little mustard seed

sunset on the flight home

"And He said to them, "Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you." Matt.17:20

How little is/was my faith? This past summer the Lord has shown me how much I have changed. Although it feels ironic, He has shown me through my friends experiencing now the trials I faced in the past for me to see the lengths that I have grown. Praise God for His mercy and love. On a recent trip to Alaska-- an escape to nature with no reception, I was tested by things like impatience and selfishness. The old me would have been in a strop the whole time with nothing to make me feel better but vain attention and coaxing, but thankfully my Heavenly Father helped me see that I am bigger than my pride thanks to humble salvation. Like the glaciers, God is constantly shaping and chiseling me down to the woman that He wants me to be (unlike the glaciers this breaking down is positive and not a sign of global disaster). I may even share some photos of my refreshing summer with you...stay tuned.

Tomorrow is the start of another semester of uni and I am excited for the plans that God has for me and for you, my readers.

lots of lovee

hello goodbye

Hello strangers! It has been quite some time since I last posted and I apologize but life has been throwing me this way and that way for the past 2 months. Sadly I am out of time to update you all right now because I am going to Thailand again! Literally I leave in an hour...oops. Being called back to Thailand by God and leading this team has been such a journey of personal growth and we haven't even left yet! To keep updated with me and the team visit : http://fcbcthailand2013.blogspot.com/ !

Well it was lovely sharing a whole 10 seconds with you all but I really must finish packing now. goodbye for now!

lots of lovee

birthing knowledge

Who taught you everything you know? I admit that I don't know much. If the universe was a box then I know the amount of a dot within that box..if at all. However I do know that almost everything I know is from my mom and my grandmothers. On Sunday we got together to celebrate my mom and the other mothers in our lives by showing love the best way that we know: cooking for them.

A meal for the sweltering heat based on the fresh produce of the season and trying to keep it light. Oh and our insatiable love for cheese. yes we are mildly lactose intolerant.

fresh strawberries and cherries

spinach and strawberry salad with candied walnuts

our favorite brie with crackers appetizer

potato, spinach, and mushroom fritatta

homemade sangria

ratattouille tart

Recipes will come later because these dishes are too simple and delicious not to share! But back to the main event: family

Thanks mommydearest for teaching me about everything from the science of cooking and baking to the reason why we worship such an amazing God. In the midst of our food coma after lunch we talked about what it was like to birth 4 children, and if I didn't appreciate her enough before I most definitely love her now. Happy Mother's Day to the greatest woman in my life.

lots of lovee

SPRUNG

Happy Spring! I love this time of the year because everything is blossoming, the weather is getting warmer, and its the last uni quarter standing between me and summer. As much as I enjoyed the chill factor of last quarter I am very happy to be in spring and to have had a chance to recharge my batteries over spring break a few weeks ago.

In honor of the break I took some time to visit a friend and road trip up to San Francisco to spend a few days of pigging out, shopping, and good ol' bonding time. Here are some highlights:

 can never resist a sweeping mural (remember this wall)

 Some of the best soul food in the heart of the Tenderloin District at Brenda's. Not to mention hands-down the most delicious crawfish beignet I've ever had.

 beautiful weather & a beautiful friend at the Union Square hearts

 seeking food coma rest and refuge at SFMOMA

"oh you blend in with the wall!"

Ending off the trip with pear ginger agave sorbet & mexican chocolate ice cream in a black sesame waffle cone from Tara's and gorgeous creation on the drive home

Despite grim weather reports we were blessed with clear skies and ample sunshine, which almost tricked us into forgoing coats...until we remembered: this is NorCal. Thankfully I have been practicing the art of "layering" which helped to keep the chill at bay only to have gusting winds blow right through me. Thank goodness I gained a solid 10 pounds in those few short days...not. More pictures of my adventures in SF on my Instagram.

The trip was a success and one that I would gladly do again but the perfect end to my spring break was Good Friday and Easter celebrations. Renewing my spirit always satisfies more than anything no matter how much I eat. With that in mind I am sprung for this season and pumped for what lies ahead.

Have a blessed week!
lots of lovee

cinnamon dreams

I love cinnamon. I love cinnamon sugar. I really love the smell of yeast and fresh baking bread. I really love late night baking. .....I digress.

If you follow me on Instagram then you might have seen that I made breakfast for my Sunday School class this past sunday. This is always a daunting task for two reasons: 1. everyone brings bagels & cream cheese or char siu bao's (chinese pork buns) 2. I like trying new recipes at times like these but I hardly ever get a chance to taste it before serving...scary. Recently I have been seeing a lot of recipes for pull apart and monkey breads, and one of my favorite bloggers, Joy the Baker, inspired me with her Cinnamon Sugar Pull-Apart Bread. Tell me if you don't drool.

After studying for midterms on Saturday night I stayed up a little longer to make the dough to give it time to rise before baking it the next morning...not the best idea. When I started rolling it out the next morning it didn't seem to yield as much as I would have liked, so what was a girl to do? I was desperate to have enough breakfast for all those hungry collegians! At that moment I looked at my cinnamon sugar mix & lightening struck: cinnamon raisin pancakes!

Genius. I whipped up a batch while the bread finished baking and they were a hit! Consider it a pre-celebration for yesterday's National Pancake Day.

I adjusted the recipe just a little bit to what I had at the time..

Ingredients
{dough}
- 3 c. all purpose flour
- 1/4 c. granulated sugar
- 2 1/4 tsp. (1 envelope) active yeast
- pinch salt
- 3 ounces butter *added extra ounce to make up for lack of buttermilk*
- 1/3 c. milk *used non-fat*
- 1/4 c. water
- 2 eggs, room temperature
- 1 tsp. vanilla

{filling}
- 1/4 c. sugar *reduced*
- 2 tsp. cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp. nutmeg
- 2 ounces browned butter

Directions
I followed Joy's directions including mixing the yeast with warm water and sugar before adding it in with the dry ingredients. The only difference was the cut in sugar content in the filling, and I also drizzled honey over the top of the bread right before serving to adding a slight "glazing" to moisten the dry crust.

Let me know if you try this recipe and link a picture of your bread so that we can all drool with you :) Midterms are over for me so time to celebrate! Have a blessed rest of the week!

lots of lovee