic powder and mustard). I didn’t measure this either, I just put in a dab so maybe 1/4-1/2 teaspoon. Add in the gruyere cheese and stir until melty and wonderful.

Take your potatoes out of the dish and cut them up to your desired size. Most of mine were sort of rounds, but you could cut them up more and make cubes. Butter your dish and lay about half of the potato pieces out on the dish. Scatter your broccoli amongst the potatoes(I used frozen broccoli and just put it in frozen). If you want ham, cut it up into small pieces and scatter about half on top of the potatoes and broccoli. Pour/spread about half of the sauce on top. Scatter the rest of your potatoes, broccoli, and ham on top and pour on the rest of the sauce. Top with parmesan cheese and a few more grinds of pepper if you like.

Bake at 375°F for about 20 minutes.

I neglected to take a picture of it after it came out of the oven before it was attacked, but here’s a portion of it. When I was putting the casserole together I thought it didn’t look like enough sauce but it tasted great and I didn’t feel like it was lacking in sauce. You could double the sauce and coat the potatoes more if you want it really saucy, but I don’t think it needed it.

Bread Log: April 16, 2010

Yesterday, I baked the rest of my Soft American-Style White Bread dough.

I really wanted to try some cinnamon bread with this dough, so I made a mini loaf. Here’s some advice: wax paper is not at all parchment paper and if you are out of parchment paper, do not try to substitute wax paper.

The rolling out and rolling up the cinnamon in the dough didn’t work quite as neatly as I’d hoped, I probably should have rolled it out with more flour.

It looked a bit funny when I put it in the pan, but it came out looking nice, and it sure tasted good! I brushed it with butter instead of an egg wash. The instructions said to brush the top with sugar, but I used some of my leftover cinnamon and sugar.

For the rest of the dough, I put it in my usual loaf pan that I use for sandwich bread. I had a revelation the other day about the last loaf and the end of my batch of dough.

There usually isn’t as much dough for the last loaf of bread as for the first. As a result, I often end up with really short loaf of bread or I use the smaller loaf pan and the sandwiches are really tiny.

Finally I thought, “What if I put a ball of aluminum foil in the end of the loaf pan?” Why didn’t I think of that before? It worked pretty well and I ended up with sort of a partial loaf which, when sliced, should be the normal shape and size for sandwich bread.

One end looks a little lumpy, but I think it came out pretty nicely. A great bread hack!

Also this morning Papa was at Henry’s Market and called to see what kind of flour I needed. I suggested looking for King Arthur’s wheat flour. They came back with King Arthur 100% Organic White Whole Wheat Flour. It’s an interesting flour, but I’m not sure if it will taste more like white flour or more like wheat flour, so I’m not sure how I’ll use it yet.

Bread Log April 12, 2010

April 8 – Made The Master Recipe/Boule dough with one cup wheat flour. Turns out this is also the Light Whole Wheat bread in the book!

This was my first homemade bread in a while and it was super tasty, although it didn’t get as tall as I wanted in the loaf pan. I think this was because I slashed it after its 40 minute rest right before putting it in the oven which made it unrise. From now on I’m going to slash before it rests.

This bread was amazing for toast and good for sandwiches, but the second loaf’s crust was a little hard.

April 11 – Made Soft American-Style White Bread, substituting one cup of wheat flour for one of the cups of all-purpose. I probably would have tried it with a little more wheat flour, but that was the end of my wheat flour.

This bread smelled amazing, though I think that had something to do with the fact that it was brushed with butter! My loaf came out looking really nice and sliced up beautifully for sandwiches. It was softer than the Master Recipe, which is why I wanted to try it. A great sandwich bread, especially the texture, but it was a little plain tasting.

I think I’d like to try making a mini cinnamon loaf with this dough, and I think it would make nice rolls.

Bread I want to try next…

• Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread inspired by Chris Kimball
• Bagel/Pretzel dough (pretzel bread sandwich rolls!)
• European Peasant Bread

The book: Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day

Bread Baking

About a year ago while we were still in our apartment, I started making my own bread for our sandwiches. We were now both working at home all day and needed satisfying lunches every day, and we were trying to save money however we could. I stumbled upon Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes A Day. I tried the free “master recipe” provided on the website, and it came out great. I continued to make the bread regularly, enough for sandwich lunches almost every weekday until we moved in with my grandparents. I made a couple batches of bread while there, but then I sort of stopped for a while.

Last week I made my first new batch of dough in a while. It was just as easy and good as I remembered. I wanted to try different bread, though. Last night I finally bought the whole book. I got the Kindle version mostly with my swagbucks-earned Amazon gift cards.

This evening, with the little end of my previous loaf not enough for sandwiches tomorrow, I started a batch of dough with a new recipe from the book. The bread is sitting out and cooling right now, and it is beautiful. It looks and smells amazing.

I used the Soft American-Style White Bread recipe, although I incorporated some wheat flour with the all-purpose. They’ve all tasted great, but this is one of those loaves that just looks like a “proper” sandwich bread. I can’t wait to cut into it tomorrow!

Good Friday

⁴ Yet it was our weaknesses he carried;
it was our sorrows that weighed him down.
And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God,
a punishment for his own sins!
⁵ But he was pierced for our rebellion,
crushed for our sins.
He was beaten so we could be whole.
He was whipped so we could be healed.
⁶ All of us, like sheep, have strayed away.
We have left God’s paths to follow our own.
Yet the Lord laid on him
the sins of us all.

Isaiah 53:4-6 (New Living Translation)

Technically I’m writing this very early on Saturday, and that’s what the date stamp will reflect, but I haven’t gone to bed yet, so I’ll be assuming it’s still Friday.

My best friend will be working on Sunday(she works at a hospital) so she invited me to come with her to church’s Good Friday service at noon. I don’t normally go to her church but I’ve visited on multiple occasions and I actually went to preschool there.

It was a pretty good service. Her church still has a traditional choir which was nice. My church doesn’t have one anymore and I do enjoy choral music. The music was good and there was plenty of scripture reading.

Near the end of the service, one of the pastors led in prayer and invited people to accept Jesus as their savior. As we were praying I realized that that was where I had accepted Christ. There, in that very chapel in preschool. I knew of course that I accepted Christ in preschool and remembered it it quite vividly, but I hadn’t really thought about the fact that I was in the same place. How fitting, I thought, how wonderful to remember Jesus’ sacrifice on Good Friday in the very place where I came to Christ. That’s when I lost it. Then we took communion and that always makes me cry too.

But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Romans 5:8 (NASB)

Highlights of the Aught Era, Part 2

This is the second part of my reminiscing about “the aughts”. It covers 2006-2008. My 2000-2005 can be found here.

2006

• High School Musical came out.
• Jerrod was fired from Insomniac and was out of work for several months before getting a new job at InXile in Orange County, much closer to me.
• My uncle Eric married a woman named Erika. My family went to the San Diego Zoo.
• Marissa died on The O.C.
• My sister Holly graduated from high school.
• I made my pink supergirl linux box.
• Shawna left to go to school someplace else.
• I started babysitting for a Bible study group every Tuesday night.
• I got my first LCD monitor.
• I started teaching Song and Snack at my church’s MOPS program.
• I went to the podcasting and new media expo and met some great new people.
• I joined twitter.
• I started working for my friend’s step father, Tim.
• A 750gb hard drive came out.

Favorite movies of 2006: Night at the Museum, X-Men: The Last Stand, Marie Antoinette, The Prestige

2007

• I built a new PC with an AMD Athlon 64 X2 5200+ processor.
• I worked for Tim for most of the spring.
• Twitter exploded for me and I started getting in touch with alot of the people I met at the new media expo the previous fall.
• I got my 80gb iPod
• The O.C. ended.
• I watched Doctor Who for the first time.
• Gilmore Girls was canceled.
• Jerrod and I went to the Long Beach Aquarium for our dating anniversary.
• I started watching The Office.
• I got my first premium denim – 7 for all mankind and paige denim jeans – for my birthday.
• My sister Amy graduated from high school.
• Finding Nemo submarines opened at Disneyland
• Jerrod lead a workshop at the Christian Game Developers Conference
• I started using Windows Home Server
• I got my MacBook.
• The iPhone came out on my sister’s birthday, but I didn’t get one right away.
• Went to a midnight release for the seventh Harry Potter book.
• Jerrod proposed to me. It was a twitter/real world hybrid and there was a Tiffany ring! This is also when I saw that Jerrod had gotten an iPhone. (September 8, 2007)
• I got my first iPhone.
• Went to Podcamp SoCal and the New Media Expo
• I got my first webkinz.

Favorite movies of 2007: Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Transformers, National Treasure: Book of Secrets, Bridge to Terabithia, TMNT, Hairspray, Stardust, Enchanted

2008

• I started working as a Social Media Consultant for a travel company.
• Jerrod and I did really well on our premarital test. We got 90% on communication and 100% on Conflict resolution and spiritual beliefs.
• There was a leap year.
• We set our wedding date, September 13.
• I picked out my wedding dress and my mom actually bought it for me, and she doesn’t like expensive clothes.
• My grandparents had their house painted.
• We took engagement pictures.
• I live streamed my wedding makeup trial.
• We cleaned out my grandparents’ garage, no small feat. The dumpster we used took up the whole driveway.
• I planned my wedding.
• We gave my grandparents a new freezer for their anniversary.
• My cousin Chloe was born, May 13, 2008.
• I turned 25 on June 6.
• We celebrated my grandparents’ 50th anniversary with a big party. My grandma’s brother and his wife even came from Minnesota.
• My cat, Alice, went missing when she was let out on accident.
• iPhone 2.0 software came out, bringing us the app store.
• There was a 5.8 earthquake about 4 miles from my house. My mickey mouse TV fell off the dresser and lost an ear. There were a bunch of aftershocks.
• Jerrod got a new job at a game company called Point Of View.
• In August, I went on a little trip with my family(parents, sisters and I). We went to the San Diego Wild Animal Park and then Sea world the next day.
• My best friend from childhood, Erin, came to stay with us.
• I started moving my stuff to the apartment and we got a table, our bed, and desks for the office.
• I got married to Jerrod, September 13, 2008.
• We spent our first day married at Disneyland.
• For our wedding tour, we went to Plymouth, MA. It was my first time going to the East Coast. We stayed at the Governor Bradford Suite of an Inn there.
• We started living in our apartment in Huntington Beach.
• We voted.
• Our first married Christmas. We picked out our Christmas tree at the tree farm and had it delivered! Jerrod gave me my pink stand mixer for Christmas.
• Got a new Windows Home Server.

Favorite movies of 2008: The Dark Knight, Iron Man, The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, 27 Dresses, High School Musical 3: Senior Year

I was working on 2009, but I think I’m going to give it it’s own entry.

Highlights of the Aught Era, Part 1

Here’s to reminiscing about the past ten years. I hope I remember things accurately!

2000 – When 2000 started, I was halfway through my junior year in high school. I was awarded the bronze medal for acting distinction in duet acting from exams by LAMDA. My partner and I did Lysistrata, The Miracle Worker, and a third I can’t recall. At the beginning of my senior year in high school I took over the theatre department website. I was the stage manager for the “board play”(the play that was cast by our Thespian troupe’s board), a dinner theatre whodunit called Mayhem in Mayville. Our regular fall play was Tom Jones and I was actually Tom Jones’ mother. I directed the freshmen in their Shakespeare. I did LAMDA exams again for solo acting and was awarded the silver medal for acting distinction. I got the coveted “great use of pause” comment from my judge and he told me the story of why he likes the use of pause so much. I was cast as Bielke in Fiddler on the Roof and we started rehearsals for it. I got my braces over Christmas break.

Favorite movies of 2000: Miss Congeniality, Where the Heart Is, Center Stage, Almost Famous

2001 – It was the second half of my senior year in high school. We did Fiddler on the Roof in the winter. My group and I got first place in the classical drama catagory at the Fullerton College High School Theatre Festival for our version of Hecuba. I was a narrator for our children’s play, Stuart Little. My senior play was a depression-era play called The Diviners. I was Luella, one of the town ladies who kept falling off of her bike. The best thing is that my great grandmother, Grandma Neva, came to visit from Iowa and saw me in the play. She lived in that era, so I was especially excited for her to see my play. I was so excited to introduce her to everyone after the show. When I introduced her to my drama teacher, my teacher said “I’ve heard so much about you.” and Grandma Neva said “I hope they were good things!”. I sang Father’s Eyes solo in our spring choir show. I went to the third annual California Youth in Theatre Day at the state capitol. I was voted “Most Unique” by my class. I got my first cell phone in May. In June I turned 18 and graduated from high school. In the summer I built my first computer and learned to drive. I got my driver’s license less than one week before starting classes at Fullerton College. Shortly after turning 18, one of my good friends from high school who was also going to Fullerton College had to leave her house before her parents could kick her out. She bounced around to a few different friend’s places until one day she called me on my cell phone from a payphone at school and I had just driven by. I turned around and picked her up and she started telling me that she couldn’t stay at the friends’ house she was at anymore because their dad was coming home or something, and she just broke down. I told her she would come home with me and we went right away to pick up her things. Without even asking anyone about it, I took her home. Gramma seemed unsure at first, but I knew she would be staying with us.

Favorite movies of 2001: Ocean’s 11, Legally Blonde, The Princess Diaries, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, A Knight’s Tale, Moulin Rouge!

2002 – My second semester at Fullerton College. I did a touring show of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea to high schools around the area. I read Harry Potter for the first time in my Children’s Literature class but I didn’t like it yet. In the summer I was hired in at Disneyland as an Entertainment Host. I saw The Two Towers six times I think.

Favorite movies of 2002: The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, A Walk to Remember, Reign of Fire, Equilibrium, Catch Me If You Can

2003 – I can’t seem to think of what happened at the beginning of 2003. I was probably working at Disneyland for the holiday season(January). I started dating Jerrod in May, just before that year’s E3. At the time he was working at Black Ops Entertainment, a game company that no longer exists. I worked at Disneyland again that summer and I got a kitten and named her Alice. The sequel to The Matrix was terrible and pretty much spoiled The Matrix for me for years. To make up for it, I had to go see Holes again. The TV show The O.C. started, making Orange County more famous.

Favorite movies of 2003: The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, X2, What a Girl Wants, Holes, The Italian Job, Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde, Uptown Girls

2004 – I continued to date Jerrod and he started working at Insomniac Games. I got a beta gmail account in February. It was the first Leap year since junior high for me, since there was no leap year in 2000. I babysat for a morning Bible study group at church. Jerrod and I went to the Final Fantasy concert in LA. I worked at Disneyland on Thanksgiving. I found out that Christian Bale was going to be the new batman. I turned 21 in June and built my second computer, with an AMD Athlon 64 processor. My favorite Chinese food restaurant, Golden Choice, closed. My best friend Erin graduated from college at San Luis Obispo. I got my first iPod, a pink iPod mini. I got my braces off. I tried digital scrapbooking. I read the rest of the Harry Potter books (up to book five at the time), and started shipping Ron/Hermione as sort of a closet fan. It took me a couple more reads to warm up to the book series in general! I was a big fan of Smallville, The O.C., and Veronica Mars this year. A 250gb hard drive was $199.

Favorite movies of 2004: Ella Enchanted, The Prince and Me, 13 Going on 30, Mean Girls, New York Minute, The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement, The Incredibles, National Treasure

2005 – I was really looking forward to saying “aught five”. I took some classes at Orange Coast College in an attempt to transfer to Biola. In July, Jerrod took me to the Stephen Sondheim 75th Birthday Concert at the Hollywood Bowl. It was amazing! But it was the night before my family reunion, the G. Neva Convention. I went straight from the Hollywood Bowl to LAX  and flew all night to Minnesota, took a cab to where my aunt was staying and we drove to Ledyard, Iowa where my 93 year old great grandmother lived. It was an excellent day, seeing Grandma Neva as well as my second cousins, some of whom I had never met. I stayed for another week with my aunt in Wisconsin before going home. The sixth Harry Potter book came out like the day before I flew home. I bought a copy in the airport to read on the plane, but took off the dust jacket so people couldn’t tell what I was reading. I took a road trip with Erin up to Oregon and stayed with her at her great aunt’s house for a few days. On September 8, 2005 Grandma Neva passed away, almost exactly 3 months after the G. Neva Convention. We flew back to Iowa for the funeral and I made a slideshow which was shown at the service.

Favorite movies of 2005: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Batman Begins, Sky High

I’ve been at this for hours, and I’m only halfway through, so I think I’ll make this part one and do the rest later!

New Cousin Zachary!

My aunt and uncle had a new baby boy last night.

His name is Zachary Dewain and he was 7lbs and 20 inches long.

I think he likes me already! When I first started holding him, he looked right at me with both eyes open.

Here I am holding him. It’s so exciting to hold a new baby.

Here’s my husband Jerrod holding him. It was his first time holding a newborn baby.

Seeing new little Zachary today, I can’t help but think about how amazing it truly is that God came to earth as something so tiny and fragile.

Christmas 2009

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve is also my grandmother’s birthday so every year we go to the Christmas Eve service at my church and then we come home and have Gramma’s birthday dinner. A couple of really great things happened at the service. First of all, we took a cash only offering and the pastor said we were going to give it to someone outside our church family. Later in the service he started to say that he had told his wife that he would take care of Christmas Eve dinner. Then a pizza delivery guy came in and handed him some pizzas he asked his name, the guy says he’s Zach, asks how much it is and the guy says it’s $20. He hands him some money and then the pastor says “We took a little tip earlier, I think there’s about $2300 in there. Merry Christmas.” I was totally not expecting it! I thought it was a really good idea. I prayed that it worked out well for that delivery kid when he got back to the pizza place.

Another thing I’d like to share, is related to my volunteer work at MOPS(Mothers Of Preschoolers). I lead the song and snack time there, the kids are 2-5 and this semester I taught them Away in a Manger which they sang for their moms on the last day. I actually did the first and third verses with them, which most people wouldn’t do. During the Christmas Eve service the worship leader brought all the kids up front, asked them questions, etc and then they sang some songs. They came to Away in a Manger and one of the little boys I teach is doing the hand motions, I look over to the other side, and some of the little girls I teach are over there singing clearly. They move on to the other verses and most of the kids don’t know it. When they get to the third verse, my MOPS kids are doing the best of all! One of the girls is singing strongly and the worship leader gives her the microphone. She sang a good part of the verse. I was so excited and proud of the kids, I teared up a little.

Christmas Day

We needed to get to my uncle’s house before my cousin left for her mom’s house, so we woke up at 8:30 and my husband and I exchanged our gifts to each other. We were low on stocking stuffers this year, all I had for Jerrod was a bag of Starburst Favereds, but he didn’t have anything for me so it was okay.

I gave him a Tanooki Mario shirt. The tanooki suit from Mario 3 is his favorite.

I also crocheted him a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle. It’s Donatello which is his favorite. It was really hard to get it finished without him seeing it, but he really liked it.

Then we went over to my uncle’s house. My cousin Sidney opened her present from me first. My present for her was a case for the iPod touch I knew she was getting. When I showed it to my mom she said that my cousin is “Just junior high enough” that she might not know what it’s for and I should put in an iPod cutout. On Christmas Eve Sidney told me that she knows everything. The following is an account of the conversation when I gave it to her.

Sidney opens her box and there’s a brief pause.
Me: Do you know what it’s for?
Sidney: No
My Mom: See, I told you.
Me: It’s an iPod case.
Sidney: Oh!
My Mom: You should have put in an iPod touch cutout.
Me: I was going to, but then yesterday she told me that she knows everything!
My Mom: Bazinga!

My sisters both seemed to like their scarves. Holly said she didn’t have a yellow scarf and wore it for the rest of the day and today when we met for lunch she was wearing it again.

My mom wore her wrist warmers, too!

My aunt Melodee seemed really happy with the Penguin I made her.

Before dinner, I read the Christmas story. I read from Matthew since they read from Luke in church the night before.

iPod Nano Case with Bow

Case for my cousin’s iPod Nano (4th gen).

This is an original project made to fit a 4th gen iPod Nano. It has a decorative bow on the front and a removable wrist strap. It can also be used to affix the case to a belt loop or something.

This case was designed for my 14-year-old cousin as a Christmas present.

iPod touch Cozy/Case with pocket

Cozy/case for almost-13 year old cousin. She is getting an iPod touch for Christmas.

I looked at alot of different patterns for iPod cases, but there was nothing that was what I wanted, so this is an original pattern. I sized it with an iPod touch. My iPhone fits as well.

It has a flap to hold it secure with a hole for the earbuds to plug in as well as a pocket for storing the earbuds. I was considering making a strap also, but once the pocket was on I thought a strap would be too much. Ravelry Project.

I used Lily Sugar’n Cream yarn and a G hook.

New Favorite Purse

I was in Nordstrom the other day, picking up a Christmas present for my dad and I browsed by the purse section. The first thing I noticed was this display of Coach Poppy bags. There was a pink and a purple one, I think two different styles and they looked great to me. I’ve been using the same purse for over a year, it’s from Target and I do like it, but it’s starting to crack and peel and wear and that sort of thing. I lost most of my old purses in an incident where they were attacked by ants and I put them outside and then it rained. So I’d really like a new one. We pretty much have no money right now so there’s no way I can get it, but this is the first time in a while I’ve seen a purse that I instantly loved.

Isn’t it pretty? It’s the Coach Poppy Glam Tote. I’d like it in the pink, please

Crochet Trivet and Holly

If you saw my post about making my first baby booties for my new soon-to-be cousin, you know I started crocheting recently.

I made this holly ornament for our annual ornament exchange and craft party. This is the ornament I will exchange. I finally got the front loop/back loop thing down with this project. Here’s the project on Ravelry.

I’m planning to give this to my grandma for her birthday, which is December 24. It’s a dishcloth pattern but I’m calling it a trivet. Here’s the project on ravelry.

First Crochet Booties

I made these booties for my aunt Erika’s baby shower for my new little cousin Zachary. It’s my first pair of booties, and also my first finished crochet project. My mom had shown me a few years ago, but I had never made anything but a misshapen square.Gramma made the pom-poms.

I couldn’t remember how to get started so I followed the beginning tutorials in a book and learned the basic stitches. I looked up a video on youtube if I was unclear from the written instructions. Once I had a a long block of all my test stitches I started on my booty pattern. My first try didn’t come out right. The next morning I showed my grandma and though she’s more of a knitter, she was able to clear some things up in the pattern. The second one came out fine, we sewed it up and put on the pom-pom. My next one came out alot bigger than the first, so I had to do it again and that one matched.

I didn’t tell my mom I had made them until Erika opened them at the shower, and she was really surprised.

I’m hoping to make some Christmas presents by crochet.

Wedding Scrapbook

Now that my first anniversary seems to be coming at high speed I’m looking at how very few of my pictures I’ve scrapbooked. I had like three pages finished. To be fair, I had several more partially done pages that had pictures placed but no text or decorations or anything. I’m still not even to the ceremony yet, but here are some more.

Jerrod’s Birthday

Yesterday was Jerrod’s 27th birthday. Since Disneyland is having the free ticket on your birthday promotion and I have an Annual Pass, we went to Disneyland. We had some lunch at Del Taco before Disneyland.

jerrodputman: We’re in. Space Mountain here we come! 3:03 PM Aug 8th from Tweetie

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Wedding Lovebar and Animations

We’re coming up on our first anniversary in a little over a month and I’ve suddenly been thinking I’m way behind at doing things with our pictures. So here I’ve made a “lovebar” and a set of animations from our wedding videos.

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Little Person

Made this “little person” in Cheetah 3D.

Fandoms

I’m getting the urge to involve myself in a new fandom.

I feel like getting into a show that already has an active fanbase. This is probably not good, since I don’t really need a new show to follow. I was starting a new book series which I am enjoying but suddenly I was like “I’m in a TV mood.” And I don’t want to watch something I’ve already seen, I want something new. New to me, at least. Something fun and exciting I can marathon through, like Star Trek or Doctor Who or even Legend of the Seeker.

Erin’s Birthday at Disneyland

• 09:40 On my way to pick up my bff and go to Disneyland for her birthday. #
• 10:51 On the tram #Disneyland #
• 11:34 Waiting for small world. #Disneyland twitpic.com/208ey #
• 11:50 Pleased with the new small world. #disneyland #
• 12:58 @DavilaDraws have a pass but here to celebrate a friend’s birthday. #
• 15:11 In line for new toy story ride. #Disneyland twitpic.com/20dyb #
• 15:46 Getting on toy story mania. #Disneyland twitpic.com/20eur #
• 16:13 Toy story mania was so fun! Here’s my score #Disneyland twitpic.com/20fjp #
• 16:15 @ijustine no. I usually lock my doors… #
• 16:18 In line for soaring. *heart* that ride! #Disneyland #
• 18:08 Did Indiana jones. Now waiting for star tours. Maybe I’ll get to Endor this time. #Disneyland #
• 18:29 Didn’t make it to Endor. Now going to astro blasters. #Disneyland #
• 19:21 First chicken fusilli in months! #Disneyland #
• 20:25 Waiting for the fireworks. #disneyland #

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Doctor Who Wallpapers

1680×1050 | 1280×800

1680×1050 | 1280×800

Christmas Twitter Updates

• 08:25 Got a webkinz sea otter in my stocking! #
• 08:31 My husband gave me a pink stand mixer! Thanks @miniboss1232. #
• 10:09 On our way to my uncle’s house. #
• 13:47 Showing twitter to my grandfather! #

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Our First Christmas Tree

We picked out our Christmas tree at Peltzer Pine’s tree farm the first day it opened. It was delivered last night. It is a Leylandia Cypress.

• 18:13 Waiting for our tree to arrive. #
• 14:23 We got our Christmas tree flickr.com/photos/prettygeek/sets/72157610803714489/ #

Christmas Music Meme!

? CHRISTMAS MUSIC SHARING MEME ?
‘Tis the season to be jolly, fa-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la!

Thanksgiving 2008

In 1621 Governor William Bradford declared that the settlement have a thanksgiving feast to give thanks to God for the harvest. Wanting to invite their Indian friends, they sent an invitation to Chief Massasoit.

The pilgrim men hunted and fished in preparation for the feast. In a day they had plenty of game including wild turkeys. When the Indians arrived the pilgrims were surprised to find that ninety braves had come. Fortunately the Indians were used to celebrating the harvest. They hunted and contributed five deer and more seafood to the feast.

Before eating, the pilgrims prayed praising God and thanking Him for his blessings. The feast lasted for three days and included games that the pilgrims and Indians shared together.

In their first year in the new world the Mayflower passengers survived, but now they were thriving. It was not without hardship, Plymouth had lost fifty percent of their people, but Jamestown in Virginia lost ninety percent.

I am thankful for the wisdom and sacrifices made by our ancestors. In his history, Of Plimoth Plantation, William Bradford said “a great hope and inward zeal they had of laying some good foundation (or at least to make some way therunto) for the propagating and advancing the gospel of the kingdom of Christ in those remote parts of the world; Yea, though they should be but even as stepping stones, unto others for the performing of so great a work.”

This year I would like to express an extra thanks for my favorite grandfather through whom I am descended from William Bradford and William Brewster. In the example of his forefathers, he trusted God and took his family to a new place where they began our church and have shown Christ to everyone they meet.

Thanksgiving is not only a part of our American heritage, but our Christian heritage as well. We were being instructed to give thanks long before 1621.

“Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Thanksgiving Wallpapers

A couple of Thanksgiving wallpapers.

widescreen: 1280×800 | 1680×1050 | 1920×1200
fullscreen: 1024×768 | 1152×864 | 1280×1024 | 1600×1200

widescreen: 1280×800 | 1440×900 | 1680×1050 | 1920×1200
fullscreen: 1024×768 | 1152×864 | 1280×1024 | 1600×1200

Our Wedding in Pictures

A large version of this video is also available.
Download iPod/iPhone version | Download Large version

Fall Icons

Most of the pixel art is from Adorable Adornments.