"Empire Red"

Yesterday, I eagerly waited for the UPS truck to pull into my driveway ... on that truck would be my birthday gift from Tony. :) Mid-afternoon, as I was in the kitchen chopping up cabbage to make coleslaw (which turned out very yummy), I heard the UPS truck drive away. "That's strange... he didn't even knock." I opened the front door thinking that maybe he just left it on the porch, but nothing was there. I watched as the UPS truck drove away. "Okay, maybe it's a new driver and they're lost, or maybe my address is wrong on the box..." Several minutes go by and my phone rings. I answer thinking that maybe it was the UPS driver. Instead it was my next door neighbor... "I have a package over here with your name on it; it's a rather large box..." :) So I went next door and carried this "rather large box" home. It sat by the front door, waiting for Tony to get home from work.

I was so excited to finally open the package...

...and awe at the beautifulness of my newest maiden. She will be portioned much over the years to come and I pray that she will live a strong and healthy life! :)

Easy Baked Apples

Saturday night, we wanted a little snack to eat while watching "The Brave Little Toaster" (American Vision recently published a neat article about this movie). So I chopped up three fuji apples, placed them in a baking dish with about 1/2 cup of water, and sprinkled generously with ground cinnamon and cloves. I covered the dish with tinfoil and baked the apples at 350* for almost an hour. They smelt wonderful and tasted great all by themselves, but even more so with a scoop of vanilla icecream. ;)

Great Sisters Think Alike

An early birthday gift, among other things

Monday evening, my amazing husband said that he had a surprise for me... my birthday gift. :) Yep. It's pretty early, but Tony couldn't wait all the way until the 23rd of this month to give it to me. So as we sat down to eat dinner, we played a guessing game and then he slipped a piece of paper under the table to me and this is what it said....

Ohh! I am so excited! We are going to have our very own Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer!! :) I was able to pick a color and place the order online on Tuesday -- the UPS guy should be dropping it off some time next week and I've already started to reorganize my counters in the kitchen. ;) I am so grateful to God for this gift, but even more so for my sweet husband that gave it to me! Words will never be able to adequately express the love that Tony & I share; our marriage truly is a gift from God!!! And I stand in awe of all that HE's taught us and how HE's knitted our hearts together as one flesh! {{I love you so much, Tony Denham}}.

It's weird to think that I'll be turning 25 years old in less then twenty days. Our life truly is a vapor in light of eternity. May all my days be lived to the glory of my Creator! Serving those that I love the most! And advancing the gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!
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We've decided that Discrete Mathematics is going to be "the thorn in our side" this semester. Seriously. That stuff is hard to wrap our mind around, especially when the textbooks and lectures provided don't really teach you the material. So, we've been resorting to the wonderful world of youtube to watch lectures. It's been helpful. By God's grace, He will grant us the wisdom needed to do well in this class.
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Last night, Tony wanted a soup ... a cheesy soup. He is great at concocting new recipes, so last night we combined a jar of spaghetti sauce, 1.5 cups of chicken broth, and 1 cup of shredded cheese in a large sauce pan. Heated it through for a few minutes, dished it out into bowls and enjoyed. It was real yummy and real easy!! :)
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Also, as I'm sure some of you have noticed, I've been changing the layout of my blog a lot lately. I kind of have in my mind what I would like, but am having a hard time finding it online. This current layout is not the one... and I can't figure out how to change it to "Leave a comment" instead of "Leia Mais." Oh well, maybe one of these days I'll find a layout that I really love.

Learning about carbohydrates

It has been almost ten months since Tony surprised me with our very own grain mill. And we have joyfully consumed lots of fresh ground flour since then. Bagels, breads, cakes, pancakes, waffles, biscuits, crackers, gnocchis, and much more. What first attracted us to grounding our own flour was the healthy benefits. After all, those little wheat kernels are filled with over 30 vital nutrients and vitamins.

But only recently have I learned that there really is such a thing as grain overload, especially when they are not properly prepared. These grains (among other food) contain carbohydrates - a simple sugar that is vital to our well-being. Our bodies are constantly converting these simple sugars into glucose, aka brain food. "The brain is a virtual glucose hog, gobbling more than two thirds of the circulating carbohydrates in the bloodstream while you are at rest."1 Carbs that are not used immediately are stored as glycogenin in either our liver (can hold 60-90 grams) or our muscles (can hold 300-400 grams).

But what happens when these storage areas our full? The extra carbs are then turned into fatty tissue, aka extra weight. In relation to this, when we consume a meal or snack high in carbs, it provokes a rapid rise in blood glucose. In defense, our pancreas emits insulin into the bloodstream. Insulin suppresses the burning of fat and sugar, restrains our growth hormones (which are used for muscle development), evokes hunger and cravings (usually for more carbs). Insulin tell's our body to store fat and never let it go (that's what we all want, right ladies?). Other symptoms of a high carb diet are as follows: exhaustion, brain fogginess, dizziness, low blood sugar, bloating, sleepiness, increased fat storage, excess weight, high blood pressure, moodiness, and depression.

With this new knowledge, Tony & I realized that we've been consuming too many carbs. So this week has been set aside to detox and tweak our ever changing diet. I look forward to writing more about this in future posts. As Christians, we are called to be good stewards of our bodies, and that is just what we are seeking to do - for God's glory.