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10 Reasons Why My Mom is the BEST!

My mom is the best mom, and I love and appreciate her SO much. These are 10 of the reasons I respect and admire her so much, listed in no particular order, except most important one last. Why 10? Because if I didn’t put a number limit on it, the list would be endless. :)

10. She is an encourager.
My mom taught me (and I appreciate that I am still learning from her!) many different things. Most importantly, moral aspects of life, and to focus on God. But even in the less important things, she was always encouraging and teaching. My Mom talks about how talented her kids are artistically and how we got that from my Dad because he is artistic. And while it is true that Dad is artistic, and he passed that down to us, I know that I wouldn’t have enjoyed or developed it as much if it hadn’t been for the way Mom always encouraged us. Whether it was an art project I did as a small child, or the sewing I did as a teenager, or my creative pursuits now, the way my Mom is always saying, “Wow, that’s SO neat! I love it! You should pursue that!” means everything in terms of helping someone to be artistic.

9. She’s always ready to try new things.
Whether its a new kind of food, or going somewhere new to explore, or moving across the country, or discovering new things, my Mom is up for it! I mean, how many American mothers of small children would move to Eastern Europe right after the Berlin Wall came down and life was less than smooth over there to help their husband as he taught the gospel? My mom did! And I don’t remember her complaining about it. I do remember her joy.

When we lived in Prague.

8. She stayed home with us to raise and care for us.
When I was small, I just took it as a given that of course Mom would stay home and take care of us. But as I grew older I began to realize how blessed our family really was because she chose to do this. The day in and day out molding of our characters, the constant love and correction, all the wonderful memories, the fact that she was always there when she needed us — because after all, kids spell love T-I-M-E. And we knew we were very loved. And on top of that, she even decided to homeschool us! I went to public school for several years as well, and while it wasn’t bad, homeschooling was SO much better — both in terms of education and in the opportunities it gave me to spend time learning and growing with my family. My mom put SO much work in this, as well as into all other aspects of raising us.

7. She’s a hard worker.
Raising 6 kids, homeschooling them, making home cooked meals every night, taking care of the house, helping others – its no small feat! My mom tackles it head on and definitely doesn’t “eat the bread of idleness”.

6. She is an awesome cook.
I’m talking omnom-licious here. One of many, many things I love about going home is that I get to have my mom’s home cooking. Yes, I enjoy cooking too, but I’d say my cooking style is somewhat different than Mom’s, and there’s some kind of super-loving-magic that my Mom throws in the pot that makes everything so delicious and wonderful. :)

5. She loves and is a helpmeet my Dad.
Both of my parents are amazing. And seeing their marriage growing up- how they work through tough times and how they shine in the good times- makes a profound impact on a child. I know my parents will be together no matter what. I know that they will work together to fix a problem no matter what. I know they love each other, and even more importantly, that they love God. Seeing my Mom fill her role as helpmeet to my Dad is a wonderful example to me. And all of this is such a comfort and encouragement to me – both when I was a child, and now as an adult.

4. She’s just plain fun.
How many of you can say that one of the first times you brought your future-husband home to get to know your family your Mom said, “Hey! Let’s all go outside and do a jig around a can of baked beans?” Anyone? No, I didn’t think so. Yeah, my mom rocks. :)

3. She gives of herself to others.
I don’t think I personally know anyone who is more self-sacrificing than my Mom. From the bigger/more obvious things like staying home with us, to all the little day to day decisions I’ve seen her make that often go unnoticed but where she is constantly thinking of what would be best for others. I need to be more like her in this (and in many ways!)

2. She’s a Proverbs 31 woman.
If you’re not sure what I mean by that, read this.
I rise up and call her blessed.

1. She loves God more than anything else.
… and she worked to instill that in us as well. Its the most valuable lesson she could teach us, because when you get this down, everything else falls into its proper place.

I love you Mom!! Happy Mother’s Day!!!!!

Getting lost in a good book… what are your favorites?

“You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me.”

I almost wish C. S. Lewis hadn’t said this, because its so true of me that I probably would have said it myself, and then everyone would be quoting me instead of him.

Well … ok, maybe not, but I do love this quote. :)

(In fact, I loved it so much, I embroidered it on this book tote I made! I call it a “quote tote” and I stitched my paper beads on it – WooT!
One of these days I should finish it so I can actually use it….)

Another book quote I love is from Kathleen Kelly in You’ve Got Mail and I think its sooo true of fiction…

“When you read a book as a child, it becomes a part of your identity in a way that no other reading in your whole life does.”

I’ve always loved reading, and then by extension, writing. I remember when I lived in Prague as a kid I wrote all the time, coming up with overly-fantasical and highly predictable stories. You know, the kind where any time there’s a problem, suddenly someone has the perfect little magical doodad to fix that exact problem. Not “the great American novel”, but I was just nine and it was so exhilarating to create my own little worlds on the beautiful blank notebook pages. And one of the best ways to learn to write (besides reading) is to just go ahead and start doing it.

Pencil by Elisa Xyz
My love of writing grew so much that I decided to major in journalism in college. Journalism, as my professor always said, is just storytelling. True storytelling, of course, but the art is in the way you sculpt the information.

“A really bad storm came through town last night”
vs.
“This morning’s sunny sky seemed unfitting as Sarah Johnston found her missing roof scattered on the road in a tangle of branches and debris — evidence of the storm that swept over the city just the night before.”

But I know my love of writing really stems from my love of reading as a child. Recently, I was trying to come up with a top ten list of my favorite works of fiction, and I was amazed by how many of them were books I had read as a kid. So I gave up on a general top ten list, and instead, here are some of my favorite books from my childhood:

My I Love Books and Tea Illustration. See? I even draw about books.
Loosely in reverse order…

10 – Little House on the Prairie Series, by Laura Ingalls Wilder
(Not exactly fiction, I suppose, but too classic to leave out!)

10.5 – The Little Britches Series, by Ralph Moody
(Weird numbering, I know, but its because its similar to the Little House books. Out west, based on a true story, but from a boy’s perspective. SUCH a touching story! My dad used to read this aloud to the family.)

9 – The Twits, by Roald Dahl
(I was pretty young when I read this, and I don’t remember a whole lot about the plot, just how much I loved reading it. Roald Dahl has such a contagiously fun style.)

8 – The Chronicles of Narnia, by C. S. Lewis
(The Voyage of the Dawn Treader is probably my favorite from the series.)

7 – An Old Fashioned Girl, by Louisa May Alcott
(It may seem odd, but I was never a big fan of “Little Women” – probably because I’m a lot like Jo, but I always preferred Laurie to that old professor. But “An Old Fashioned Girl” made me much happier!)

6 – The Green Door, by O Henry
(This one is just a short story, and I was a teenager when I read it, but it really resonated with me. I even memorized it and delivered it as a dramatic interp for a speech event.)

5 – Kidnapped, by Robert Louis Stevenson
(You know how when you’re a kid you find names you love in the books you read? My little daughter’s middle name is actually a version of one of the character’s names in this book.)

4 – The Secret Garden, by Frances Hodgson Burnett
(I mean, come on, who wouldn’t want to discover a magical garden tucked away on the grounds of a mysterious mansion?!)

3 – Through the Looking Glass, by Lewis Carroll
(The hilarious poems were one of my favorite things about this book. I actually ended up putting on a theatrical version of this in high school.)

2 – Lorna Doone, by R. D. Blackmore
(I remember my grandmother recommending this book to me. One of my favorites of all time. Not a light read, but SO worth it.)

1 – Anne of Green Gables, by Lucy Maud Montgomery
(Anne, with an e, is perhaps the fictional character I identify with the most.)

I love books!
So what about you?
Does reading make you want to write?
What were some of your favorite fiction books as a kid?
Tell me in the comments!

How to create stand alone pages on your blog

See that bar right above here where it says “Blog”, “About Me”, etc.? I had seen lots of blogs had these handy stand alone pages, and I knew I wanted them on my blog (this was back when I was on Blogger). After a little poking around I discovered how to do it – its extremely easy, but the starting link is just not in a very obvious place.

Apparently I am not the only one who initially didn’t find it straight-forward – yesterday there was a request to explain how I did this. So here you go, Blogger users:

Go to the “Posting” page where you typically write a new post. Now look just under the tabs and you’ll see three options – New Post, Edit Posts, Edit Pages.

Click on “Edit Pages”. This will take you to the space where you can create/edit/post your pages. You can have up to 10 stand-alone pages in Blogger.

Click on “New Page”. Now you just write up your new page the same way you would write up a new post – same formatting/text box and everything. So simple! Whatever you put in the title is what will show up as the page’s name on your blog’s main page.

When you add a page, it will generally automatically add the pages widget. If it doesn’t for some reason, you can go in and add this widget on your “Design” tab page.

You can also choose whether you want the pages to be displayed across the top (like I have on my blog), or as a list on the side of your blog. Just drag and drop to widget on your design page to whichever place you want it to be.

The pages will be listed on your blog in the order you publish them, but if you want to rearrange them, just go back to the design page and click on the edit button of your pages widget.

There you can move the order around, or change the name of the “home” tab – for instance, I changed mine to say “Blog”. Click save and you’re done!

Hope that was helpful!
Do you have any other blogging questions?
Or any helpful blogging tips?
Let me know in the comments! :)

Omnomnom: Grilling Onions

Some things just go together. Salt and pepper, Fred and Ginger, movies and popcorn, ninjas and pirates.
Ok, maybe that last one is more of a feud than a pairing.

But recently we discovered a food pairing so delicious, I don’t know why these two aren’t as inseparable as salt and pepper—- Steak and grilled onion.

Meet Tim: resident grilling expert and husband

Ohhhhhh, its SO good. I mean, at restaurants steak sauce is generally offered, but I really think there should always be grilled onion. Try it the next time you grill, and I think you’ll be hooked. Choose a very mild or sweet onion, like vidalias, and cut it in half, then quarter. Place right on the grill when you’re cooking the second side of the steak (or earlier, if its a thin cut – you want some nice charred edges and caramelization of the onion). Just be careful when you turn the onions over to not let the pieces slide though the grill into the fire.

If you cooked the onion long enough, it should be very mellow with just a little bite. Grab a big bite of the onion and the steak together.

Deeeeeeevooooooooooooour.

Ah, I love the grilling time of year.

Yep, Tim’s pointing at you. What are some of your favorite food pairings? Tell me about it in the comments! :)

A crazy week and dangerous week

Wow, has this week been crazy. A couple weeks ago my well-loved car broke down. *sniffs* The hood started smoking, we pulled over, and as my husband, Tim, inspected everything and saw that the oil was milky – the engine block was broken.

Traffic Cones by Vince Mig

Poor Linus. (that was my car’s name. Do you name your cars??)
Our three year old daughter heard Tim say that there was milky oil, but apparently she didn’t understand fully because she keeps talking sadly about how our car had trouble and got “milky Oreo”. I wish!

So last week we bought a new vehicle. Not brand new, but a 2010, low mileage in great condition, and I loooove it!! It’s a manual transmission, too, like my old car, which I really wanted!!! *squeals*

We got it last Thursday.

Monday, we got rear-ended on the interstate.

Double Line by Peter Griffin

I don’t know what it is, but the same principle that seems to draw birds to just washed cars seemed to apply to our just-bought vehicle. We were all in the car, but we were not seriously hurt. I’ve been having to have a lot of therapy this week because I have an existing neck problem from being rear-ended by a drunk driver when I was a kid, and this aggravated the same issue. But we could have been a lot worse off.

And it got me thinking…. I really like this new vehicle we got, and I intend to take good care of it. But even so, there are some things that are out of our control. And even without the accident – where will this vehicle be in 30 years? Long gone, I’m sure. It’s so easy to get SO wrapped up in lots of everyday type activities and plans, and while we all have a lot to get done, do we forget about the things that will matter in 30 years? 60 years? 600 years?

Pretty quickly after our accident on Monday, this passage popped into my head:

“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.”
Matthew 6:19-20

Bible Text by Petr Kratochvil

It’s nice to enjoy God’s blessings in this life, but let’s not forget that things here won’t last forever, and we need to be paying attention to the things that will.

A couple of my happy finds

In an apartment, you need to find home decor accents that pack a lot of awesome-per-inch! :) I bought some great finds on Etsy that fill this need perfectly and I want to recommend these two awesome shops!! We love this little happy area on our wall where I have my finds:

Vintage Map Clock: my own non-Etsy find :)

Handmade “Explore” Map Bunting: from Palimpsestic on Etsy

Handmade Vintage Fabric Patchwork Hoop Art: from MerriweatherCouncil on Etsy

I just find this little space so inspiring! And both of the Etsy sellers are not only extremely talented artists, but very friendly and helpful as well! I was so happy with my purchases.

Check out these other gorgeous finds from each of their shops:

From The Merriweather Council:

“Let’s Go” Embroidery Fiber Art Hoop by merriweathercouncil

Mini Patchwork Fabric Bunting by merriweathercouncil

Set of 2 Patchwork Fabric Hoops by merriweathercouncil
From Palimpsestic:

Square Inch Art by Palimpsestic

Mini Love Pennant “Love” Map Banner by Palimpsestic

Original Art Collage Bookmark by Palimpsestic
Check them out!
Have you had great buying experience on Etsy? Tell me about it in the comments below! :)

Battle Pineapple

I love to cook and experiment with new flavors in the kitchen- particularly when I get to try my hand at new flavors from another country. However, the flair of their local fare often comes from ingredients that are easier to obtain there than here. I’m hesitant to shell out a lot of money for some unusual foreign ingredient if I don’t know how to use it very well or even if I will like it!

Such was the case, as some of you may know, when I tried to make Hot and Sour Soup. If not, let’s just say that my inordinately strong pregnancy craving for Hot and Sour Soup was effectively crushed by the resulting swill.

And so, usually, my longing for culinary creativity must simply find another outlet, but somewhere in the back of my mind, I still long to travel the world through the flavors on my plate.

Such longings are sometimes nurtured and coaxed by the wondrousness that is Iron Chef America. Two chefs are given 1 hour to prepare four courses for a panel of judges- but every dish must contain the one “secret ingredient” which is revealed immediately before the cooking battle begins. FASCINATING!

A while back, I had Iron Chef on in the background while I was working. It was “Battle Pineapple” and each chef was doing his best to craft each dish to incorporate pineapple. Very interesting! I wasn’t looking at the tv at the time, so I never saw what it looked like, or what was in it, but I heard the commentator mention that one of the chefs was making a pineapple salsa.

Pineapple salsa.

Pineapple salsa!!!

PINEAPPLE SALSA!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ahhh, all the culinary gears in my mind started whirring. I knew I was going to make a meal based on pineapple salsa. It just sounded so … gloriously delicious! But what would you eat with pineapple salsa?

Caribbean jerk chicken, of course. I just knew it.

Had I ever made jerk seasoning? No.
Had I ever even tasted anything Caribbean jerk? Nope.
Did I even know quite what Caribbean jerk seasoning was?? Nada.
But I knew it would be perfect with pineapple salsa … which I also had never tasted.

And then – fate. I was at the store, and there were beautiful fresh pineapples at beautifully low prices. I snatched one. My little herb/patio garden has been flourishing lately and I knew I had jalapenos and tomatoes ready to pick, as well as some fresh herbs for seasoning. Pineapple salsa, you are about to become a reality! But that little nagging question was still in the back of my mind- what exactly WAS this jerk seasoning that I was going to make to go with it?

Fear crept in – would I need some strange ingredients? Would it be outrageously expensive? Would I be serving pineapple salsa … with nothing else? I tried to squelch the butterflies in my stomach and started Googling Caribbean jerk seasoning.

What is it? Can I make it???? Will this work?!?! MY POOR PINEAPPLE!!!!!! I don’t think I can convey to you just how agitated I was.

And then … there was some beautiful singing and flowers were blooming and sunlight was streaming down on my face …. I had almost everything I needed either in my garden or on hand already! I only had to buy ginger and brown sugar- both of which I knew I would use in other ways as well. I bounded away to the grocery store.

Because of all my agitation over whether I could reasonably make jerk seasoning, I never had a chance to worry about how it would taste … even though I wasn’t strictly following any recipe- I made my own up based on the various recipes I read online. But somehow I knew it had to work. The only question was what to have on the side.

At the store, I found some beautiful baby portabella mushrooms, and so the meal was complete in my mind. With the crazy zesty, spicy and tropical flavors in the pineapple salsa and the jerk chicken, I wanted something earthy and mellow to balance it out. Knowing what I already had on hand in the kitchen, such as some broccoli that needed to be used, I could picture the final plate in my mind-

Carribean jerk chicken over rice, served with pineapple salsa
Caramelized onions and sauteed mushrooms seasoned with thyme
Broccoli sauteed with garlic

I grabbed the mushrooms, and after a long hunt for the practically hidden basket of ginger root, I headed home.

The night before I planned to have this exciting dinner, I made the marinade for the chicken – and then there ensued the results from forgetting to take my contacts out before dicing the jalapenos. = Ouch.

Then comes the day to eat the long anticipated pineapple salsa. I gathered my fresh ingredients … its so nice to have an herb garden! Fresh ingredients are not only more flavorful and more fun to cook with; they are also just more appealing. Compare:

No, never mind, there is no comparison!

fresh is greater than driedin flourishcafe

The dishes came together and the kitchen was filled with a warm spiciness. If you, like me, didn’t know what was in jerk seasoning, some of the strongest flavors come from hot peppers, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, allspice and ginger. Recipes vary, but these were some of the curious and aromatic scents filling the air. The pineapple salsa looked beautiful- just petite dice some fresh pineapple, ripe tomatoes, sweet onions, jalapenos, and cilantro and you will see. Everything came together, and we sat down to eat. For the first time, I was suddenly afraid it wouldn’t go together- it might not taste good! It might be terrible! What have I done?! This is CRAZY!!!!

Crazy, yes. Crazy DELICIOUS! My sixth sense had been right along. The pineapple salsa and the Caribbean jerk chicken were simply perfect together. Tim, my husband, raved. I savored the meal. I traveled to Jamaica and back. It was a lovely trip.

Have you ever had a culinary epiphany? Or a culinary disaster – like my Hot and Sour Soup? Tell me about it in the comments, below!

The story behind it…

People often ask how I got started/what my inspirations are with my Etsy shops, so here you go!

The story behind FlourishandDebonair:
I used to sell antiques with my Dad, and we would go hunting to auctions, old barns and abandoned buildings (always with permission of course) discovering old treasures to be given new life.

vintage records in flourish and debonair

vintage earrings in flourish and debonair
One day I bought a box of vintage jewelry and found in it a unique necklace I liked so much, I kept it for myself and wore it often. The beads were unusual and I eventually realized they were made of paper!

handmade paper beads in flourish and debonair
I dove into making paper bead jewelry myself, and now I collect old encyclopedia sets to turn into wearable art. So my vintage selling and my jewelry making are really very closely intertwined!

vintage creamer in flourish cafe
The story behind FlourishCafe:
Growing up, dinner time was always an important time of day- a time to laugh, share the day’s stories, pray together and, of course, enjoy my Mom’s delicious home cooking! I want to create that same experience for my family each day as well, so I love to cook and experiment in the kitchen, creating delicious meals to enjoy while we spend time together around the table.

tomato cream sauce recipe in flourish cafe
I thrive in a kitchen filled with spices, where I can come up with my own recipes, and think of my kitchen as my own cafe. My little daughter requested curry and naan for her 3rd birthday and she can consume hummus at an incredible speed. That gives you a little idea of the bold flavors I like to put on the table! My FlourishCafe shop is all about turning your kitchen’s atmosphere into your own flourishing cafe, a gathering place for the people you really want to be with – your family!

salt and pepper love in flourish cafe
So there’s my backstory :) What’s yours?

Happy April Fools Day!

It is now my month! I officially claim it – mine!
Well, I suppose I have to share it with anyone else who is named April…

And how fitting that my month starts off with such a fun day of jokes and humor!

*ahem* 
Did someone say something about it being fitting that my month starts off with a day about fools? 
*glares around* 
No? That’s right. I didn’t think so.

And what better way to say “Happy April first” to your favorite fool than with this necklace for $125 on Etsy by the well-known seller Polestar … be the first to jump on that hot new First-Meal-of-the-Day-Chic trend:

Share you April Fools Day experience with me – I’m always looking for inspiration. ;)

Om nom nom: Easy Elegance

I just love to experiment in the kitchen, try new foods, and explore different flavors! I’m planning once a week to share a food tip here on my blog from my culinary adventures. :)

Today’s ideas are simple to prepare, elegant and delicious! The key is excellent quality ingredients.

And in particular, Westphalian Ham.

This photo is from a special tapas meal I made for my family. It is so simple to prepare and yet SO delicious! I was going to use Serrano ham until I found out how expensive it was (To give you an idea, a whole ham could easily cost you $200. YIKES!), and then considered prosciutto and eventually we settled on using Westphalian.

Now, its still not a low cost ingredient by any means, but its significantly less than Serrano, and with any of these hams, you really only need a small amount.

Trim the stalky ends off the ends of fresh asparagus spears, and wrap each in about 1/2 a slice of Westphalian ham. Brush with extra virgin olive oil, and put into a 375 degree oven for about 10 minutes- make sure you don’t over cook it! You want the asparagus tender, but still firm enough that it doesn’t droop. Garnish with freshly ground black pepper.

Devour.

And, even simpler, yet still ridiculously delicious: wrap balls of cantaloupe with small pieces of Westphalian ham, and spear with decorative toothpicks. This is from the same tapas meal- both my husband and I were blown away by this flavor combination!

Check out these fun foodie finds on Etsy, have some fun in the kitchen and get cooking!