joy, oh joy for Christ is born!

This song is changing my life right now. With so much going on in this world and in each one of our lives...Christmas is truly about Jesus. close your eyes and let this song just soak in your soul!

'This, this is Christ the King...JOY OH JOY! for CHRIST is Born!'

may we every day "haste to bring him laud. this babe, the Son of Mary." amen.

snow and midnight vistor

i am so re-living the winter of 2010 in DC all over again. 5 degree weather. snow and ice all around. the thought of even going outside to check the mail makes me want to cry. hello mid-west winter. my puffy jacket and my snow boots are ready for you, but my heart is not.

the other bummer thing is that i haven't decorated for christmas and my parents are coming next week. christmas tree is a must this week!

so i got back from budapest on saturday night after an insane 20 hour travel day complete with a flight from budapest to paris with a pilot i was convinced was his first day, 20 seconds away from missing my flight to paris, 10 hour flight to minneapolis...no wait...scratch that...detroit, 500 person line to talk to delta to get a ticket home, getting out of line because i felt like a cow in line to be slaughtered and i decided there had to be a better world out there, finding a delta person that got me a ticket, throwing up 5 times that day, lost luggage and thankfully making it home. safe and sound. amen!!!

so my luggage was lost and just flittering somewhere in between europe and america. but, i had faith it would return home. it actually returned home in the form of a man banging on our door at midnight last night. R (my husband) almost shot the man. thankfully no one lost their life in the midnight debacle. and my luggage found its way home.


pictures of my trip to come.

bag search

Does ANYONE know where I can find a bag like this?? i am looking for something to throw over my shoulder to take to Budapest...

"40"

i just found this song for the very first time. all i can say is "wow." i can't wait to see them this summer. and even then, the day after the concert, i will wait with great anticipation till the next time i see them again...

I waited patiently for the Lord
He inclined and heard my cry
He brought me up out of the pit
Out of the miry clay

I will sing, sing a new song
I will sing, sing a new song

How long to sing this song?
How long...to sing this song...

budapest

so...who would have thought that Budapest would be my very first european adventure? my best friend is adopting a little boy from Budapest and she asked me to come with her for a week! I'll be going out there in December, which apparently is the dead of winter.

I wasn't really sure what to pack or buy for this trip, but on my daily US Magazine.com browsing, i saw that angelina jolie is currently living in Budapest while she directs a movie. naturally, i thought i should pack based on how angelina is dressed. it appears that angelina is wearing a very large and oversized puffy coat, which makes me believe that the temperature is between the mid 30's- upper 40.

if it was in the 5o's she would be wearing more of a fleece or light wool coat. however, i don't believe it is colder than the mid 30's because otherwise she would be wearing a hat or some sort of head warmer.

so, since i want to be just like angelina, i naturally ordered a puffy jacket from lands end.

can't wait to meet my new nephew and hang out with angelina in budapest.

it was fate

passing by animal shelters is a hard thing for me. i want to adopt every single puppy and bring them home with me. then again, if i did this, i'm sure animal rescue would have to rescue my puppies from myself because i couldn't properly be a mommy to 100 puppies. but, anyway...

my story begins one beautiful fall september day. i needed to go get our sophie lynn some puppy food, so i headed to petsmart. as i began to walk into petsmart, i saw lots of white canopies in the parking lot with cages and people standing around. i was immediately drawn to them and began to walk towards these canopies like a fly to a spider web. my husband was behind me begging me not to go over there because he knew what would happen. but, i did not have a choice. i couldn't resist the calling. i walked over to the humane shelter's set up and immediately spotted a black and white shih tzu mix with huge black eyes and an underbite. i asked if i could hold him and he just sat so quietly in my arms. he kept looking at me like "take me home please. be my mommy please." i begged my husband to let me take him home. and we actually stood there deliberating how we could take care of two dogs. finally, i realized this was not the best decision and i reluctantly put him back. but, my heart was so sad and his little underbite face remained engrained in my heart.

fast forward to today. a strangely warm fall day in st. louis. headed with some friends to a park for a harvest festival. i was looking at some hand made kiddo outfits when i saw this precious little black and white puppy with an underbite. "could it be?'" i asked myself. i kept walking, but something told me to go back. i walked up to the lady holding the little puppy and asked if she minded telling me where she got her dog. "From a shelter set up in front of a petsmart a few weeks ago," she said. my heart just melted as i bent down to say hello to my almost puppy son. "i almost adopted him," i told the woman. she told me how great of a dog he was and how much her daughter loved him.

i am so thankful that i was able to see him again to know that he was adopted into a good home! what a precious little gift that God gave me. in this huge city at a random harvest festival, i saw the little puppy i wanted to adopt. so thankful he has a happy home and just so thankful that God has adopted me as his daughter.

the end.

cheese tortellini in white wine cream sauce

there is a neighborhood in st. louis called "the hill" where some italian descendants and immigrants moved to. they thankfully opened up their own restaurants and there are currently dozens of italian restaurants serving cheesy and temptuous italian food on "the hill." one of the most popular foods that i see on the menu in this area is cheese tortellini in cream sauce. instead of going out to dinner for 20 bucks every week when i crave this dish, i decided to try to make it on my own. what i concocted is one of my new favorite foods to cook and eat.

Andrea's Cheese Tortellini in White Wine Cream Sauce

Ingredients

1/2 pound pancetta chopped
1/2 onion chopped
2 cloves garlic
3/4 cup white wine
2 cups cream
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
1 cup peas
3/4 pound - 1 pound cheese tortellini


Directions

fill large pot with water and set on stove to boil. meanwhile saute chopped onions and pancetta in large saute pan. when pancetta is cooked through and onions are soft, mix in 2 cloves chopped garlic. saute for about 30 seconds. pour in white wine and let boil through till the wine becomes thick. about 3-5 minutes. pour cream in pan. let cook through and boil until cream sauce becomes very thick. about 5-10 minutes. make sure to keep stirring the sauce so the cream does not burn. once the sauce is thick mix in grated parmesan cheese and slowly poor in chicken broth until the sauce is your desired consistency.

when the pot of boiling water comes to a boil put in tortellini and cook until just under tender. tortellini does not take long to cook, so don't go anywhere...watch it the whole time.

once the pasta is almost done, pour in peas and let cook for 1 minute or 2. drain. stir the pasta in peas in the cream sauce and try not to eat the whole thing. we haven't done that yet.