A Beautiful Surprise

Today is the most lovely, chilly, perfect day. 

I love the way the mist hangs on the mountains, the brisk air, and the need to wear sweaters and scarves again.  I had to use the windshield wipers all the way home today.  Just wonderful!

And guess what was waiting at home for me?

This beautiful pink rose refuses to believe that Fall is here.  She's just in her baby stages of blooming, but so vibrant and summer-scented that she brightens my sleepy garden.

Just as I'm getting excited about Autumn, I'm reminded how beautiful other seasons can be.

Bloom on, sweet rose!

A Much-Needed Sabbath

Saturday did not go as planned.

We were supposed to meet Momma B out in Redlands to celebrate our birthdays together and go for our annual girly birthday pedicure (not Jesse, he was planning on finding something else to do out there!).  I look forward to it every year.  We've been doing it since before Jesse and I were married.  Momma B is so happy to have a girl in the family now!  I love that a pedicure is our tradition (and it's the only one I get during the year, so it's a big deal for me.)

We were planning to go to a cross country meet for one of or high schoolers (potato/tomato Mike, actually) at 8am and drive straight out to meet Momma B from there, hang out with her for the day, and then drive to the baseball park for Jesse's men's church league game. 

But when I woke up on Saturday, I knew that not much of that would be happening.  The headache that had begun the night before had morphed into a migraine that hurt so bad that I knew if I got out of bed and tried to function like a normal day, the migraine would latcht on even harder and take me days to get rid of.

First, we decided that we were going to need to miss the cross country meet.  So I stayed in the darkness of our bedroom praying that it would go away so we could still make it out to see Momma B.  We ended up calling her and letting her know not to expect us as early as we thought, and then I fell back asleep for hours.  When I woke up again, it was to Jesse's voice telling his mom that he didn't think we'd make it at all that day; he wasn't feeling well either.  Jesse's allergies had hit hard while I was asleep, and through the course of the rest of the day, he nearly finished a box of tissues all by himself.

So there we were, Migraine Missy and Sniffly Sir, both sick and tired and miserable.  We curled up together in our favorite chair, but every time he reached for a tissue, I got dizzy and felt even worse.  We ended up spending the afternoon on seperate couches (which we never, ever do).

As weird as it sounds, it was just the kind of day we needed.  God ordained that there should be one day of rest each week, and with our crazy 12 hour church days, Sunday sadly-but-certainly is not a day of rest for us.  I guess it takes us being sick to realize every once in a while that we need a break. 

We needed a day to stay in our pjs til 6:00 at night (and then yes, we did make it to the game), eat our childhood comfort foods, watch old favorite movies, sleep off and on, and serve each other as best we could. 

A sick day isn't something I'm going to hope for frequently, but God knew we needed one.  And even though 2 days later the migraine hasn't completely left, I'm thankful that Jesse and I got to share a much needed day of rest.  And if making us sick is the only way He can get us to take a day off, at least I get to take it with my handsome man.  ♥

Dutch Oven Pot Roast

I have a new baby.

She's a gorgeous apple-red dutch oven, and I'm in love.

It was a birthday present from Momma B.  I'm so excited!

I made gumbo a few weeks ago and learned that it's not very easy to make a perfect roux in a thin-bottomed metal pot.  (In fact, it's very easy to make a perfectly scorched roux in a thin-bottomed metal pot.)

My southern Mother-in-law knew that a girl needs a real dutch oven to make a real gumbo, so that was my birthday present from her this year.  I'm going to have many pics to upload from my wonderful 24th birthday!  Check here to find them soon :-)

I was so excited to have a dutch oven that I wanted to find a simple yummy recipe to try it out.
Pot roast was always a special meal during my childhood, so I decided to try my hand at it.  The dutch oven made it so moist and flavorful!  This recipe is the simplest thing in the world.  If you don't have a dutch oven, try doing this in a slow cooker.


♥2.5 pound beef chuck pot roast (about 8 inches long by 2 inches thick)

♥1 packet of Lipton Beef and Onion powdered soup mix (adds such simple,yummy flavor!)

♥4-6 small russet potatoes

♥ two or three hanfuls ofbaby carrots (about 6 ounces)

♥1 cup water

♥pinch of salt

♥pinch of pepper

The most important part to making a pot roast is to sear in all of the juices before you get started.  Turn the stove on to medium-high heat and sear each side for 4-6 minutes.  It should come out a light brown, caramelly color.

Once the roast is nicely browned, remove from heat and season the top and sides with salt and pepper.  Mix the onion soup mix with 1 cup of water, and pour it around (not on top of) the roast.  Put it back on the stove and get it up to a simmer for two hours.  Put your ear next to the pot to listen for a gentle simmering sound.  Make sure it's not too hot--it will dry the poor thing out!

Ten minutes before the two-hour timer goes off, cut up your potatoes.  There shouldn't be any pieces thicker than 1.5 inches.  Add the potatoes and carrots to the pot and leave it alone for another hour.

I told you this was easy, didn't I?  :-)

Dinner is all set and ready once you turn that burner off an hour later.  Serve with some salad, some bread rolls, and a homey dessert, and you've got yourself one of the easiest crowd pleasers you could come up with!

Enjoy :-)

Dutch Oven Pot Roast

I have a new baby.

She's a gorgeous apple-red dutch oven, and I'm in love.

It was a birthday present from Momma B.  I'm so excited!

I made gumbo a few weeks ago and learned that it's not very easy to make a perfect roux in a thin-bottomed metal pot.  (In fact, it's very easy to make a perfectly scorched roux in a thin-bottomed metal pot.)

My southern Mother-in-law knew that a girl needs a real dutch oven to make a real gumbo, so that was my birthday present from her this year.  I'm going to have many pics to upload from my wonderful 24th birthday!  Check here to find them soon :-)

I was so excited to have a dutch oven that I wanted to find a simple yummy recipe to try it out.
Pot roast was always a special meal during my childhood, so I decided to try my hand at it.  The dutch oven made it so moist and flavorful!  This recipe is the simplest thing in the world.  If you don't have a dutch oven, try doing this in a slow cooker.


♥2.5 pound beef chuck pot roast (about 8 inches long by 2 inches thick)

♥1 packet of Lipton Beef and Onion powdered soup mix (adds such simple,yummy flavor!)

♥4-6 small russet potatoes

♥ two or three hanfuls ofbaby carrots (about 6 ounces)

♥1 cup water

♥pinch of salt

♥pinch of pepper

The most important part to making a pot roast is to sear in all of the juices before you get started.  Turn the stove on to medium-high heat and sear each side for 4-6 minutes.  It should come out a light brown, caramelly color.

Once the roast is nicely browned, remove from heat and season the top and sides with salt and pepper.  Mix the onion soup mix with 1 cup of water, and pour it around (not on top of) the roast.  Put it back on the stove and get it up to a simmer for two hours.  Put your ear next to the pot to listen for a gentle simmering sound.  Make sure it's not too hot--it will dry the poor thing out!

Ten minutes before the two-hour timer goes off, cut up your potatoes.  There shouldn't be any pieces thicker than 1.5 inches.  Add the potatoes and carrots to the pot and leave it alone for another hour.

I told you this was easy, didn't I?  :-)

Dinner is all set and ready once you turn that burner off an hour later.  Serve with some salad, some bread rolls, and a homey dessert, and you've got yourself one of the easiest crowd pleasers you could come up with!

Enjoy :-)

I have a job!

A note from two weeks ago:

Hi Gramma,

I'm sorry it took so long to reply! I've been trying to figure things out and have kind of just been flying by the seat of my pants lately.
I'm back in the job limbo. The school that I've subbed at for the last three weeks wants to hire me as an Admissions Counselor (they haven't gotten the official ok to hire anyone yet, but the principal loves me and says as soon as she gets the go-ahead from the church board, she will come straight to me), I just heard from the preschool director at the school I worked at all last year that they are voting on Sunday to increase their preschool to have an infant/toddler program (and the director there said that she wants to hire me as the Infant Toddler Program Director if the church votes yes for the program), and today, I interviewed for a position as an inclusion aide (working with children with special needs) in the San Marino District. Whew! It's nice to have things on the board again, but I'm not getting my hopes up. I thought at the beginning of the summer that I had it made with the two schools I had applied for, and neither of them hired me. I'm jaded and ready for something secure, for sure!
Love, Beth

Well, guess which one I got?

I nearly fell out of my seat when I got a call from the lady at the district saying that they wanted to hire me.  Her exact words were "Congratulations, Bethany, you've been hired!"  My exact thoughts were, "Wow, I haven't heard those words in 5 years!"  I didn't even know what to say.  I had really been hoping that th admissions counselor job would work out (but I still haven't heard from them...) and was even thinking ethat I would like to work at the infant/toddler program (even though it would be awkward to work on the same site as the principal who didn't even call me himself to tell me that he wouldn't keep his promise of hiring me.  I still love [mostly] everyone there, though, and miss them so much!  If they offered me a position at the preschool, I would take it in an instant.)

Annnnnnnnnnnnyway, I'm done with waiting on promises that don't come through, so when I got the call from the district expressing such excitement about having me onboard, I couldn't help but smile.

It's not my dream job, but it's something.  It's not the salary I would get as a teacher, but it's better than sitting at home waiting around to sub.  And I'm so tired of hoping and praying for a teaching job that I was ready to give up on education altogether and apply for a job at JoAnn's.  (Minus the minimum wage part, wouldn't that be just the perfect job for me?!?)  Buuuuuuut, this keeps me in the field of education, gives me excellent experience working with children with special needs (hello, impressive resume!) and gets my foot in the door of one of the top school districts in our area.

I've been praying for so long to have a job, and now I have one  I'm thankful!  Thank you for praying along with me.  It's been such a long process!

I'll let you know how it goes :-)

Favorite Moment from Today

Here's a snippet of conversation between two high schoolers during our Bible study with our high school youth at church today:

Sarah: One of my friends calls it "Sermon on the Hillside."
Mike: Same difference.
Sarah: It's not the same thing!  It's the Sermon on the Mount! It was a mountain!!!
Mike: Potato/tomato.  Same thing.

Chicken Fajitas

This is a new favorite in the Brubaker household.   I made it a few weeks ago when I had leftover bell peppers and onions (I was so proud of figuring out how to use them without having to go to the store to buy anything else!!!) and we made it again when Kim was here.  It's such an easy recipe, and as long as you have all of the spices in your cupboard already, this meal is a cinch!

♥ 1 teaspoon pure chile powder

♥ 1 teaspoon kosher salt

♥ 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

♥ 1/2 teaspoon onion powder

♥ 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

♥ 1 tablespoon cornstarch

♥ 1/4 cup water

♥ 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

♥ 1 whole skinless, boneless chicken breast (about 1 pound), cut into 1/2-inch strips

♥ 1 green bell pepper—cored, seeded and cut into thin strips

♥ 1 medium onion, thinly sliced

♥ 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice, plus lime wedges for serving
 
Use a ziplock to combine the chile powder with the salt, cumin, onion powder, garlic powder, cornstarch, water and 2 tablespoons of the oil. Add the chicken, bell pepper and onion, seal and knead gently to coat. Refrigerate for 15 minutes.


Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil in a large nonstick skillet until shimmering. Empty the contents of the bag into the skillet and cook over high heat, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are crisp-tender and the chicken is cooked through, about 6 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the lime juice.

Serve with tortillas, cheese, salsa, sour cream, and whatever else sounds good, and enjoy!
 
It's so yummy, I'm going to eat the leftovers for lunch!