Let's take a trip!

He said, "Let's go to the Philippines".

She said, "Ok".

...and so the adventure continues...

Flashback Friday: making food for Musicale plus recipes

He said, "Honey, I can't go to Musicale this year.  The Bible conference is changed and it would be best if I don't go."

What she wished she said, "that's ok. I totally understand."

What she really said,  no you really don't want to know my initial words.  God has a way of working things out.  I am in Federal Way, WA as I write this post and Dave is home.  Quite a change from the previous posts.

Flashback:  Dave and I have been making food together for small groups and large groups for all our married life and before.  Still to this day, out favorite group of people to cook for is our family.  When we aren't cooking for our family our second favorite group of people to cook for is groups of people whom we can serve, like the choir from CVCS.

This is the 5th year we've helped and the 4th year that we've made lunch and dinner for the choir.  Even though Dave isn't here, he helped with the massive shopping day and the meal prep before we left.

Here's this year's menu with a few recipes.

Thursday
Lunch:  make your own sandwiches (pb&j, meat, cheese, veggie), cookies, chips, fruit, veggies and hummus or ranch dressing for dip
Dinner:  meatball sandwiches, salad and leftover veggies from lunch
Meatball sandwich recipe
1 large bag frozen meatballs (I got mine from Costco) or your own favorite recipe
Favorite marinara sauce*
Put together in crockpot on low and by dinner the meatballs will be done.  Put meatballs on hoagie roll and top with cheese.

*marinara sauce
Mix together:
2 15-oz cans crushed tomatoes
2T dried basil
2T dried parsley
2T Italian seasoning
2T sugar
2t garlic salt
1t finely ground black pepper

If you are using this for pasta, bring to a simmer then reduce to low heat for at least 15 minutes to blend the flavors and heat the sauce.  If using in the crockpot simply mix it cold then add to crockpot.

Trying to be Authentic and Transparent

Source: National Honey Board

 "Kind words are like honey - sweet to the soul and healthy to the body." Proverbs 16:24 NLT

Source: Center for Non-Verbal Studies

Good Bye 
Hortons!
Source: Ben H. 

Hello 
Hope House!
Source: Kiersten G. 

Dave:  "I'm not sure about wifi here but for now my phone works.  Wow!  Praise the Lord!  This has been a very long but incredible day. (They started the day after 4 hours sleep at 3:30 am and went to bed around 11:30 pm)...I miss you and can't wait to see you."

Beth: "Love you!  Do you have a full day tomorrow?"

Dave: "Not really as full so I hope to Skype or text in my morning."

Beth: "Ok!  :)  Sleep well."

The phrase "my morning" means a lot to me.  Dave's morning will be my night.  He stayed up late to talk with me in my morning and I'll stay up late to talk with him in his morning.  You see we talk, Dave and I, all the time.  This helps us to be authentic and transparent with each other. 

I'm going to share some of my transparency and authenticity here.  My friends have asked me how I am while Dave is gone.  It's always the same answer from me, but it's the truth.  I'm tired.  Not worn out tired, just tired.  I stay up late and get up early to hope to talk with my best friend.  We want to share life together, not just be on two different paths that cross paths once in a while. 

Here's what we did this time (We learned a few things from Dave's last adventure to Togo for 3 weeks..some worked some didn't...we're refining the process; and it does depend on technology)

1)  We wrote notes to each other for each day and sent the notes (or Dave left the notes).  That way, if technology didn't work we had the paper version.

2) We made a plan for a getaway when we could be together again. Now for Dave and I, right now is a busy season, so our getaway will have to wait for a month, but it is something to look forward to.

3) I should have put this first.  We pray together (through Skype) and for each other during our "days".

4) We work hard at what we need to do while we are away from each other so we can play and rest a little bit when we get back together. 

5) We each invest in people along the way.  If not we'd be so self-centered and mopey.  No one likes to be around a mopey person.

6) The one home (normally me, but I'm going on a little trip for work soon so it'll be Dave) needs to tend to the normal home schedule.  Dishes still need to be washed, trash taken out, etc.  

7) We try to get some rest (like I already said, I'm tired, but I still go to bed at a somewhat decent hour and I make plans (or have plans like my job) to get up at a decent time).

Women Living Well is a blog that I follow.  The are doing a series right now on "How to Maintain your Marriage when your Husband Travels".  I think it is a good read and has helpful thoughts on it. 

"You can make many plans, but the LORD's purpose will prevail." Proverbs 19:21 NLT

Bountiful Baskets and other random thoughts

Dave:  I hope that you had a good day!  (He is still in the Philippines....it was Sunday morning when he Skyped last night.  I was tired, but encouraged by his call.)  What did you do during the day?

(Honestly, I didn't remember much.  I had just fallen asleep on the couch waiting for our Skype date.)

Beth (to Dave): Look what we got at Bountiful Baskets yesterday!  I'm know that you think I'm crazy, but I'm so excited that we got leeks!  I'm making some soup!  Rachael Ray's website has great recipes that use leeks and potatoes.  I also think I'm going to make some sweet and sour stir fry with the pineapple and the bell pepper.  Oh, the possibilities!

Dave & Beth: One of our favorite things to do on Saturdays is to wake up really early (like 5 am) and go to volunteer at Bountiful Baskets.  We've gone to several location sites to volunteer, but we've basically landed at the one in Star, Idaho.  It's one of the starting sites in our area.  We started going there because it was convenient with our schedule.  We could go and get our basket early and then have the rest of the day free.  But it's become more than that.  We also wanted to get to know people in our community.  Now Star isn't really our community, but the people at the Star Bountiful Basket site are becoming part of "our" community.  We brought candy canes at Christmas and gave them to all the volunteers (well, actually all December; we celebrate for the whole month).  And we are slowly getting to know everyone.  Dave's so much better with names than I am.

Beth: The last two weeks I've gone alone.  I've gone more for the people than the produce.  I like the variety of the produce and I've been able to give some of it away since I can't eat it all by myself.  But I was reminded of community of people yesterday morning when our site coordinator helped me get my things to my car and he told me to tell Dave that they missed him.

We got to Skype again this morning....I'm awake (Beth); Dave is really tired (It's 11 pm there and they are getting up at 3 am to go to Manilla)  We were talking about where we want to spend our time, especially time as a couple.  We've decided, again, to spend it on people.

What do you do as a couple to invest in other people?  Do you invest in the people at your church?  At your workplace?  In the community?  We'd love to hear how you invest in people.   Please comment.

"We love each other because he first loved us.  If someone says, "I love God," but hates a Christian brother or sister, that person is a liar; if we don't love people we can see, how can we love God whom we cannot see? And he has given us this command: Those who love God must also love their Christian brothers and sisters." 1 John 4:19-21 NLT

"Jesus replied, "'You must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment.  And second is equally important, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'"" Matthew 22:37-39 NLT

Flashback Friday: We get to go to Oregon!

When I was growing up in Southern California my mom's parents moved to Southern Oregon.  It was there that I spent summer vacations until I was in Jr. High.  That's me (Beth) on the left.

This is the great hammock that they had in front of their house that overlooked the port in Port Orford, OR.

The house is now a vacation rental.  One day I want to vacation there again.

Dave and I have been super busy in these past 4 years and especially in the past 18 months.  We've seen a lot of changes and we've had a lot of transitions in our lives as a family and as a couple.

One thing that helps us to connect is our times that we can get away.  Times that allow us to just be Dave and Beth.

So we are getting away to Oregon!  There was a great deal with Southwest so we snatched up some cheap seats and we are making plans to get away.

Here are some of the websites that we used or are using for our getaway.  We're giving them to you because we think that all married couples should get away now and again to reconnect and remember who they are as a couple.  Sometimes it's hard to figure out where to start.  So here you go, some easy starting places.

Southwest Airlines usually has great deals and your bags fly free!

Travel Oregon is a fun site to visit to find out a variety of things to do and places to stay in Oregon.

Travel Portland is another site that I just found last night.  I was talking with Dave while I was making the plane reservations and he said that he wanted to take public transportation all around Portland. We wouldn't be renting a car this time.  This site has helped me find a lot of great places to go, to eat and to stay in the Portland area.

One last thought:  Marriage is hard work.

from LeCrae's instagram photos

Check out: To Love, Honor and Vacuum's post on reviving your friendship with dating and Family Life's Weekend to Remember  marriage conference (ok, conference sounds really stuffy, but the one that we went to was a blast and we both had a great time reconnecting intentionally through their discussion starters and date night ideas)

"Give honor to marriage, and remain faithful to one another in" -Hebrews 13:4a NLT

Happy Valentines Day from the Philippines to the USA and back

He said, "Happy Valentines Day!"  He is in the Philippines so when he said that it was only the 13th of February where she was.  He got her card the day before she did.

She said, "Happy Valentines Day!"  She is in the USA.  She was late, and he was early.

Sometimes in communication our words get crossed even when we are in the same time zone.   It's good to remember that communication requires constant review and constant clarifying.  But really the most important thing that communication requires is words.

"Good news from far away is like cold water to the thirsty." -Proverbs 25:25