A Different Kind Of Beach Trip

Last weekend we went to the beach again. This has to be a record for number of beach trips in a year! We have been spoiled with good to great weather each time.

This beach trip was a little different because this is the first time we've gone with kids! It was so much fun and reminded us what the 'beach' is really all about - playing in the sand!

Our high school friends, Mark and KayLee and their three kids, came to the beach with us for their second time as a family. The girls were beyond excited and all three kids absolutely loved the water! I think that they spent an hour down playing in the water (not consecutively though). It was so much fun to share this weekend with them! I know they aren't my kids, but I'll share the pictures of them anyway :).

It was so bright! I'd never wanted prescription sunglasses
more than on this day. Blake was kind enough to
share his hat :)

These guys loved the water.

They played hard and came back WET!

Then they played harder in the sand.

He loved the sand :)

This is what happens when you
are soaking wet and then
play in the sand!

Then they played with kites.

In all our beach trips, we'd never flown a kite!

 Day two was a little brighter and warmer :)

I had to borrow grandpa's hat from the cabin, so we
could both be shaded. Sunglasses are on my to do list!

More kite flying!

And of course, more water playing!

They loved the water.

Particularly almost two year old Wyatt.

KayLee was a good mommy and patiently let him play.

Then it was back to the sand!

Sand artist, hard at work

Cheesecake

We had a 'dessert and diaper' baby shower for a friend yesterday, so I decided to make an assortment of mini cheesecakes. They turned out just how I wanted them to. However, I didn't think about how few mini cheesecakes the baby shower would need, as compared to the vast quantity that one batch of cheesecake would make (over 45). So I took some to work, Blake took some to work, I took some to the baby shower, Blake shared some with the guys that were escaping the baby shower and finally, I took the remaining few to Bible study tonight. Whew! I'm kicking myself for not taking pictures of the cute little things!


I thought I would share my absolute favorite cheesecake recipe. It is my go-to recipe and I follow it as written (a rarity). Okay, I guess I tweek a few things, but not the main ingredients. I've also started using this recipe, minus the citrus zest, and turned it into the other flavors of cheesecakes that I've liked best. Such was the case with the mini cheesecake extravaganza we just had. One recipe three flavors (plain/hint of lemon-topped with fresh berries, Turtle swirl and mint chocolate swirl). I was going to do a fourth, but decided that most people like plain anyway (which they did).

New York Cheesecake
Gourmet | November 1999

Yield: Makes 8 to 10 servings
Active Time: 45 min
Total Time: 10 hr

Ingredients
1 1 crumb-crust recipe, made with finely ground graham crackers
5 (8-oz) packages cream cheese, softened
1 3/4 cups sugar
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
Finely grated zest of 1 orange
Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
5 large eggs
2 large egg yolks
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Make crumb crust as directed in separate recipe. Press into 9" x 2.5" (or taller) springform pan. Wrap outside of pan with heavy duty foil, to prevent water seeping in from water bath.
(I use the pre-crumbed graham cracker crumbs and use the recipe on the box)

Preheat oven to 550°F.

Preparation
Beat together cream cheese (room temp), sugar, flour, and zests with an electric mixer until smooth. Add eggs and yolks, 1 at a time, then vanilla, beating on low speed until each ingredient is incorporated and scraping down bowl between additions.
*variations: if you want to make a different flavor, omit the zests.*

Put springform pan with crust in a baking or broiling pan. Pour filling into crust (springform pan will be completely full). Fill the baking/broiling pan with water, halfway up the side of the foil covered springform pan. Place carefully in middle of oven 12 minutes, or until puffed. Reduce temperature to 200°F and continue baking until cake is mostly firm (center will still be slightly wobbly when pan is gently shaken), about 1 hour more. **Note. I have also just baked this at 350, straight for an hour and 15 minutes. It is more likely to crack this way, but is a little easier, since most ovens don't get to 550.

Run a knife around top edge of cake to loosen and cool completely in springform pan on a rack. Chill cake, loosely covered, at least 6 hours. Remove side of pan and transfer cake to a plate. Bring to room temperature before serving.

· Cheesecake keeps, covered and chilled, 2 weeks.       

I have also made the following cheesecake recipes, and would recommend them with some exceptions:

Lemon Curd Marbled Cheesecake - delicious

Toffee Crunch Caramel Cheesecake - fantastic

Strawberry Coconut Cheesecake - different but very delicous. Not overly coconutty

Pumpkin Cheesecake (without the topping)
.
Deep Dark Chocolate Cheesecake - it's rich, watch out!

Triple Cherry Cheesecake - worst cheesecake recipe, but great topping recipe

Turtle Swirl Cheesecake - My first one - the one that started it all!

Dutch Chocolate Mint Cheesecake - Also super rich!

My first one, for Blake's 28th birthday.
Turtle Swirl Cheesecake

My only other photographed cheesecake, for another baby shower.
Deep Dark Chocolate Cheesecake
with Nutella ganache frosting (my own touch).

Conscience

I heard this in a sermon on the radio and wanted to write it down so I'll remember it, but thought I'd share it too. It's part of a Bible study on 1 Chronicles (which starts with nine chapters of genealogies- oof). 1 Chr 1:1 starts at the beginning of all our geniologies: Adam.

The speaker, Damian Kyle, makes the point that the author of Chronicles starts broad with Adam because we all came from Adam. It is because of Adam's (& Eve's) fall that we are all sinners and it is through Adam's descendants that God orchestrates His plan for our salvation.

This is a key point in sharing the gospel: that we are all sinners and can't scrape up enough good in ourselves to provide our own salvation. We need Jesus to pay the price for our inherited sin.

(Somewhat paraphrased, but still the content belongs to Damian)

Some people will ask, "why do you think I'm a sinner? What physical proof do you have that I am a descendant of this Adam that the Bible talks about?"

Paul gives a simple answer in 1 Corinthians 15:22- In Adam, all die. The fact that we die, we all die, proves that I am tied into that ancient garden. Death is evidence that we are a descendant of Adam and Eve because death is the consequence of their fall.


(this is the good part!)

Some people will still say: You can't prove what the Bible says by using the Bible! What proof is there outside of the Bible that I am tied to this Adam and Eve?

Outside of the Bible our proof is inside our bodies. Man is not something inferior becoming something superior, like evolution says, but we were designed as something superior and have become something inferior.

The proof is our conscience.

Paul wrote about it in Romans 2:14-15. God has given each one of us a conscience, an intuitive knowledge – a knowledge that we're born with, of right and wrong. We know that murder is always wrong, adultery is always wrong, stealing is always wrong, lying is always wrong. Not murdering is always right, not stealing is always right, not lying is always right. So we have this intuitive knowledge of right and wrong. It's worldwide. You don't have to teach it. You go to any tribe, kindred, tongue, nation in the world and it's inside of us.

The interesting thing about our conscience, inside of ourselves, is that our conscience is higher than the standard of our practice Nobody lives up to their conscience. Nobody lives practically, a life that is as high as the standard of their conscience. Paul says in Romans that this testifies to the fact that our conscience is not something that came from us, but it is something that has come from God. It is God given; it came from One that is higher than us.

So this broad gulf that exists every day of our lives between what we know to be right and wrong and the life that we actually live. That gulf between those two places is like a neon light that is blinking to each one of us in this world declaring:
*you are fallen**you are fallen**you are fallen*
*You once began as something superior*you have fallen from that superior into this inferior condition*


One of the great things about walking with the Lord for a while is you realize that everything in the world testifies to the truthfulness of God's word. The blessings of obeying, the curse that's on disobeying; how we're made, the whole thing. Only God the Creator could know us so well as He knows us and has provided for us.

All of this evidence ties us back to Adam.

I just loved this picture of God built inside of us. I'd never thought of our consciences in that way, but I suppose it is why people like to say that 'humans are basically good'. Our consciences are better than we have the capacity to live up to on a daily basis. I think that I like this example so much because it is part of what I was trying to get at with this post but Damian gives a better example of how God's law is written on our hearts.

Family

We spent our weekend visiting family in Idaho. On my mom's side of our family, cousins are like brothers and sisters, and aunts and uncles are like second parents.

It was so nice to see one family and enjoy them for the entire weekend, rather than dutifully splitting it up between Blake's family and mine. It would have been fun if my parents or brothers could have come, but it's a much longer drive for them and the visit wasn't for any specific reason, just a chance to see each other and catch up.

It was a low-key weekend in Buhl, Idaho, filled with golf for Blake and yarn crafts for me. My aunt and uncle were part of a fundraising event that included local vendor booths, live music and food. My aunt makes fantastic handbags and she was kind enough to let me share her booth with some of my crocheted hats and headbands. It was my first time having a booth for my goods (and the first time I've had any amount of inventory). This was also the only picture I took this weekend - not the greatest!

I didn't realize that my aunt was unfavorably positioned
in the background.. oops. I wish the table cloth had
been white, but otherwise enjoyed setting up the table.

Zoomed in from the picture above.. this was my latest hat style.
I found a pattern for these little birds and thought I'd
add them to a little hat. It's unisex, but I liked the idea of another
option for boy hats, which are hard to think of different
ways to make them cute. Girl hats are much easier!

.:.

The only other picture I took this week was of the dessert I made for Bible study on Thursday. I've been trying to make this dessert for three weeks now, but didn't get home early enough from work until this week. I found the recipe here. I was also using this as an excuse to use my new mini cheesecake pan!

Blueberry Lemon Bars with Coconut Crust

This wasn't my favorite recipe for lemon bars, kind of too sweet and lemon-drop candy tasting, but I liked the idea of adding blueberries and coconut. I probably won't make these again though because the coconut was lost in the crust and I'm kind of a purist. I love lemon bars and blueberries but I don't think that the two were overly enhanced by being put together. I'll stick to my tried and true lemon bar recipe, but I'm still glad I tried these, everyone else loved them!

Panic

An overreaction for sure, but my gut reaction nonetheless.

I just pulled out some old calenders because I'm a little disturbed by my poor memory of the past 4-6 years and wanted to see if I could refresh them with my usually detailed calendars. Well, I could only find 2007-2008 and 2008-2009 (academic style) from when I worked in the schools. Not really what I was looking for, but I pulled them out anyway.

I was flipping through the pages to see what personal notes I might find to help jog my memory. Instead I saw appointment after appointment and note after note about IEPs due, parent meetings, staff meetings and team meetings. The memories came flooding back. The initials next to each entry brought back the stresses and the joys of each child and/or family, the frustration with colleagues, the overwhelmed and overzealous parents, and the stress of too much to do, not enough time to do it in.

My head began to swim, my throat was getting tight, my stomach started to turn, questions and doubt poured through my head. Panic overwhelmed me.

I snapped the calendar shut and took a few deep breaths.

"This is silly," I thought, "I am overreacting. It's not that bad." I don't start my new job for 41 more days. That's just under six weeks away. I have a trip to Australia between now and then. That's 20 more work days at my current job. The job will only last 180+/- school days. Only 255 more days until spring break (I obviously pulled out my countdown app at this point). Just a note: I know this sounds crazy, it's just a job and hundreds of people do it every year. I even enjoyed it at first, and I'm sure I might enjoy it again.

This little dose of reality helped bring me back to Earth. More importantly than those facts and numbers are these facts. I serve a God that is bigger than my panic/fear/worry. I know that God has so clearly been the One that provided this new job for me and I give Him the glory for that. I know that I can trust Him to sustain me through anything I encounter, in life or in work.

I so wish that I could say that my visceral reaction in this situation was immediate trust. Wasn't it just this morning that I was reminding myself to abide in His love and His Spirit!? I know these things so well in my head... why can't I keep them in my heart?

I was thinking earlier today about how much of a failure I feel like when it comes to application of my faith. Sure I acquire head knowledge but does it show in my daily life? Why does it seem like I am learning the same lessons over and over again. How frustrated I felt this morning when I recount my failures. I can see growth when I look back over the long-term, but I want it faster!

I am again (yes AGAIN) reminded of lessons in patience and perseverance, lessons of trusting and abiding, lessons of living a meek and quiet life and lessons of God's forgiveness and lack of condemnation. Really, the lessons of everything. I feel like I could read the entire Bible every morning and I'd still screw up by noon.

It occurred to me that I am harder on myself in this area than I am in any other. I realized that if I were reviewing my failures in bread baking, crocheting, relationships or even work; I would not be nearly so hard on myself. Change takes time, growth takes time. Yet, this is also something I know in my head, but can't get it to sink into my heart.

I think that one day, I will look back on this and see how far I've come. Until then, I'll try not to get annoyed by my repeated lessons. Hope you will to ;)

abide

Biblically, abide means - to stay in a given place, to draw strength and resources from God, to continue in and to remain in. Like a tree firmly planted in the ground.

That sounds so easy. Just remain here and soak up the Words of life that will give you all you need.
Just abide in My Love, dear one.

In reality, life is busy and active and we are to be abiding in Christ while we are in line at the grocery store, at work, shopping at the mall, making dinner, doing laundry or stuck in traffic. Often, I get distracted by all these things and soon I've left my conversation with God for a conversation with myself about my shopping list or what is irritating me or what I'm excited about. Before I know it, this affects my actions and attitude.

Eventually I settle down and hear that still small voice reminding me again: abide in My love, if you keep my commands, you will abide in My love (John 15:9, John 15:10).

Jesus is our Sabbath, our rest, in Him I shall not want. He is our source of strength and gives us what we need through His Spirit, which teaches us to abide in Him (1 John 4:13, 1 John 2:27).

It sounds so easy, but I still have a lifetime of learning to abide.

: : :

Wahclella Falls

After our impromptu date night this weekend, we drove the hour and a half to my parents' house instead of the three and a half hours to our house.

Part of the beauty of backpacking is that you don't need to bring much with you. This is a perk when you are carrying everything on your back, but a bit of a drawback when you end up sleeping in civilization. We had nothing but our toothbrushes and a clean pair of unmentionables that was useful in a house. Irony.

Still trying to reconcile our lost outdoor time we planned a day hike on our drive home. Just off of exit 40 on Hwy 84 in Oregon we found a nice little hike to a waterfall called Wahclella Falls. It's about ten miles east of the larger more famous Multnomah Falls. It was a little too easy, but there aren't many hikes that have that easy of access.

It was a nice rainy day for a hike ;)

We followed this creek up to the falls.

This little falls was just a teaser.
(If it looks like we're wearing the same
clothes as yesterday, it's because we are).

I liked how it trickled down the rocks

A girl in her natural, rainy, green habitat.

Handsome hubs.

If only you could have heard the
magical sound this creek made.

Approaching the official Wahclella Falls

It was really pretty in person, mist from
the waterfall was even hitting our faces.

It was also raining in person,
hence the water drops on the lens.

This is what I get for hiking in
sandals in the rain.

Trout Lake

Our Saturday afternoon plans had changed suddenly and we found ourselves near the quaint little town of Trout Lake, WA (population 517) with nothing to do.

On our drive toward Trout Lake we saw signs about every half mile for the Trout Lake Art Festival. It had become a joke for us as we drove the twenty miles north toward the town. We joked about wondering if there was possibly an art festival around, that tickets would be sold out, that the lines would be too long or maybe all the signs were the art festival. It was just funny to us that with so few places to turn or go, they had so many signs.

Little did we know at the time but this art festival was going to be a primary part our evenings entertainment.

After our backpacking plans fell through, we wondered where we could go dressed in hiking gear with minimal options for changing clothes and nothing with us but the gear in our packs. We toyed with the idea of finding a new hike, but it was pretty late in the day for that. We decided that we might as well check out the art festival and see what all the hype was all about.

Turns out that the Trout Lake Art Festival is one darn cute event. I couldn't help but take pictures, not that they do the setting or atmosphere justice.

It was a pretty happening place, despite the
small population it draws from.

Just the most beautiful setting for a
farmers market style art festival.

Glass garden decorations

Seriously, just gorgeous setting. Love the old barn.

Inside the cool old barn.

You just can't build them like this anymore ;)

After perusing the artists' work we checked out the food vendors and sampled some local wine and beer. During our tastings we were pegged as not being from around there and got into a conversation with some locals. They apologized for the Yakima Tribe and their unreliable trail opening schedule (not that it was their fault). They gave us some recommendations for a nearby camping spot that was off the beaten track and known only by the locals.

Their verbal directions were a challenge. Literally, we felt challenged to find this undisclosed location, just to see if we could based on their directions. We weren't sure if we wanted to drive up to a camping spot and 'car camp' after having the hopes of a several mile hike into the wilderness and earning our cold, rocky bed. This was just too easy. We had to check it out, nonetheless.

The nondescript entrance. Who would have known
a little treasure lied beyond.

A fantastic little stream that reportedly
had a waterfall within day hike distance.

We hiked up the stream for a bit, but didn't see the waterfall.
It just felt good to be in the outdoors.

We decided not to camp, as there were already a few families camping there, but it was a nice little walk in the woods and the smell of the forest satisfied my outdoor itch. Next we needed to satisfy our hungry stomachs.

Mt Adams from the roadway.

On our drive there we saw two options: a little cafe attached to the town's gas station (cuter than it sounds) and a lodge with patio dining. Even though we were in our hiking clothes, we chose the lodge. I'm so glad we did! We had the most delightful evening and impromptu date night. Way better than the freeze dried meal that was originally planned for the evening.

The lodge, Serenity's, was positioned with a fantastic view of Mt. Adams. As we dined, we watched some clouds slowly move away from the mountain, revealing the glacier covered peak. It was a gorgeous evening with a beautiful view. Some romantic nights just can't be planned.

Patio dining, you can kind of see Mt. Adams back there.

Playing with the camera while we waited.
Not wildflowers, but flowers nonetheless.

The mountain at the start of dinner.

The mountain at dessert.

Gorgeous mountain!

Happy couple.

A perfect, unexpected ending to the day.

The Beauty of Backpacking

I am not coordinated. I am not competitive. I am not sporty. I am no athlete.

I am an outdoor enthusiast. I am a nature lover. I can pick one foot up and put it in front of the other. I am a hiker.

This is the beauty of backpacking. It takes little skill, it takes minimal basic coordination and can hardly be considered any more competitive than bird watching.

It does take a small amount of equipment, some outdoor skills and some common sense. Now, you can make a big deal out if backpacking like any hobby. They market a million specialized pieces of equipment that make you feel elite or really prepared.

The beauty of backpacking, though, is that you don't need all those elite gadgets. You just need something to strap your stuff to your back, a place to sleep, food to eat and a set of clothes. You also need water, but that can be done easily too.

We have a few fun gadgets but mostly just try to be minimalists. The less you carry or the lighter your pack, the easier it is. We packed our packs carefully, cutting out any unnecessary items. I obviously don't bring extra outfits, accessories or makeup like I'd pack on vacation.

The beauty of backpacking is the simplicity. Your goal is to reach a destination that few people can find and those that do have to walk their way out there like you did. The best part is waking up in the morning smelling the purest air you can smell, seeing a landscape that few people have seen and being unplugged from anything that requires a plug.

As I packed my Kelty (a gift from my 16th birthday), I thought about the things I needed for this trip, the things I needed for emergencies and the things I wanted for convenience. My convenience items are a collapsible coffee cone, a UV light water purifier and a Therm-a-rest self inflating sleeping pad. The latter two were recent additions from last Christmas. This was my first trip with those items and I was excited to use them.

My trusty Kelty all packed and ready to go.
This pack was only 35 lbs! That's the
lightest full pack I've ever had!

We picked our trail the night before we left and changed our minds again that morning before we left. This is also the beauty of backpacking. There is only so much information out there on any given trail, so you do what research you can and hope for the best. In essence, it's good to have a clear trail, plan and goal but it's also good to be able to improvise.

We set out for Bird Creek Meadows in the Mt. Adams Wilderness area. Bird Creek was a fairly short hike that gave us the option of going to Bird Lake, Mirror Lake or Bluff Lake to set up camp. It seemed like the perfect start-of-the-season hike.

As we drove up to our trail head I looked up at the looming clouds that threatened rain and out at the dozens of flowers that were sprinkled through the meadows. I was excited to try out the aperture settings on my 'new' camera, a Christmas gift that I'm just getting around to understanding.

We displayed our parking pass, laced up our boots, strapped on our packs and took the traditional trail head picture. We were off. We were free to roam and move at our own pace, mine slower than Blake's. We had the beautiful snow covered Mt. Adams in front of us and subalpine forest all around us.

The official trail head was further up, but the road was
closed at this point, so this is where we started.
It added some miles to our hike, but we needed the exercise.

The cloud shrouded Mt. Adams.

Here are some flowers that I saw along the first part of our hike. I couldn't wait to get to the real trail, which promised many meadows and hopefully those flowers we drove past, and more.

Not sure what this flower is called, but it was everywhere.

There was a fire some time ago, and this flower is spread
throughout the scarred forest, bringing life to it.

Okay, who am I kidding. I don't know
what any of these flowers are called.
Pretty though!

These were my favorite.

So after hiking about half a mile, maybe three-quarters of a mile, we see a white truck coming toward us. Oh, did I forget to mention that this part of the Mt. Adams Wilderness area was part of the Yakima Indian Reservation? Well, the white truck belonged to a member of said Indian Nation and they had control over who uses their land and when. We knew that they would charge a five dollar fee per day for use of the land, but everything we read said that it was open July-October. Apparently just not this July.

We were told to turn around and go home, and that is what we did.

Not how you expected this story to end huh? Ya, us either. Flexibility, improvising and unexpected changes.

Oh the beauty of backpacking.

Alternate titles for this post: Wilderness: CLOSED or Backpacking FAIL.