A Time to Celebrate!

Oh Joy!!!

I have just completed the school work phase of my Occupational Therapy Assistant (OTA) program and embark on the final stage - full time fieldwork clinicals!  This past year and a half has been quite the adventure and roller coaster of emotions.  It has been exciting and stressful, motivating and frustrating, thrilling and humbling.  I have met wonderful people and made new friends that are like family.  I have learned far more than I thought possible. I have been blessed to serve patients and been blessed to hear their inspiring stories.  I can't believe that we are only a few more months away from the grand finale!

This program has been a reminder to me to be thankful for each and every day as a gift.  I have had to check myself several times, when things got hard, and remember that this program was an answered prayer, that God has made clear his desire for me to finish it.  Today I'm praising him for his faithfulness in seeing me through this first phase and challenging me to grow in the midst of intense and stressful moments.  I'm still working on it, but this program has given me huge opportunities to practice being joyful always, praying continually, and giving thanks in all circumstances.

So what do OTs do?  This is something I'm asked a lot.  For starters, it's not about work, although it could be.  The "occupation" in "occupational therapy" could be work, but it could also be your leisure, education, social, or play activities.  It even encompasses all the other stuff you do every day - like getting dressed, grooming, bathing, cooking, grocery shopping, driving your car, caring for children or pets, and balancing your checkbook.  We are concerned about what people desire to DO and how they do it.  In order to DO all the things you want to, you need certain abilities like motor, sensory-perceptual, cognitive, and social skills and all your body parts need to function in certain ways.  When a child is born with a developmental delay, or a teenage soccer player is in a car accident, or a young mom is diagnosed with MS, or a 50 year old CEO has cancer, or a 75 year old volunteer has a stroke, suddenly doing all those things they care about becomes much more difficult.  That's where we come in - providing activities, techniques, education, safety, equipment, and support to help these live their lives to the fullest.  Our therapy sessions may include some exercises, but if the stroke patient wants to be able to dress herself then we will practice dressing and if the young mother misses cooking for her family then we will be in the kitchen!  We may provide restorative interventions to help patients improve or we  may provide compensatory tools and techniques for those facing more long-lasting challenges.  OT is HUGE, covers all aspects of life, and works with a huge variety of people in a huge variety of settings... so I could talk all day...but that's OT in a nutshell for the three of you interested people out there! 

  

March Memory Verse Theme: Our Rebellion

Next in our gospel story, after the Lord created our miraculous world and created men and women in his own image and declared, "It is very good!,"  we chose to rebel against his law, rejecting our Father, and allowed sin and evil to enter our perfect world.

All of us like sheep have gone astray,

each of us has turned his own way;

But the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all

to fall on him.

Isaiah 53:6

Part of Isaiah's prophecy concerning the suffering and crucifixion

of Christ.

For the wages of sin is death, 

but the free gift of God is eternal life

in Jesus Christ our Lord.

Romans 6:23

Paul's letter to the Romans, explaining how Christ

Bonus Verse:

They did not keep the covenant of God

and refused to walk in His law;

They forgot His deeds

and his miracles that He had shown them.

Psalm 78:10-11

A psalm speaking of the love and miraculous signs God showed to 

Israel, yet they rebelled.has overcome our sin.

February Memory Theme: Creator God

So far this memory verse thing is going pretty well.  Matthew 28:18-20 and 9:37-38- check!

This month's theme is our God, the Creator.

Do you not know?

Have you not heard?

The Lord is the everlasting God,

the Creator of the ends of the earth.

He will not grow tired or weary,

and his understanding no one can fathom.

*Isaiah 40:28*

- The prophet Isaiah, comforting God's people that have 

been exiled to Babylon. -

You are worthy, our Lord and God,

to receive glory and honor and power,

for you created all things

and by your will they were created

and have their being.

*Revelation 4:11*

- Spoken by the elders surrounding God's throne in John's vision -

BONUS VERSE: 

By faith we understand that the universe

was formed at God's command, so that

what is seen was not made out of what was visible.

*Hebrews 11:3*

- A letter written to Hebrew Christians proclaiming the superiority of Christ

and Christianity. -

Christmas 2012

We took a nice long two and a half week vacation to go visit family and friends in Virginia and North Carolina over Christmas and New Years.  It's tough living so far away from family and sort of surreal to be back in Virginia where we grew up now that Austin feels more and more like home.  Time with our family is extra special now that we see them so much less often.

We started in Asheville, NC on Christmas Eve at my uncle's house with my family.  Christmas Eve at their house is always beautiful with a massive tree, a gorgeous table, delicious food, flowing wine, gift exchanges, and carol singing.  Sweet times with sweet people! Here was our crowd:

We stayed with my grandparents and were so pleased with how great they are doing! Family gatherings with them are always such a blessing.  My mom brought supplies to make her famous aebleskivers - a traditional Danish pancake-like treat.  It's not Christmas without them!  One day I'll have a full post about how to make these beauties.  Until then, you'll just have to dream.

Before we left Asheville, Matt and I went to tour the Biltmore House which I've always wanted to do at Christmastime.  Every room open for the tour is decked out in spectacular decor similar to how it would have been decorated when George Vanderbilt opened it on Christmas Eve in 1895. The house and grounds are one of the most beautiful places I've ever visited.  The only tragedy of this particular trip was that it rained all day so we weren't really able to get many pictures.  I'd love to go back in the spring when the tulips are blooming and take the Butler's Tour!  I highly recommend making a day of it if you're ever in the area.

After Asheville we drove over the mountains through snow and fog up to Roanoke, VA where we stayed with one my dear friends, Melissa.  We spent a day in Blacksburg touring Virginia Tech and reminiscing.  It was snowy and windy and freezing as it always was in Blacksburg in the winter!  We remembered why we love Austin.

Back on the road we went to visit Matt's family!  We got to spend a whole week with them and had loads of fun playing with our nephews and all of the Thompson pets.  We visited with old friends, went shopping, toured Christmas lights, ate lots of food, and just had good times of enjoying each other's company.

We ended the trip in northern Virginia visiting my parents and brother.  Somehow I have no cute pictures from this part of the trip.  We checked out the Air and Space Museum and saw The Hobbit, which we enjoyed greatly.  All in all - a memorable and blessed Christmas!

Happy New Year everybody!

My New Life Resolution! January's Theme: The Great Commission

Happy New Year!  We are back after a lengthy trip back to North Carolina and Virginia to visit family and friends.  I'll get on a blog about that soon. First:  I have a New Year's resolution.  Really it's a life resolution, and I want to invite you to join in it with me: scripture memorization!  I know I know...I can already hear the groaning.  This is something I've tried numerous times and failed at every time.  Those of you that I can hear groaning probably have too.  It can quickly turn into a tedious and frustrating task.  After several years of attempts,  I still have only a small handful of verses that I could accurately quote and give the scripture reference to you on the spot.  I long to be able to call scripture to mind in the moment and be able to more easily discuss the gospel with others.  The Lord desires it for us and Jesus himself quoted scripture in his teachings.  

"You shall therefore impress these words of mine on your heart and on your soul; and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontals on your forehead." Deuteronomy 11:18

So, I'm setting a smaller, more realistic goal for myself this time.  And I'm using this blog to organize me and keep me accountable.  I hope that this will be a bit more fun and motivational and that it will serve you in your relationship with the Lord!  

Here's my plan:
I will post a monthly blog with 2-3 memory verses with a specific theme that I will commit to memorize.  They must all fit on only one side of a 3x5 index card (Only 2-3 verses per month - small goals!  We can do this!) I'll post several of these cards around my apartment, in my car, in my school agenda, etc.. I will use them in my quiet time each morning too.  I'll also post on the blog 1-2 Bonus Verses that I will try to memorize if I get the others down quickly. I downloaded a neat app that will help called Remember Me: Bible Verse Memory. Yay technology! It has flash cards, puzzles, and other memory tools.  All my verses will be in NIV translation because that just happens to be the bible version I own.

My first several themes will focus on verses that can be used as evangelism and spiritual discussion tools - verses that give a well-rounded presentation of the gospel.  Many verses are ones that we easily recognize and maybe have parts of them memorized.  Getting down the scripture reference is always the hard part for me.  I also want to be sure that I know some of the who/what/when/where/why of the verses.  My hope is that this will deepen my understanding and my discussions with others.

Ready for January's theme?  I think it should be a nice easy one.

The Great Commission

18 Then Jesus came to them and said, 

"All authority in heaven

and on earth has been given to me.

19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, 

baptizing them in the name of the Father 

and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 

20 and teaching them to obey

everything I have commanded you. 

And surely I am with you always,

 to the very end of the age.

Matthew 28:18-20

Context: A command spoken by the resurrected Jesus to his disciples before his ascension

*Bonus verse: 37 Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. 38 Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field."

Matthew 9:37-38

Context: Spoken by Jesus to his disciples while traveling through towns teaching and healing.  Jesus was moved by the crowds and their helplessness.

Post-Turkey Day Stock and Soup

Thanksgiving was a fun time.  Our friends and their baby boy joined us and we made an obscene amount of food for only four of us! We are grateful for a lot this year.  Matt lost his job but was only jobless for four weeks before finding a new job for a small company that he really enjoys! The whole experience has been the best bad thing to ever happen to us.  I am thankful that God knows exactly what we need exactly when we need it and always provides.

 This post is about thanksgiving leftovers.  Due to the loss of my sanity over the past few weeks with finals, it is severely delayed, but don't leave yet. The tastiness can be enjoyed year round.

First - make homemade stock.  I've had several people express shock and admiration over the fact that I make my own stock.  But the secret is that there is no set recipe, you can make it very easily with things you usually have in your pantry and fridge, you can make a lot at one time, it freezes well, and it just tastes better.  

Here's how I make it:  Whether you're using a turkey or chicken, clean as much meat and fat off the bones as you can.  Or if you don't feel like it - then don't!  While the stock cooks all the extra meat will fall right off the bones and you can fish it out later.  Throw the bones (I really don't like to use the word carcass...ugh) into a large stock pot or crock pot.  If you have a turkey and it is too big, you may need to get it into pieces.  I'm sure there is a technical way to do this, or you can just be like me and hack and rip at it and work out some energy.  The bones of a chicken usually fit perfectly, and using a rotisserie chicken eliminates cooking the bird.

Now, at this point you could literally just fill the pot with water and some salt and let it go.  But, because you want loads of flavor you can add any or all of these ingredients:

Onion (about 1)

Leek (about 1)

Celery (about 2 stalks)

Carrots (about 2)

Whole peppercorns (about 1/2 tbs)

1-2 bay leaves

Kosher salt  (just a light sprinkling. Go low sodium!)

The amounts really do not matter! Use what you have!  Use enough for good flavor but not so much that you won't have any room for water.

Because you're just sucking all the flavor out of everything, you don't need to worry about peeling stuff or even throwing out the ends! In this batch I just threw in some boiling onions that I had in the freezer.  And speaking of the freezer, I'm going to share a tip that makes throwing some stock together even easier.  This is courtesy of my dear friend Ashley, we're such a good team!   Get a gallon freezer bag and label it "stock," when you have any of the above veggies that are at the end of their fridge life, or you have ends/peels/scraps throw them in the bag in the freezer.  When you have bones to make stock you can pull the veggies straight out of the bag and throw them in the pot!!  Genius or what?

After this, fill up the pot with water.  If doing it on the stove, bring it to a boil and then simmer, covered, for at least 3-4 hours but really as long as you want.  The longer the better. You can also put your crock pot on low and let it go for 24 hours.  By the way, your home will smell very very yummy.

When it's done.  Remove the large chunks with tongs and then pour the rest through a sieve and into a large bowl.  Go through the solids and dig out any extra meat that came off!  Allow to cool.  I often just stick it straight into the fridge without the lid on.  When my mom makes stock in the winter and it's cold out, she puts the bowl out on the porch!  Here in Texas, we rely on the fridge... Anyway, once it sits for a while the fat will rise to the top and harden.  You can then skim it off and throw it away or if you're feeling really fancy you can use it as a starter for some gravy.  

After that, bag up the stock (I use quart size freezer bags of 2-3 cups of stock).  Lay them flat in your freezer.  Once they are frozen they will be perfectly stackable!  This batch made about 8 cups of stock and I had enough bones from a turkey to make three batches!  I ended up throwing some bones and leftover veggies into a bag in the freezer for making more stock at a later date.  I have lots of stock.  Must make soup.

Speaking of soup, I have to brag on my husband.  He came up with this Turkey Tortilla Soup - inspired by a soup at Chuy's, our favorite Tex-Mex place.  This was seriously some of the best soup I've had in a long time.  

Turkey Tortilla Soup  (or make it with chicken) - 4-5 servings

Drizzle of olive oil

1/2 onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

3 cloves garlic, chopped  (The chunks of garlic really added something extra!)

1 serrano pepper, chopped   (For less spice, remove all or some seeds)

3 cups stock

1- 1 1/2 cups chopped turkey

1 can diced tomatoes

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp chili powder

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

Juice of 1/2 lime

1/2 cup cilantro, chopped

1 avocado, chopped

Tortilla chips

Brown onion and garlic in large sauce pan in olive oil.  Throw in serrano for last 30 seconds then add all other ingredients through lime.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer one hour, covered.  Garnish with cilantro and avocado and serve with tortilla chips.

Christmas on Your Thanksgiving Table: Spiced Cranberry Sauce

My mom, the Kitchen Goddess, puts together an awesome Thanksgiving spread.  One dish that we never did without was her cranberry sauce.  I think cranberry sauce tends to get a bad wrap, something that most people really think is just ok and a traditional dish to have.  I never hear anyone getting really excited about it.

But....I get really really excited about this cranberry sauce.  It's special.  It throws you into the holiday season.  It tastes like Christmas. It smells like Christmas.  It makes your whole house smell divine while it cooks.  It is excellent with turkey.  It is fantastic to eat like jam on fresh biscuits or rolls.  If you enjoy cranberry sauce, or you have always wanted to enjoy cranberry sauce, or you're a skeptic - please try this dish.

What makes this dish so Christmas-like?  Oranges, cloves, and candied ginger!  Heaven.  Here's the full list of goods:

Cranberries, sugar, oranges, crystallized ginger, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves

What is cardamom? I'm glad you asked.  Cardamom is used in many Indian dishes as well as Scandinavian dishes, which is why my mother cooks with it, being Danish and all.  It is the secret ingredient to her pancakes.  It is also a common spice in the popular and tasty Chai tea.  Cardamom  is an expensive spice, but oh so tasty and a little goes a long way.  It pairs very well with the "fall spices" like cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg and it makes people stop and wonder what magic you have infused your dish with.  For these reasons I highly recommend the splurge.  If you choose not to use it, you could add some nutmeg to the sauce for the good fall spice flavor.

Crystallized, or candied, ginger is another addition you don't want to skip out on.  (You could do ground ginger...but again, not really the same.) If you have trouble finding it, check the bulk sections of your local grocery stores, especially places like Whole Foods or Sprouts.  Chop it up finely.

Set aside your measured spices and then zest two whole oranges.  And here is what makes this cranberry sauce so incredibly aromatic and flavorful!

1 tsp Cinnamon, 1/4 tsp cloves, 1 tsp cardamom, 2 tbsp crystallized ginger, and orange zest of 2 oranges!

Measure out three cups of sugar and set that aside. Peel the two oranges that you just zested and chop them up.  Use a sharp knife to trim off as much white pith as you can.  Take two more oranges and squeeze the juice into a two-cup measuring cup.  Add water to the juice to total 2 cups of liquid. 

The prepped ingredients.  Your kitchen will already smell super yummy.

Combine all ingredients, except cranberries, into a large saucepan.

Bring to a boil.  Throw in the cranberries!

Bring it back to a boil.  Keep stirring until cranberries begin to pop.

Now the intoxicating smells will waft throughout your home to bring joy and delight to all!  Put the lid on and turn down the heat to low.  Simmer for about an hour.  If you happened to use frozen cranberries, as I did today, then take the lid off for the last 10 minutes since they will be juicier. 

Bonus: While you're waiting and cleaning up, go ahead and throw some of those orange peels into your garbage disposal while you run it for a fresh smelling sink. 

Here's the best part. After an hour, taste it!...Then taste it again...and maybe again.  Add any extra sugar or spices that your heart may desire.  (This is a pretty sweet sauce!)  When you are satisfied, take it off the heat and allow to cool before transferring to containers and moving it to the fridge.  It will have a thickened, syrupy consistency and will set in the fridge to become more jam-like.  You should make it at least a day before Thanksgiving for it to set and all the flavors to mingle together in glory. 

Here it is the next day after it has had time to set!

 Enjoy, friends!

Spiced Cranberry Sauce

Ingredients:
4 cups cranberries, washed and picked over
3 cups sugar

4 oranges - and this is what you do with them:
2 cups liquid: Juice from 2 oranges + water = 2 cups
Zest from 2 oranges
Orange sections from the 2 zested oranges, chopped

2 tbsp crystallized (candied) ginger, finely chopped
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground cardamom
1/4 tsp ground cloves

Directions:
Combine all ingredients, except cranberries, into a large saucepan.  Bring to a boil. Add cranberries and continue to stir until berries begin to pop and it is back to a boil.  Put the lid on and allow to simmer for about an hour. **  Taste and add sugar if desired.  Remove from heat and allow to cool.  Chill until ready to serve.  This is best to make one day before serving.

**UPDATE - I've found that this recipe followed exactly can occasionally make some fairly runny sauce.  To increase the consistency to a more jelly-like texture, remove the lid around the one hour mark and allow to simmer for an additional 10-15 minutes.  This makes it about the consistency of fruit preserves.   Increase the time without the lid on even more if you like it really thick or you're using frozen cranberries.  Expect it to stiffen a little more once it's been chilled as well.