Adorableness

This is the face of someone who is REALLY excited about Minnie Mouse...

Emily's 3rd (yes, I know it's crazy that she is 3) birthday party was last weekend, and I figured that since I don't have any adorable children to post adorable pictures of (well ones with 2 legs anyway), I'd steal adorableness from the Daniels family.

Marmalade may not agree with adorableness of Jack as she is 'loved' by him...

It was 11 years ago that Andrea and I got matched up as roommates for summer internship housing. And as they say, the rest is history...

A Note of Caution

So I had this great idea tonight...yeah most of my good stories start with a great idea I have at 7:00 at night. I had all these peppers left from all the vegetable deliveries I got every week - I mean how many jalapeno peppers can a person eat every week? - and I had just read an article about blanching and freezing vegetables...so naturally I decided I would blanch and freeze my jalapenos...let me give you a word of caution in case you decide to do this. I would recommend two things, which I didn't use - a lid and gloves. As it turns out, jalapenos are a tad more potent than I gave them credit for.

Approximately 45 seconds after I cut and de-seeded them and threw them in the boiling water, I was coughing and my nose was running just from the steam in the room (I was smart enough to know not to actually breathe in the steam, but it just being in the condo was apparently enough...). So of course I grab a tissue to blow my nose (after washing my hands because again, I was smart enough to know I needed to wash my hands after cutting jalapenos...). About 45 seconds after that my nostrils start burning. So I promptly wash my hands again, but at this point my nose is gushing and burning and I'm coughing and trying to drink water and blow my nose without touching my nose too much, but not being successful...so I decide to wash my face...perhaps not the best idea. About 45 seconds after I do this I now have a face that's burning, a nose that's running, a throat that's coughing and now under my fingernails start burning. At this point I had to take the jalapenos out of the ice water I had put them in after the boiling water and throw them in the freezer and then I proceeded to not touch anything for a good 30 minutes, and wash my hands 2 more times. I figured I was safe to touch things at this point and got myself some ice cream. Well, when I licked the ice cream off one of my fingers, guess what I tasted? Jalapenos! What in the world? Thank God I didn't try to do this with super crazy hot peppers.

So, if one decides to blanch and freeze jalapeno peppers I would recommend using gloves to cut and de-seed, and then putting a lid on the boiling water, and then just for good measure I'd wash your hands with lemon juice (it does seem to be helping - thanks for the tip Leslie!) after all of that before blowing your nose, or licking for fingers or certainly before washing your face! I mean, if you are feeling a burning face you could go my route, but if you are feeling a normal evening I'd say go a different route!

Back from my Wandering

I'll post pictures from my spectacularly beautiful trip out west once I catch up from e-mail purgatory. Until then I will leave you with my overarching lesson of the last few months, which this trip continued to explain to me and which Hillsong just so happens to sum up perfectly with their Desert Song.

All of my life, in every season, You are still God, I have a reason to sing. I have a reason to worship.

Oh, Panama

Well, seeing as how I leave tomorrow for a week long vacation out west, it seems as though the Panama trip summary will not be making it's debut this weekend. Sorry about that - I know you've all been sitting on the edge of your seats. I at least sent out a message to all the people who sponsored me this year to thank them, but I figured that a few of you may not have sent money but you certainly sent prayers and we saw first hand this year the power of prayer. So, I extend my thank you to everyone who lifted up our team...

I have yet to truly put into words what Panama was this year. So far the only two words that I can come up with to start to encompass it are intense and amazing :) I feel like on my first mission trip God showed me a lot about myself. On this one He showed me a lot about Himself...which is intense and amazing :) I shared with the church on Sunday how at one point God gave me a glimpse of just how huge he is and yet how he will move heaven and earth to meet us where we are. It was an awesome moment in time, and one that I think will frame a lot of my future.

As you can see in the picture of our whole group we had armed guards this year...specifically Panamanian special forces...yes, that is a story for later, suffice to say we were in Columbia guerrilla territory and we had lots of medicine and doctors. But, in the end God used the situation for us not only to minister to the Kuna Indians but also the soldiers, which was pretty awesome.
One last picture before I go. Angela took this on our first day of clinic, about 3 days before we really knew why we had guards with us. Every time I see this picture I think of the verse 'If God is for you, who can be against you' (Romans 8:31). At our last meeting before the trip we were given three verses to meditate on and one statement - 'Go in peace, I have gone before you'. And go before us He did, calling in national guards to protect a little team of 9 'Trailblazers' from Charleston, SC.
So thank you for every prayer you lifted up for us, you may never know how important it was, but I'm here to say you made a huge difference in the world!