Saturday in Frisco~

I am really loving our Saturdays of late...Steve home, breakfast with the entire family, and various fun activities.


We had some very pretty weather this past weekend, so here's a bit of what we did~

We enjoyed a family bike ride.  Gracia does pretty well in the trailer...plus it was her 9 month birthday :)

 

We rode our bikes to a couple different playgrounds near our house and had fun watching the kids play :)

Yes, this is exactly how the picture came  off the camera...the sky is THAT blue!
Playground #1

This is the only purple dinosaur Gracia will ever know!

Baby Gray enjoying the slide...and her big sister monkeying around!
Playground #2

We love riding our bikes around here...lots of pathways and sidewalks.  Sophia was just starting to learn how to ride without training wheels last fall...Bella was teaching her in the backyard on the grass.  The weather was so nice when we first arrived in Texas...the girls got their bikes right out.  It took Sophia no time to get rid of the little wheels all together thanks to our long, straight sidewalk and some help from her sister...now she zooms everywhere :)

Hope you're enjoying some spring weather wherever you are!
God bless~
Rach

Busted!

Unpacking, organizing, unpacking, searching through boxes, unpacking, trying to make this house feel like our home...

...you get the idea.  It's still kinda unorganized around here, but we are making progress.

Slowly, but surely...we are making progress.

Some of the progress is a bit slower than I would like...

...I pretty much blame it on certain people in our home who are under 3 feet tall :)

Thanks so much you cute, silly, wonderful, adorable, little one...

...thanks for helping Mommy with the laundry :)  And somehow she got one arm out of her onesie...that off-shoulder look is working for you, baby girl :)


Yep...she's busted!  And I was busted too...

...as in I busted out laughing and grabbed the camera :)

There you go, Mommy...before, they were all so orderly...chaos is more my style :)

She keeps me on my toes for sure...and when I'm off of them for a minute, these are the kinds of things I find :)


Hope you enjoyed a giggle~
Rach

Valentine Cookies~

The girls and I made some Valentine cookies...

They love getting crazy with the sprinkles...
 

  
Here are the happy bakers...

...and their beautiful creations...
 

They are so pretty and so very yummy!  We love using Alton Brown's sugar cookie recipe when we do cut-out cookies because they hold their shape...no puffy blobs :)

Hope you had a nice Valentine's Day~
Rach

A Day at the Dallas Zoo

The girls and I took advantage of the beautiful weather and headed to the Dallas Zoo last week...it was February 2nd...and short sleeves were just fine :)

*****Once again...lots of pics...you've been warned :)*****

We loved our day!  The weather was nice, the zoo was nice, the animals were nice :)

Well, most of them at least...doesn't this guy just crack you up!

I love taking my kids to the zoo...seriously, it's one of my favorite field trips.  The Dallas Zoo is a bit different than the Philadelphia Zoo.  It's not as old...Philly's zoo is the oldest in the country and has a wonderful historic feel to it.  The Dallas zoo was missing some of that "history" vibe, but it sure does have some wonderful space for the animals.  

We especially loved our visit to the African Savannah...the giraffes, zebras, ostriches, and gazelles are all in the same big, large enclosure.  They have lots of space and it was so neat to see them share the watering hole, etc.  The lions were nearby, but they were kept separate...that could have been a bit too realistic :)

We enjoyed our picnic lunch in a cafe...this was our view...wow!

After lunch we fed the giraffes...it was so cool!  Giraffes are Bella's favorite animal...she was in awe...it was a highlight for sure.  I am so thankful for photography...now we have this moment captured forever :)  Sophia loved feeding them too...what a great experience :)

And we rode around part of the zoo on the monorail...the big girls thought it was great fun!  Bella manned the camera and got some pretty good shots...good job, Bella!

Getting ready for our ride on the monorail~

We are excited to take Steve back with us...the girls have so much they want to show him.  

Baby Gray was not very impressed with the penguins~

She wanted her picture taken with the gorillas b/c Steve calls her His Little Monkey :)

This kid just cracks me up...too funny!

And that's about it...just one last picture...a kiss from Texas!

Hope you are enjoying some outings...have a blessed day~
Rach

Lost

Lost...I hate the feeling of being lost.  

Honestly, it's a fear of mine.  It's not an all consuming kind of fear...I don't usually freak out, but I do get nervous and slightly panicky if I feel like I'm lost. 

It's not the kind of fear that keeps me from going places...I generally don't worry about getting lost...

...instead I make sure I know where I'm going.  I need to see where I am and where I want to be and how to get there, so maps are a friend of mine...and Google maps is a very, very good friend of mine.  So is my cell phone.  I like knowing that I can call someone if I need to.  

And I like my GPS (a gift from my brother)...it's a fairly new addition to my fear-of-getting-lost tool belt.  You would think that I would have been one of the first to get a GPS because of my "sensitivity" to the lost feeling...but I wasn't.  Mostly because the GPS is good at giving directions and it's good at getting me from point A to point B...but it's not good at helping me feel like I know where I am or what's going on...and sometimes I simply don't trust it.  There are too many stories of people getting lost, accidents, etc because the driver listened to the GPS instead of common sense.  Don't get me wrong...I like my GPS and I am thankful for it...but it does not do much to relieve my fear of being lost.  I still check things out on a map before setting up my destination on my GPS...it's better to be over ready than to risk getting lost, in my opinion.

You see...I like to know exactly where I am...and why.

It's probably some kind of control thing.

And lately I have been feeling quite lost.  

Not when I'm out and about on our new Texas roads so much...out here they build in grid patterns and I already know my way around here way better than I ever did in PA :)  

We are enjoying our new state and the new weather.  We are enjoying our new church and our new home.

That's the thing...it's all new.

Sometimes you just want what is familiar.  You want to be around people who already know you.  You want your kids to be able to see their dearest friends.  

I've been feeling like I'm very far away, very disconnected, sometimes discouraged, and homesick...sometimes I even cry.


Like last week when we went to church.  Church was wonderful, but I cried during worship simply because I missed our church in PA.  I cried because I knew my girls would be going to their classes and they don't really have any friends yet.  I cried because I miss seeing the dear faces of our dear friends.  

Nothing here is bad...it's just new.

And this emotion, these feelings of being lost and alone, had been building up...they just couldn't be contained anymore.  Both Steve and I, and our girls, were feeling disconnected and kinda down.  So we talked a bunch, hugged, and even cried together.  Steve and I tried to encourage our girls with examples from Scripture of people God had physically moved to other lands...He was always working in their lives even when He called them to go to new places and do hard things.  We encouraged each other by remembering what our other moves have been like and how wonderfully God has always provided strong churches and dear friends.  We encouraged each other by trusting in how God had moved and provided just to get us here...surely His plan didn't stop once we got to Texas.

But the coolest, kindest thing was how our Lord encouraged us later that night.  Last Sunday evening we had a special worship service at our church...a time of singing and prayer...and whatever else the Lord had in store.  We showed up a bit late, but joined right in with praising God through song.  There was a time when we also prayed...and there was a time when we prayed for specific people who were needing some extra prayer and encouragement that night. 

God brought a particular verse to Steve's mind and Steve had an opportunity to share it with the group...yes, like in front of everyone at the microphone :) 

"Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord.  He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit."  Jeremiah 17: 7-8



Well, this beautiful reminder in scripture was such a blessing to me...and it was a blessing to hear it shared by my husband...and it was a blessing to know that it ministered to others as well.  Steve, I am so thankful for you and so thankful that you shared.  I know it was way outside of your comfort zone, but you honored God with you obedience to share...and you blessed others who needed to hear that particular verse...thank you.


Meanwhile, I was still hanging out with Gracia and the girls.  I could hear someone crying behind me.  I looked back to see a woman sitting a few rows behind me...alone...and obviously upset.  Lord, what should I do?  So I began praying for her.  Lord, what should I do?  I went over and simply sat next to her with my arm on her back and prayed for her.  I had (and still have) no idea what she was going through, but the Lord knew and I feel like He allowed me to just be a person next to her so she would know she was not alone.  I didn't ask her what was wrong, I just prayed for her.  Later, we introduced ourselves and she thanked me for praying for her...it was a simple, yet nice connection.  It was nice to feel like God had used me to minister to another.


And that's when I heard His still, quiet voice.  

You are right where you are supposed to be.  You are here by my design.  You are here to serve.  You are not lost, Rachel.  You are not lost.

And my outlook on all the newness changed.  It doesn't mean that we no longer miss those who God intertwined our lives with.  It doesn't mean that we forget Covenant Fellowship.  It doesn't mean that we no longer miss the familiar.  


But it does mean that we are determined to walk in faith...to trust our Lord who has always carried us.  We believe He moved us here and we believe He has a plan...we believe His ways are good even when we can't or don't understand them...we believe, Lord. 


Yes, we believe.


"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope."  Jeremiah 29: 11


"And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose."  Romans 8: 28


Have a blessed day~
Rach

YUMMY!

One thing I LOVE about Texas is that it seems like every week the grocery stores have a contest to see who has the cheapest avocados...we are taking full advantage of their game!

Today's avocado was paired with some super yummy salad I made yesterday...isn't it pretty :)

I was inspired to try making this salad after I bought something similar at the local HEB Central Market.  Central Market...well, it's good that there's not one right around the corner.  How would I describe it?  It's a foodie's grocery store for sure...beautiful produce, an amazing bakery, very nice meats...all things gourmet.  My next door neighbor in PA is the one who suggested I visit CM...she recommended their tamales.  And she was right...the tamales were fabulous...I would have taken a picture, but we ate them too fast :)  CM has a huge chef prepared section...all sorts of great things to buy, bring home, and enjoy.  One of the things we decided to try was their black bean, corn, and jicama salad.  It was very good...and I was inspired.

Thankfully, my closest CM is 20 minutes away...too far to just stop by very often...that could be bad for our budget.  But I wanted more of that salad...so I made my own...and saved a bunch of money too.

Here's the recipe in case you're interested.  And you can add or delete ingredients based on what you do and don't like.  I also thought it would be good mixed with some small pasta (like orzo) or with quinoa, couscous, etc.

Two cans black beans, well drained
One can corn, well drained.  I also chose to saute my corn on the stove so it was like I had roasted it.
One medium jicama, chopped
1/2 of a small purple onion, chopped
One bunch of green onions, chopped (including some of the stalks)
One orange pepper, chopped
One red pepper, you guessed it, chopped
One small jar of capers, well drained
Fresh, chopped cilantro...as much or as little as you like. 

I dressed it with olive oil, balsamic, and some raspberry vinaigrette...sorry, but I have no measurements for this dressing...I just combined them in a jar, shook, and drizzled...I also added salt and pepper to taste.  Oh, with most things like this, it was better the second day :)

Here's to a yummy salad...enjoy!
Rach