Rocky

I had a whole blog planned earlier today but so many things took precedence. Today was great and I will probably write more later. I had a coffee drink this evening and am not tired at all, but am going to force myself to go to sleep so I will be awake in the morning. Sweet dreams and good night my loves. P.S. I wrote this on a draft I started earlier so the date would still be on Saturday so the time is off. But now it might actually change to Sunday since I just opened it again to make this postscript.

Carole Louise Marrineau March 2, 1958- July 28, 2010 After a long battle with cancer, my aunt Carole passed from this world to be with her Savior. We will all miss her so very much. She was always such a joy to be around and had an infectious laugh. It was an honor knowing her and a blessing to have her invest in my life.

First of all, I think it is worthy to note that I did give my blog a face lift this afternoon. Not for any real reason but just for a change. Recently I have been thinking about simplicity for a number of reasons. Usually quarterly I go through my closet and clear out things I haven't used or don't really need anymore, and it was about time that I did that so the other day I cleared out several shoes and clothes. Also another reason I have been thinking about simplicity is due to the fact that I will be moving to Los Angeles soon and I need to decide what are necessary items and what I can live without. If all that wasn't enough, the next chapter in my Bible Study book, Celebration of the Disciplines is about the discipline of simplicity. Our society has a tendency to try and sell us things left and right. The slogans usually allude to not being happy, fulfilled, complete, or adequately equipped without such and such product. One must be conscious of this and learn to be c...

I feel like I have been boring you lately. Well I don't know if I have ever been anything but boring on here but I feel especially boring recently. I am not sure exactly how to change this either. All I can really write about are my experiences and thoughts and generally I try to just stay on the surface level of things, nothing too deep on such a public forum. Blogging seems kind of selfish in that way, writing about my experiences all the time with no other point of view. But that is also one of the beautiful things about blogs, being able to look into a window of your friend's life or their thoughts. So all of this to say, sorry my window is boring. My week in a nutshell. >Monday through Friday we had Vacation Bible School (as I previously mentioned in my last posting) in the mornings. >Thursday night I went to my first T-bones game, which is a minor league baseball team in KC if you were unaware. > Friday night I took my little sister and a couple friends to watch...

I am not one to point fingers, though I do believe that VBS has put my eating habits through a loop. I have been getting to the church earlier in the morning than usual and I have been making not so smart breakfast choices. Then there is VBS snack such as jello with whipped cream and gummy worms, popcorn with butter and sugar, cupcakes or popsicles. Let's not forget eating abnormal amounts of candy on the side. In addition to all of this, VBS ends around noon and I have my normal tasks to accomplish and will put off lunch till later, muuuch later when I am famished and will eat anything and everything in sight. Aside from VBS, it is also summer which means eating hotdogs and soda at ballgames (last night), eating Sheridan's frozen custard after church (Wednesday night) and eating baked goods your mom and sister make during the daytime since there is no school. Also let's not forget McDonald's free frappe (hate that word) coupons in the newspaper the other day and the fa...

10 years ago today I was in Chiang Mai, Thailand with my mom and we were introduced to my little brother at Veinping Children's Home. I can't believe he has been with us for a decade. We have truly been blessed by our little man. (Ignore my general appearance, we were coming out of the 90's give me some slack.) P.S. I also met my Jori shortly after coming back from Thailand, and we have been besties ever since.

I feel like the past few days have been a parody of "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie" only mine would go like this. (Sorry third person again.) If you give a Rachelle blackberries she will want to make jam. If you give a Rachelle jam she will want to make bread. If you give a Rachelle bread she will want to make butter. If you give a Rachelle butter then she will want to make a buttermilk pie using the excess buttermilk. If you give a Rachelle pie she will want to make Okie cookies out of the excess pie dough. Before you know it I will need a hair cut, markers to make a comic book and a match box to make a bed. Sheesh. The challah bread turned out great and was made even better by the butter and jam. I am in the process of making the buttermilk pie, it is still in the oven and I still need to make the blackberry sauce. All of which is roughly based off of this recipe. I love her photography, recipes and writing style. Tonight I learn to barbeque as I previously mentioned in my ...

So I am attempting to make challah for the first time ever. While I was in the store I decided to grab some heavy whipping cream so I can make my own butter, and I grabbed some extra pectin to make jam. So I can have fresh bread, fresh butter and fresh jam. Mmmmm. Meanwhile there is a torrential downpour outside and constant warnings flowing from the radio. Perfect. Also I bought a book I have been wanting for some time and it was on sale, and I had an old old giftcard that paid for it in full. Beautiful. -Time lapse of a couple hours- Dough is still rising. Oh, and I have tons of buttermilk after making wonderful wonderful butter. Then I found a recipe for buttermilk custard pie with a blackberry sauce. Which is the most perfect combination ever. #1 Custard pie is my most favorite pie ever. #2 We have fresh buttermilk. #3 I have fresh blackberries we picked this last weekend. So clearly, perfect. Tomorrow is my mom and stepdad's anniversary so I think we will make the pie for tha...

I spent the weekend with a couple of my friends, Alicia (Renee) and Elisabeth in Oklahoma. We had a fun filled weekend. We visited the Cherokee museum and took a tour of a mini-village that is reminiscent of a traditional Cherokee town. They also had a powerful installation piece commemorating the Trail of Tears. A friend invited us for a night of grilling, four-wheeling (my first time) and fireworks. We spent evenings teaching Alicia's parents how to play Guitar Hero on their Wii and how to play Casino. We ate freshly picked corn and tomatoes and freshly caught fish. Oh, and I bought myself a pair of moccasins which I love. One of the most exciting parts of this weekend was blackberry picking. I had never gone before and couldn't figure out why Alicia was insisting that I wear sweatpants (considering that it was the hottest most humid weekend ever). Though after picking my first couple of berries it was very apparent why I was wearing sweatpants. The thorns on those bushes c...

Independence day is celebrated in a bit different fashion in my home than most, in that I force all my family members to spell out their names with sparklers as I take pictures instead of allowing them to freely wave them around as they please. (I would include more photos of our Fourth of July outings though I am saving them for Reveal Day. So stay tuned for updates later.) Normally my family and I will take folding chairs and our dogs over to a nearby school and watch fireworks that are being launched at the country club next to the school. Though due to the rain we just stood out on our driveway with coats draped over us and a collapsing umbrella while singing our anthem and "I Am Proud to be an American" (which evidently we only know portions of the latter song and would just belt out the portions we knew). Independence is a crazy thing. I have learned a lot about independence, dependence and interdependence this past year. I don't think we can be completely independe...

Once upon a time a Rachelle got on a plane in Kansas. Then she got on another plane and flew for hours. After landing, meeting up with her friends and spending the night in Miami she got on another plane and arrived in Port Au Prince, Haiti. When coming out of the airport Rachelle and her team of friends had to fight against heat, traffic and hustlers. Along the lengthy drive to Fond Doux, Haiti, they saw many interesting and sad things. Finally after such a long journey in a Japanese Sanrio bus they were all reunited with their Haitian family. The next couple of weeks were brimming with exciting games, services, ministry and down time. Such as: Soccer World Cup games Beach Day Special Dinners A special youth service Bingo Night They also had dance nights, movie nights, competitions, community outreaches, clothing and food handouts, and late night card games, amongst other things. One day Rachelle was able to take a bike ride with a group of friends to a church in order to set up a sp...