Home Again!

Now that I'm home again, hopefully we'll have consistent internet, and I can now keep up with my New Year's Resolution! I should've made my goal to post once a week once we got back from Arizona.

Let me tell you - we had a fabulous trip, very worth it! We were blessed by all the positive responses and all the generous people.

I have been participating in a "Spring Challenge" with a friend, M. Joy. She has been encouraging young ladies to get into the Word of God daily, for at least 10 minutes and to memorize a verse a week.

Being in the Word isn't a problem for me, but I am not a good "memorizer"! But I have been working on memorizing Psalm 138. It only has 8 verses, but it is a good Psalm.

(From memory)
I will praise thee with my whole heart: before the gods will I sing praise unto thee.
I will worship toward thy holy temple, I will praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth. Thou hast exalted thy word above all thy name.
In the day when I cried out, thou answerest me and strengtheneth me with strength in my soul.
All of the kings of the earth shall praise thee, O LORD, when they hear the words of thy mouth.
They will sing in the ways of the LORD for great is the glory of the LORD.
(I had to take a peek for this next verse. :P) Though the LORD be high, yet hath he respect unto the lowly; but the proud he knoweth afar off.
(Peek again!) Though I walk in the midst of trouble, thou wilt revive me... and I don't really know the rest of the verse very well.

Whew! I'm getting there! I know it still needs a bit of work.

What are you memorizing?

Thy word have I hid in mine heart that I might not sin against thee.

Be brave! Set a deadline for when you want to have a certain passage memorized by. Be accountable to a sibling or your parents.

Be Blessed!

~Emily

Update... :)

Well, so much for my New Year's resolution! But I DO have a slight excuse! :) We've had terrible, unreliable internet for the past couple weeks, so sometimes I don't have a chance to use the computer. But right now we are at one of the best RV parks in the whole state of Arizona - Saddle Mountain RV. :D The people are some of the best people in the world too. So friendly and... I just love them!

We are on our yearly (so far! :) music tour to Arizona. It has been a great trip. Today was our first day off since the 31st of January. We have played music everyday until today. What a treat to get a day off! We went hiking on Saddle Mountain and had a blast... we're all exhausted. Dad stayed in the trailer to take care of some work. So we missed him. :( But we all were collecting rocks like crazy! Only Rebekah has really been the "avid" rock collector, but it was funny - all of us were staring at the ground, looking for rocks... because they were simply AMAZING! I will HAVE to post pictures. But the rocks were just ALL over the place, and Greg stuffed both of his back pockets with rocks, and my sweater pockets were full to the brim. :)

Hannah told me to add that we saw a snake too. It was nothing spectacular - just a thin, long snake. I got a picture of it, but it was pretty bad.

Anyway... I'll have to add pictures when I download them.

Blessings to you all until then!
~Emily

Happy New Year!

Wow! It's already 2012! The year 2011 all sped by so quickly! If you go over to our girls' blog, Living at Home, you can see some of our highlights for the year. What a blessing!
I have made several goals, but I think one of my goals should be to post here at least once a week. :) I'll try my best.

Blessings to you all, and Happy New Year!

Seeking God

Yesterday I came across a passage in Genesis during my daily reading. The verses I would like to share are from Genesis 16: 11, 13.

"And the angel of the LORD said unto her, Behold, thou art with child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael; because the LORD has heard thy affliction." (You know the story) Then in verse 13, "And she called the name of the LORD that spake unto her, Thou God seest me: for she said, Have I also here looked after him that seeth me?"

When the angel of the LORD told her that the LORD has heard her affliction, she then examined her own life by asking the question, "Have I also here looked after him that seeth me?"

Are we seeking the God that sees us and watches over us? How can we not seek to know the God that sees us?

Recipe

Jamie's Minestrone (with some revisions from Emily) (give Jamie all the credit for this recipe!) 3 tablespoons olive oil 3 cloves garlic, chopped* 2 onions, chopped 2 cups chopped celery 5 carrots, sliced 2 cups chicken broth 2 cups water 4 cups tomato sauce** 1 can kidney beans, drained

1 can peas 1 large zucchini, quartered and sliced 1 can corn, drained 1 crookneck squash 1 teaspoon oregano Dash basil salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

In a large stock pot, over medium-low heat, heat olive oil and saute garlic for 2 to 3 minutes. Add onion and saute for 4 to 5 minutes. Add celery and carrots, saute for 1 to 2 minutes.

Add chicken broth, water and tomato sauce, bring to boil, stirring frequently. Reduce heat to low and add kidney beans, green beans, spinach leaves, zucchini, oregano, basil, salt and pepper. Simmer for 30 to 40 minutes, the longer the better.

*Tip: Be careful when sauteing garlic cloves. Mine turned black. :( So, I need to be more careful next time. Maybe adding it later would be better. ** I used 2 cans of tomato soup instead. I've taken out some ingredients, and added some, so it's my revision of the recipe. :D We didn't have any seashell pasta :), so I just ignored this part. But it seems like it would make a nice addition. 1/2 cup seashell pasta 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese for topping 1 tablespoon olive oil Instructions when using pasta: Fill a medium saucepan with water and bring to a boil. Add macaroni and cook until tender. Drain water and set aside. Once pasta is cooked and soup is heated through, place 2 tablespoons cooked pasta into individual serving bowls. Ladle soup on top of pasta and sprinkle Parmesan cheese on top. Spray with olive oil and serve.

I was awarded!!

If you are chosen and was awarded the One Lovely Blog Award, there's a rule 'needed' to be followed. First, write 7 things about yourself. After that, pass the award to other 15 bloggers.

Here are 7 things about myself:

1.) I have 7 siblings - 5 sisters and 2 brothers (that wasn't really about myself, but it was about my family! :) )
2.) I share a room with 2 of my sisters
3.) I canned peaches this year
4.) We hold a monthly class for girls ages 7 - 12 or so... :)
5.) I take piano and voice lessons
6.) I play piano and violin
7.) I have been to Hawaii

Since I don't visit too many blogs, here are 6 people that I award! (15 is A LOT!!)
Lucia at Umbrella Girl
Lady Irie at Daughters of Liberty
Lizzy at Young Authors Blog
Hannah Grace at Hannah Grace's Blog
Christianna at My Life for Christ
Victoria at Victoria's Girly girl Corner

Blessings to you!