Perfect Saturday

Today was a good Saturday.

Woke up, drank some coffee, made some muffins, hung out with Megan, ran awesome errands then settled down at Macrina to get some homework done. Meg and I checked out the day old bread, which we always do with the intention of just looking and of course get sucked in.

Today was porcini wheat and there were not regrets. Hope you all are having a great weekend :)

Adjusting, New Roommates, and Pumpkin Spice

I've been back for a few days now and I'm finding myself sifting through photos, remembering faces, and searching for opportunities to go back. It's so strange to think where I was last week, and then so suddenly to be back to life here. Don't get me wrong, life here is awesome. I guess I just have a bit of adjusting to do.

My three new roommates moved in the week I was gone, which has been a huge blessing in my life. I love getting to know the new ones, getting caught up with Alex and looking forward to the new year. We all seem to get along really well which I am so grateful for. It's gonna be a good year.

Along with having a full house, comes the desire to cook and bake for them all! We've all been feeling fall coming so today I made some pumpkin bran muffins. Some had raisins and almonds and another batch had chocolate chips. So good! I'm really looking forward to all the roommate dinners, baking afternoons and talks over tea and coffee to come.

Honduras 2010

I'm home and almost at a complete loss for words about how amazing my week in Honduras was. It was truly one of the best weeks of my life, filled with smiling children, clean water, new friends, speaking spanish, seeing God work and feeling like I was exactly where I belonged.

Since it is hard for me to sum up the week in adequate words, I will let parts of my journal take the lead...

9.10.10

"Today has been one of those days that I will remember for quite sometime. The all illusive "go" and "yes, this is where I want you" has arrived and I could not be happier. I feel like Im getting a new chance with life. I get to go, serve, love people, experience a new culture and finally feel normal. I am going to cherish every moment of this. Every bead of sweat, every smiling face, every drop of water that comes out of that well, and every second from here on out. It's a blessing and not something to be taken for granted. This is it."

9.11.10

"Blessed is the word that keeps coming to mind. Blessed to be here, to meet my team and to feel ok. Just blessed. It's so extremely beautiful here with so many beautiful people, but at the same time poverty is the norm and not the exception to the rule. I've been thinking a lot about what people really need. They look so happy, and most the time are. No luxuries, just what they need. I guess that's why I love this work so much, it's bringing a necessity."

9.13.10

"I am in love. With this work, this country, theses people, the kids, the language. The actual well is going to be completely life changing. I didn't see the kids drink one sip of water all day long. It's just not an option. Now, they can go out to the well and get a drink of clean water whenever they please. We taught hand washing and about germs, drew happy clean faces and sad dirty faces and shared the gospel with these sweet beautiful children... Today I ran, I didn't pass out from the heat, I sang, smiled, and spoke Spanish-all by the Lord's strength. He is truly sustaining me."

9.14.10

"Today was even better. I love it here. I started my day with "hola amigos" followed by fifity kids screaming and laughing. It's amazing....By far, my favorite part of the day was walking out those gates and seeing all those kids playing in the clean water. There was so much joy-I was just overtaken by it. That's what I will remember from this week... While I was playing with the kids they kept asking for water. I was trying to find some for them and somehow they got ahold of my water bottle. They all fought over it as if it was the last couple ounces of water on earth. I was shocked and horrified. I hope these kids never have to fight for water ever again. It broke my heart...Tomorrow I get to teach nutrition to the classes. I feel like every class I've taken, every meal I've made has lead up to this moment."

9.15.10

"A group of us walked down to the river today, which up until now has been the main water source for the village. Someone was washing their car-in the river. At first glance it was comical, but then I thought about how that is that same water that people drink. It just hurt me to see, but makes the need for the well that much more apparent."

9.16.10

"Well- the week is almost over and I must say-it's more bitter than it is sweet. This trip has reaffirmed to me the desires of my heart, taught me that He will sustain me, and give me a hope for the future. To share the Lord's love, kids, nutrition, food, water, people, new cultures.

9.17.10

"In 24 hours I will be on a plane, headed back to life in Seattle. Im not quite ready. It's been a wonderful time, with an awesome team. I honestly wish I could take them back with me. Life is so weird like that-you meet people, experience amazing things with them then just like that they go back to their lives and that's it. I guess you just never know how God will use people in your life. I absolutely loved this week.

Waiting and Trusting and Going

Well friends, it's finally time and I could not be more excited. Tomorrow I hop on a plane to Texas, where I will meet my parents and the rest of the team, hop on another plane to Honduras and start my work with Living Water International to bring a community clean water.

In a way, I feel like I have been preparing for this for years. Since going to Indonesia my heart has been stirring about clean water, nutrition and sanitation in other countries. While I was there I saw the value of their wells, how they provided life, and I also saw the complete neglect for any type of sanitation or nutrition. The end of Indo turned into the start of a huge waiting period in my life.

For the past three years I've been waiting. Waiting to make a difference. Waiting to feel well enough to leave town. Waiting to have the right opportunity. Waiting to use my education for some sort of good. I know without a doubt the Lord was teaching me through the wait. He was creating a deeper passion, a healthier person, a patience for the right timing, and a trusting heart.

So here I am. Not close to being packed, not completely healed, and definitely not ready. And yet, I'm trusting Him. I'm praying that this trip will be the start of something great. A start for the community we are going to and for a new stage in my life.

I feel like the wait is finally over and now all there is to do is trust and go.

If you have a minute (or 5) watch this video that explains what we're going to be doing. My eyes water up just looking at the children, I can't wait to meet them all. Also you're prayers would be greatly appreciated this week. For health, safety, the well building, and most importantly that our actions and words would reflect Christ and show His love to these people.

It's coming

My favorite part about Seattle is the way summer turns to fall. Last year I caught the tail end of it and here it comes again. The way the leaves start changing colors, the brisk mornings and cool nights, the debate between rain and sun all day long and of course, the fall flavors.

Yes, I am one of those people who celebrates Starbuck's Pumpkin Spice Latte. Not so that I give into the trend, but because it is quite possibly the best drink I have ever had. It just captures fall so well and makes me so happy every time. Today I was walking through Safeway, with the intention to just hit up the pharmacy, when I got sucked in. I saw the sign, smelled the spices and then there I was in line, ordering before I knew what was happening. Shout out to my wonderful roommate who get just as excited for "small soy decaf pumpkin spice lattes with only half the syrup"

So here it is. Fair warning that my blogs may or may not be obsessed with fall, leaves changing, pumpkin flavored everything, chai, soups, and squash for the next few months. It's coming :)

New Favorite Breakfast Feast

So my good friend Matt has been talking about crepes basically since I met him. He just got home from New Zealand, so Meg and I figured we should probably capitalize on his jet lag and excitement for really thin pancakes and have him cook for us! So Matt whipped together some batter, bought some Nutella (a new house favorite) and strawberries and before we knew it, Waahh-Laahh. Crepes galore in the kitchen.

Meg and I sat in silence and complete bliss for a solid 20 minutes. Just drinking coffee, spreading nutella, and taking it all in. Soo good. Thanks Matt for a wonderful crepe-filled morning in the conkling house :)

The interview went well. The lady is really nice and sounds like she knows what she is doing. If I get the job I'll be making soups, sandwiches, and salads for the moms, kids, and students of queen anne. I'll keep ya posted!

putting my skill to the test

So I have an interview for a cooking job at a bakery tomorrow. Talk about dream job! Here's the problem. She wants me to bring in a soup sample of soup I've made from scratch. Dream job just went from awesome to super intimidating in .05 seconds. I read her request and immediately my mind started spinning of recipes, doubts, and ideas. I looked through a couple recipe books and settled in the tried and true "look at the recipe books then do whatever I feel like" method.As tempted as I am to just rip off someone elses recipe, I want it to be my own and I want it to be good. I've settled on mushroom and wild rice soup with bell peppers, celery, carrots, onions, garlic and a ton of herbs. So here's hoping that I don't completely butcher the first soup that actually counts for something.

El Pato- the new family favorite

Papa Wantz sent Megan a jar of El Pato last year and somehow it hasn't made an appearance in our lives until just now. So we cracked open the jar and did a little taste test...YUMMM

But El Pato was just the beginning. I made some corn cakes, piled cheese, black beans and fajita veggies on top then topped it off with this amazing magic sauce. It felt a little spanish, a little southern or maybe a little mexican? Either way, I think it's a new favorite in the house and will be making more appearances soon :) Happy Friday to everyone!

Lebanese Eggplant Stew

Last night we reinstated crockpot sunday. I absolutely love crockpot sunday.

Eggplant, zucchini, bell peppers, carrots, onions, garlic and a ton of middle east-ish spices. Threw it all it, put it on low, and headed out to church. At this point I should mention that two of the boys joining us for dinner I had never met and therefore felt very uncertain about this particular stew. It sounded great on paper, but in practice it did not look or taste very good...I guess I was bound to get a bad recipe sometime :)

Anyways, we ate the random stew, laughed, got to know each other, drank tea and hung out in the kitchen while digging into the one and only Tillamuck Mudslide.

A great crockpot sunday night, which got me excited for the upcoming year, making new friends, getting new roommates and sharing more meals with them.

More Cilantro and Mushrooms

So the ingredients of the week have slowly become cilantro and mushrooms. First I needed cilantro to try the quinoa recipe, then while walking through the produce isle a box of mushrooms jumped out at me for a mere 88 cents. Who can pass that up?

Both ingredient have yet to let me down this week and they pulled through once again for the finale. Meg's been craving potatoes so today we got some potatoes and I sat down to figure out what to do with them. There's the typical (in our home at least) cut them up and broil them, then i came across an sauteed herb recipe which sounded good but was without the herb part of it. Finally I settled on this little guy.

Baked potatoes with beans, corn, onions, tomatoes, chile powder, cummin, and of course mushrooms and onions on top. We had some corn to use up so the potatoes were served with some corn on the cob and a salad.
Turned out pretty good and there is a ton of leftovers! I'm really liking having new ingredients and experimenting with them, wonder what next week will bring....

Mexican Black Bean Soup and Spanish Quinoa

It's great to be back in Seattle, in my own kitchen, with a roommate who encourages me to try new recipes :)

Last night was the return to the old faithful crockpot with some mexican black bean soup. My attempt to cook through the book has been slow and not so steady this summer, but I'm hoping to start back up more consistently.

So black bean soup it was. Complete with onions, mushrooms, cumin, chile powder, corn and cilantro. A couple hours on high and wah-lah-yummy easy soup.

Tonight we followed along with the whole bean/corn/cilantro theme and made some quinoa concoctions. Quinoa is kinda a forgotten part of my diet, I don't ever think to make it but when I do it's awesome. Tonight I made red quinoa and while that was cooking sauteed some onions and garlic. Added some beans, corn, lime juice, tomatoes and cilantro and bam its a colorful fiesta in the kitchen. It was pretty good if I do say so myself...

Up next is some more fun with cilantro and somehow using a bunch of mushrooms we seem to have acquired...Oh how I love a challenge...

ice cream, smores, milkshakes and more

The lake was wonderful as always. It never seems to let me down. One of the magical things about the lake is that all the "no sugar" rules of my life go out the window. There is absolutely no judgement if I want to eat ice cream everyday or have an extra smore just because...

One night the first week I was there the Sponseller's came over for smores and a little fire..

There's this little ice cream shop in town that has become the favorite over the years, so much so that it was at my sister's wedding. It's full of chocolate dipped things, candied apples, and of course, lots of ice cream. We got to go with the whole Sponseller clan the night before they left, which was entertaining as always :)

This particular night I got half "death by even more chocolate" and half "peanut butter cup" which is peanut butter ice cream, with chocolate PB cups mixed in. So good!

Another day we branched out and wandered down to Polly's sweet shop, which is just as adorable as it sounds. Megan and Alex wanted milkshakes so we ventured down the boardwalk and we pleasantly surprised with the fact that Polly's makes milkshakes out of any ice cream you want. I stuck to the traditional ice cream cone, which never lets you down :)

I just got home from arizona, which is a whole other blog post and am currently working on getting back into my crockpot cookbook. Stay tuned!

grand lake breakfasts

This morning Mom tried out a new recipe on the fam called "Carrot Cake Pancakes". It's precisely what it sounds like. Pancakes with carrrots and a bunch of spices that taste like a mix between muffins, cake, and pancakes. We usually don't all eat bfast together, but the lake seems create that sort of atmosphere. We sit at the bar and Mom rattles off every option-french toast, eggs, corn cakes, and today, pancakes. Tay, Dad and I sat at the bar passing butter, agave, syrup, and bananas, chatting and sitting the sunny spots of another lake day.

I love watching my mom try new things in the kitchen. She is the person who taught me to cook and love food, finding as much joy in experimenting with food as I do. Every now and then it's a flop, but most the time her intution and skill pulls through and her experiment turns into our new favorite meal. Today was no exception.


In other news-I am, as always, awestruck by the beauty that sits in front of me here at the lake. It seriously never gets old. I've been reading a lot and today the chapter I read was talking about how sometime to commune with God and feel close to Him we have to remove ourselves from the everyday hussle and bussle and be in awe of His creation. That's what the lake seems to do for me. The huge mountain in our backyard, the variety of animals scampering around, the sound of the water hitting the rocks, the lighting and thunder in the afternoons. It all points directly to Him, creates a grateful heart and reminds me of what a big God I have the priveledge of serving.