Christian Bookstore Scavenger Hunt

About a month ago, I was lying in bed and out of nowhere, an idea popped into my head. "Hey Michael... Wouldn't it be fun to go on a Christian Bookstore Scavenger Hunt?"

I don't remember what his reaction was, but when I explained myself, he was 100% in.

"We'd compile a list of all the things stereotypical to Christian bookstores and Christian culture and see if we could find them. Things like Thomas Kinkade light paintings, Veggie Tales paraphernalia, and frumpy Bible covers."

Well, we compiled out list and went out on our date to Family Christian Bookstores. It was so fun and we laughed so much. I highly recommend doing it.

In case you have our sense of humor, here's the list copy/pasted from our original word document. You get a point for every item you find.

Christian Bookstore Scavenger Hunt

Ô  Larry the Cucumber

Ô  A Bible costing more than $100 (You may include tax and any embellishments the store offers like putting your name on the front)

Ô  Something WWJD

Ô  Rubber Stamps

Ô  Christian T-shirt using a pop culture spin-off (i.e. see “Jedi for Jesus” tshirt below)

Ô  Thomas Kinkade light painting

Ô  Something both patriotic and Christian

Ô  Precious Moments anything

Ô  Something with Jeremiah 29:11 on it

Ô  Footprints poem

Ô  Something involving seashells

Ô  Benefit compilation CD (bonus point if Mac Powell is on it)

Ô  Something made out of porcelain

Ô  Something made by an artisan in the developing world

Ô  Ugly Bible cover

Ô  Christian-themed board game

Ô  Something involving cross-stitching or knitting

Special rules:

v If you find two of the above on one object, +4 (instead of +2). Three of the above on one object, +6 (instead of +3).

v -1 point for every time an employee asks you if you need help

“He who seeks finds.” -Matthew 7:8

We could hardly believe that this board game existed. Check out the subtitle.

Footprints poem on an ugly Bible cover = four points!!

We ended with 15 points. Beat that! (And please let me know if you do!)

Adventures in Constructing a Raised Bed

It's been quite a while since I've written about my garden, and since moving to our new place, it's quite different! So let me catch you up with our slightly crazy shenanigans.

Before moving, Michael decided he wanted to do a gigantic raised bed, so we went to a hardware store to purchase the supplies to make it ourselves. Upon exiting the store, we realized that the planks for making the long ends of the raised bed were almost the length of our Corolla. As we discussed how to fit them in our car, another Lowe's patron walked by and commented, "You guys win the award for most unrealistic." Michael and I awkwardly smiled at each other and proved him wrong:

The two long boards filled our car from the dashboard all the way out of the trunk a couple of feet. During our half mile trip home, the two planks of wood managed to turn on our windshield wipers for us, making us laugh even harder than we already were at the ridiculousness of our venture.

We moved and constructed the raised bed. Then, we had to fill our enormous box with dirt. Even if we purchased every bag of dirt at Walmart, we wouldn't have had enough. So, with a quick internet search, I found a nursery that sold dirt in bulk, so we rented a U-Haul pickup and went. Mind you, the cost of the dirt and the truck rental combined was about half the cost of buying bags of dirt!

When we told the woman who worked at the garden center that we wanted two yards of dirt, she laughed at the size of our truck informing us that two yards of dirt would weigh two tons which was well over the load limit for our F-150. We felt about as sheepish as we did in the Lowe's parking lot with two huge planks of wood. So, we quickly halved our order to one yard.

Here's our dirt. It doesn't look like much, but it's a ton. Literally.

Michael then rolled a ton of dirt, one recycling barrel at a time (we're too cheap to buy a wheelbarrow) into our backyard dumping each surprisingly heavy barrel of dirt into our raised bed. It was the hottest day of the summer, peaking at 106 degrees. He finished around 1 or 2pm, so he managed to do this work when it was a mere 103-105 degrees outside.

He didn't let me help because I was (am) pregnant. I didn't mind! So I took pictures. :-)

After all of that work, it turned out that the 1/2 topsoil 1/2 compost mix we purchased was super clayey. We transplanted all of our plants into the new garden bed. A couple died, a couple lived and flowered like crazy without producing any fruit, and a couple of plants have thrived including...

...Thai basil...

(Shorn down.)

...and Thai peppers! How convenient for making Thai food. And that's exactly what we did.

Here's our final basil harvest.

The horrible soil has been super frustrating, but that's just how gardening goes. It's a lot of work. But, for some reason we really enjoy the challenge! Though when we have both an infant and a garden to care for and keep alive, the garden may fall by the wayside for at least a time. We shall see.

100 Foods to Eat Before You Die

Drinking from a coconut cut fresh off a tree in Thailand.

I love food! And I love going on little food adventures, trying something I've never eaten or heard of before, so when I saw the facebook app listing 100 foods to eat before you die, I had to check it out. 

As I went through this list, I was surprised by how so many of the foods brought up very strong associations and memories for me. Here they are, with a bit of my commentary. I crossed off the ones I've eaten. (About half!)

1. Abalone (This always reminds me of the book Island of the Blue Dolphins. All I remember of that book is the main character gathering abalone all the time.)

2. Absinthe

3. Alligator 

4. Baba Ghanoush

5. Bagel & Lox

6. Baklava (Yuuuummmmmmm.)

7. BBQ Ribs

8. Bellini

9. Birds Nest Soup (Could have gotten this in Thailand and didn't. Dang.)

10. Biscuits & Gravy

11. Black Pudding (This is where I draw the line. I would never eat this.)

12. Black Truffle

13. Borscht

14. Calamari

15. Carp

16. Caviar

17. Cheese Fondue

18. Chicken & Waffles (People in Los Angeles love this. I am a bit underwhelmed by it.)

19. Chicken Tikka Masala

20. Chile Relleno (LOVE these.)

21. Chitlins

22. Churros

23. Clam Chowder (Had it in a bread bowl in San Francisco. Classic!)

24. Cognac

25. Crab Cakes

26. Crickets (Considered trying this in Thailand too. Don't regret my decision to not eat it!)

27. Currywurst

28. Dandelion Wine

29. Dulce de Leche (During her childhood in Argentina, my mom ate this all the time. When I was a child, she would often make it at home. Back then no one knew what dulce de leche was. My how times change.)

30. Durian

31. Eel

32. Eggs Benedict (I can't believe I've never had this!)

33. Fish Tacos

34. Foie Gras

35. Fresh Spring Rolls

36. Fried Catfish

37. Fried Green Tomatoes (Been wanting to try these too.)

38. Fried Plantain (Had this in Sierra Leone all the time. It was my favorite thing to eat there.)

39. Frito Pie

40. Frogs' Legs (Had this on a high school choir trip to New York City.)

41. Fugu (Between the steep price and the risk of death, I will probably never eat this. Check out the wiki article.)

42. Funnel Cake

43. Gazpacho

44. Goat (I just tried goat for the first time on our anniversary!)

45. Goat's Milk (hoping cheese made of goat's milk counts!)

46. Goulash

47. Gumbo

48. Haggis (This almost crosses the "I wouldn't try it" line.)

49. Head Cheese (Pretty sure this crosses the line.)

50. Heirloom Tomatoes (Now I just want to grow them.)

51. Honeycomb (So fun to chew it until you're left with just a ball of wax in your mouth. Still remember the first time I tried it at an 1800's style farm in Illinois.)

52. Hostess Fruit Pie (random!)

53. Huevos Rancheros

54. Jerk Chicken

55. Kangaroo

56. Key Lime Pie

57. Kobe Beef

58. Lassi

59. Lobster

60. Mimosa 

61. Moon Pie (This list is so random.)

62. Morel Mushrooms (Want!)

63. Nettle Tea

64. Octopus (Had it for the first time when I re-visited Portugal when I was 14. I loved it.)

65. Oxtail Soup

66. Paella

67. Paneer

68. Pastrami on Rye

69. Pavlova (Had to look this one up. Now I want it.)

70. Phaal

71. Philly Cheese Steak

72. Pho (Pho will always remind me of Los Angeles.)

73. Pineapple & Cottage Cheese

74. Pistachio Ice Cream

75. Po' Boy (Never heard of this before, but it sounds great!)

76. Pocky (Think I've had this... not too sure though.)

77. Polenta

78. Prickly Pear (I may have had this in Mexican food. Not sure.)

79. Rabbit Stew (Rabbit is delish! Common dish in Portugal where I was born.)

80. Raw Oysters

81. Root Beer Float (Love these.)

82. S'mores (Camping classic.)

83. Sauerkraut

84. Sea Urchin

85. Shark

86. Snail (May have had this, too. Don't remember.)

87. Snake

88. Soft Shell Crab

89. Som Tam

90. Spaetzle 

91. Spam (yuck.)

92. Squirrel (This makes me want to finish reading the Hunger Games series.)

93. Steak Tartare

94. Sweet Potato Fries

95. Sweetbreads

96. Tom Yum (Yay! Thai food!)

97. Umeboshi

98. Venison (My great aunt hunts. I remember eaten her venison chili in their home in the snowy woods of Minnesota.)

99. Wasabi Peas (I still remember popping a free sample from some market in Philadelphia into my mouth and regretting it.)

100. Zucchini Flowers (I've been wanting to try stuffed zucchini flowers for some time now. Perhaps I should plant zucchini just for the flowers...)

How many of these foods have you tried? What memories are attached to these foods for you? Which ones would you never try? Feel free to comment below. Don't be shy. : )

Swap Meet Haul

I'm a sucker for good deals.

In fact, just this weekend, my husband and I bought three pairs of jeans at Kohl's for a total of $33. They were originally priced at about $40 each. The cashier threw in a $10 off any purchase coupon. I feel so accomplished!

But Kohl's can't hold a candle to my newest discovery... the Mission Tiki swap meet in Montclair. I visited the swap meet for the first time over spring break with Michael and my parents who were visiting from Colorado. It was located in a huge parking lot that is a swap meet by day and a drive-in movie theater by night. Out of the hundreds of people there, not including us, I saw about two Asians, three black people, and three white people. Everyone else was Hispanic/Latino. Various sellers staked their claim selling so much stuff - used shoes, new jeans, a classic Radio Flyer wagon, plugs and cords of all types, cleaning supplies, instruments, washers and dryers, Mac makeup, fresh produce and spices, etc. I've always loved outdoor markets. This one is just fabulous and not far, far away in another country!

Check out the deals we got on these items.

Tortillas: $3
Dried peppers: $3
Papaya: $1.50
Plants: $1 each
Silver colored hoop earrings: 50 cents!
Four steel wool sponges: $1
80+ bike tire patches: $4
Two bottles of nail polish: $1.50
Cute top: $12 + a free ring


Perhaps Los Angeles swap meets will become my go-to place for all my basic necessities.

Hole in the Wall Happiness

When people ask me, "What's your favorite restaurant?" I answer, "Any delicious, hole in the wall, ethnic food place."

Jesse's El Taco de Mexico fits the bill.

Yes, "Jesse's El Taco De Mexico." The restaurant name alone made me want to eat there.

Michael and I ordered burritos. The tortillas tasted and looked homemade. In fact, every part of these burritos was homemade, so I will stop using that adjective. You can just mentally insert it in front of every ingredient. The beans and rice were perfect. The meat was super flavorful. But, what made these burritos bomb was the white onion and cilantro perfectly spread throughout the burrito and the amazing avocado salsa.

Oh, and the horchata was probably the best I've ever had. Super cinnamony. Yum!

My guy double fistin' horchata and a burrito al pastor.

I'm attractive too when I eat.

Too bad this restaurant is about sixty miles from our home...

Harry Parter Potty

This frothy, amazing looking beverage is homemade butterbeer. My husband found lots of recipes online, and chose the recipe that claimed to taste like the J.K. Rowling approved butterbeer that's served at the Harry Potter theme park in Orlando.


It was nasty.


We made it last night for a pre-party for the midnight showing of the final Harry Potter movie. (About 75% of the time I mentioned the party, I said "Harry Parter Potty." My husband thought it was cute.) The recipe involved melting brown sugar with butter, rum extract, cider vinegar, and way too much salt, mixing it with cream soda, and topping it with a dollop of whipped cream. What a horrid creation.


But, everything the butterbeer lacked in taste was made up in the movie's awesomeness.

Who are these two weirdos?

Telltale Signs That You Are on a Women's Retreat

I am recovering from women's retreat culture shock.


All of my retreats prior to this one have been co-ed and with people my age. This past weekend, I went on a retreat that was comprised of all women. All but one were older than me. Many were significantly older. Allow me to share some characteristics of women's retreats that make them unlike any other and that contributed to my culture shock.


Gift bags received upon registration filled with lots of girly items including tissues. 
Apparently, the gift bag coordinator thought the rate of crying would be two tissue packs per women per retreat. Given all the heartfelt sharing followed by crying and sympathy tears, that estimate may have been about right.

Laughter. 
Regardless of age or gender, everyone likes to have fun on a retreat. But, women's retreats seem to have an extra dose of it. The women I shared the weekend with knew how to have a good time. For every tear shed, there must have been ten good laughs.

Lots of great conversation.

Cutesy things. 
Not only were there gift bags, but there were also beautiful centerpieces on our dinner tables and these heart decorations on the doors to our rooms. I can't imagine the men's retreat or the high school retreat doing this.

Desserts after every meal. 
I'm not sure if this is a women's retreat thing or not, but I just wanted to include this picture.

The only man around looked like this.

All in all, I had a wonderful weekend. The culture shock was well overshadowed by the gift of spending time with and learning from women of all different ages.

A Warm February Day

My husband took me to a local garden to celebrate Valentine's Day two days early. I couldn't resist bringing my camera to take a few shots! You just saw the beautiful, serious photos. The handsome, not so serious photos are below:

Pine-ing Fir Yew?! You've got to be kidding.

That's a BIG pinecone!