{Day FiVe on Day 6}

Top of the morning to ya!


   I'm just not doing so well with this consistent blogging idea! And today is the day that the rest of my family returns from Israel!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


   Can you tell I am excited??

   I just wanted to share one photo from yesterday... My dear friend, Berlize, came over for coffee last night. I didn't make it to her birthday party so I promised her coffee and a gift. She LOVES my brownies and has been asking for a couple of months for the recipe and that I could teach her how to make them.

    I had a shabang and decided to prepare all of her dry ingredients and give her the recipe. I love giving gifts, wrapping gifts, washi tape, and tissue paper... LOTS of tissue paper:

"Well... That's all I have to say about that."

{Day 4 on Day FiVe}

Top of the morning to ya!


     

     Unfortunately Gabbi and I were in too much of a chocolate stupor to blog... And we were honest with ourselves about how much we knew we would want to eat.

    I felt like Augustus Gloop when I selected not one... not two... but THREE pieces of chocolate. But like I said, we were honest with ourselves. 

      For the most part, we have been eating very disciplined. However, I felt like I was going to DIE today at spinning because I got too distracted last night to finish eating dinner. Shame.

     Lord-willing and the creek don't rise, I will have Day 5 photo up today. 

    

MY FAMILY WILL BE BACK IN ONE MORE DAY!!!

    Staying home without the whole family here is over-rated. 

"Well... That's all I have to say about that."

{Day †h®3e}

Behold... My chicken burger. It definitely hit the spot.

†øp øƒ †hé mørñîñg †ø ¥å!


     I am having fun with the "option" button and wanted to see how funky I could make the word "three"... I like it.

    Today, my siblings and I enjoyed a fabulous lunch at Katelynn's house. She is so sweet to not only host us, but also prepare lunch for four extra people (which includes my two man-sized brothers).


   The Lord bless her for her sweet hospitality.


"Well... That's all I have to say about that."

 

{Day Two Part 2}

Goeie nag!


      Before I sleep... I want to share photos from this evening. I made my first Afrikaans meal with my friend, Charlotte. Marli gave me an Afrikaans cookbook for my birthday and I gave her my favourite recipes for HER birthday (which is two days after mine).

     Bobotie is actually influenced by the Cape Malay people and is really good. It has an interesting combination of flavours that make a yummy, simple meal for plenty.

I decided to throw in my experiment. Mom usually buys

this grain-ladened bread that nobody eats because

it's just...scary. So, I decided to use it for bread pudding 

because I wanted to make up a custard sauce to go on top. I used

PW's bread pudding recipe as a base and (of course) added my own twist.

The custard turned out really well. I was so pleased and I had Charlotte and Liezl's approval.  I prepared it similarly to chocolate ganache. 

Meet Charlotte. Graceful. Genuine. Lovely. Servant-hearted. Man! God

has surrounded me with such wonderful young women. They challenge me 

to love people and serve for the glory of God. 

 Being truly Afrikaans (although her mother is English), 

she helped me make the bobotie. Well... She did most of it, I must admit. 

Graham and Liezl. It is scary having them both under the same roof.

They are equally mischievous, yet really thoughtful, like most of the same stuff,

and you never have to wonder what they're honest opinion is!

Liezl and Gabbi are also very close. Gabbi was excited

to join her at school for track practice this afternoon.

The handsome couple, Dewald and Marli! I tell them God brought me here t

o make sure that they get married.Dewald is the master at making potjiekos - another famous South African dish.

The other partners-in-crime. Raymond and Gabbi, who are both youngest children, share the same playful gleam in their eyes. I have no idea what they were talking about...

Whelp! I'm off to bed and pray the Lord to give me strength for spinning again!

Lekker slaap!

{Day Two}

Top of the morning to ya!!


    Herein lies Day 2 photos... Gabbi and I got an early start... In fact, we got up before "early". 4:30 is an ungodly hour to arise. However, good things come to those who go to spinning early. Besides, I embrace the siesta culture and will probably enjoy a horizontal life pause sometime later.

    Saturday night, we had a braai with some youth and young adults. It was very nice but we ended up with WAY too much temptation- I mean, dessert!! WAAAY too much. And I'm trying to get the Ultimate Responsible Daughter award by ridding our house of the desserts, soft drinks, and other fatty foods that so easily entangle... AIYEE!!

   (One of my lovely handsome brothers *cough... GRAHAM* drank an entire liter of soda to himself. I don't get how the boy stays so slim. Just isn't fair.)

    We've also embraced the South African way of keeping our windows open during the day. The mountain breeze (even in the summer) is a great and economical substitute for air con. The only con is that all God's bugs are attracted to the lights. Just walking upstairs, I saw four or five different species of insects. They are of manageable size, so I am ok.

  Behold... Day 2 photos.

Gabbi took advantage of the fact that it was 6:15am 

and our dear brothers were still blowing bubbles and dreaming

about sugarplum trees... So, she gathered the terrible-awfuls 

and threw them OUT.

I bet that if Graham saw this, a tear would fall from the

corner of his eye.

Talk about a prey-er warrior! This preying mantis has been on the

stairwell since Saturday... Thanks to him, we have less moths

and other weird bugs.

"Well... That's all I have to say about that."

{Day 1}

Top of the morning to ya!


    So... We are approaching Morgan's 20th birthday in two days now. We have some exciting things planned to commemorate this milestone... I post this confident of the fact that she is soaking in her birthday trip to Israel.

     I mean, she already doesn't follow my blog so I run no risk of her seeing this.

   Anyways... Gabbi and I hacked Morgan's instagram on Saturday morning - as all devoted siblings do - and posted photos expressing our initial distraught over her leaving, then our moment of epiphany, and then our utter joy over a week to pretend like we get to do whatever we want. (The latter being a pathetic effort to console ourselves.)

   I've decided to post random pictures for each day. I'm already a post behind so I will be posting twice for yesterday and today.

    Yesterday's photo:

This young woman is a GEM, I tell you! Her husband will be highly blessed.

Katelynn is another partner-in-crime. My parents have expressed the desire to have more children and God has blessed us tremendously with friends like her that become family.

 She came to hang out over the weekend

and I quite enjoyed our conversations, concert moments, and movie time. 

I want to be like her when I grow up.

"Well... That's all I have to say about that." 

The Chase

Top of the morning to ya!



      A few months ago, my mentor shared this poem with me. This was the response of an elderly inmate to the gospel message. My favourite part about this is it reflects a genuine heart touched by the Holy Spirit. She did not pursue God. God pursued her. She was in an environment that constantly reminded her of her sin and spoke to hopelessness.

     But God penetrated those prison walls - spiritually and physically -  and softened her heart to a message of eternal hope in salvation! God be praised!

The chase is finally done with,

there's nowhere else to hide. 

I finally see the light and the reason

why You died.

The chase is finally done with, 

there's nothing else I can do;

Your love has run me down, I

surrender all to you. 

But your love is so sweet, it

makes me want to cry;

Your understanding so deep, it

never leaves me dry.

Now I give to You myself; all my

friends will think I've gone insane,

But, at heart, for me, You didn't die

in vain.

I always tried to think that I could

make it on my own;

I can't be strong anymore. You're 

my hope; don't let me go.

'Cause Your love is so sweet, it

makes me want to cry;

Your understanding so deep, it

never leaves me dry.

Now I give to You myself; all my

friends will think I've gone insane.

But, at least, for me, YOU DIDN'T 

DIE IN VAIN!