deserty things

It’s been a hot minute since I wrote to let you know what we were up to! Let’s just say that I was feeling super overwhelmed with all of the travel and transitions and change – and helping Lucy Mae to get through it all, too. It took us some time – more than I wanted – to get us feeling settled and into a routine. 😅 Let me give you the run down and an update.

• May 9 – come out Simple Living, and jump back into classes
• May 21 – classes finished at the Training Center in Missouri
• Clean. Clean. Clean.
• May 24 – turn 30
• May 25 – leave MTC, go to the zoo, heading for Wisconsin
• May 26 – June 6 – visit with churches, supporters, friends ♡
• June 7 – drive back to Missouri, pick up a trailer with all of our belongings, and keep driving.
• June 10 – arrive in Arizona!
• June 14 – start training!

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Our new Arizona house. Lucy Mae painting while I flight follow.

Woo! That was a lot of driving, a lot of change, a lot of hotels, and a lot of people. Lucy Mae did great for the most part, but towards the end you could definitely tell she needed some more stability (and honestly, so did we!). It felt like we had been running basically since Spring Break back in March.

It’s another proof of concept that you can feel all the things at the same time – so grateful and excited to see and spend time with friends and churches that we hadn’t seen since LM was just a tiny baby; and exhausted and ready to be in our own space.

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Many of these little friends came with us from Missouri – so thankful for knowing and being known. And thankful for new friends!

The last time that we were here in Arizona was when we were here for our initial training in 2014! It feels a little strange to be back after so long. There’s a lot more people, and kids than last time around, which is just so nice! But my thoughts haven’t changed – I’m still not a desert girl; give me trees and the tropics all day every day. Hah. But we actually have a really cute house with grass and several proper trees right around us, and it helps make it feel not quite so desert-y.

As you can see from the timeline above – Josh jumped straight into helicopter training and he is ROCKING it! He should be taking his commercial helicopter check ride in just a couple of weeks already! To say he is excited and loving it would be an understatement, and I am so proud of how hard he is working!

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So proud of Josh – this was from his first helicopter Solo flight! And our first childless date in over a year!

We still don’t know how long we’ll be here exactly, as there are a lot of different factors in play that could change. We’d love to be back in PNG by February or March, but we’re holding it loosely. Until then, Josh is flying, and I’m keeping home and doing some flight following. There’s not much else to do around here, but we’re keeping busy, and trusting the Lord’s timing for all the things.

decemblur

The entire month of December has gone by in such a delicious blur of food, fellowship, family, friendship, and traveling.

Between packing up + cleaning our Arizona house, driving 4 days across the country to get to Florida, soaking up our family and friends for the first time in a year, celebrating Christmas, and welcoming company, we’ve been so busy that we’ve barely had time to breathe – but I wouldn’t have it any other way.

I’m sure after the New Year, I have will have more time to write and gush about my scrumptious Christmas menu, my DIY decorations, our little house in the woods, time spent with family and with friends, and how much I adore being in Florida. Until then, I’m going to soak up the today and write about it later. Definitely look for me on Instagram + Facebook, as I will be there often (I love technology!).

Merry Christmas + Happy New Year! Thanks for making 2014 great, y’all!

dark chocolate honey truffles

This year we had Thanksgiving with two other families, one who has sugar issues similar to mine. Both of them were planning on bringing fantastic pies and cakes, and since I didn’t want to be left out of the dessert eating, I scoured the internet to find my own dessert to bring.

I landed on truffles. They’re stupid easy to make, and absolutely decadent. We took the leftovers camping with us, and they make a great little sweet, poppable snack. Since Christmas is coming up, and I know that someone out there is an obsessive planner like myself and is already planning their Christmas menu, I decided to share the recipe.

These are refined sugar free, but they definitely don’t taste like it!

Dark Chocolate Honey Truffles
(makes approx. 30
original recipe from Rook No. 17)
printable recipe here

I made these the day before Thanksgiving, so I had less to do on the actual day. Since these were such a hit, they have officially made it to my Christmas Day menu. I’m so excited!

a marble rolling pin

A couple of weeks ago, one of the ladies here at the center, invited me to her house for an afternoon of bread-making. Growing up in the American culture, I never learned how to make bread. My mom used her breadmaker on special occasions, but it was never something that either of us really learned how to do. It’s much easier to grab a loaf of bread while you’re at the store, although your house smells much less tasty.  🙂

So here I am, at my friend’s house learning how to make bread. She observed and left her weekly bread to my incapable hands {gulp!}. We measured and poured, mixed and kneaded, rolled and folded dough until I was comfortable with how bread dough should look and feel.

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While our bread and rolls were rising, she asked what else I would like to learn. She listed off a few things that it’s good to know how to make from scratch before going to the foreign field: yogurt (with powdered milk), tortillas, dressings, tasty(er) ways to take malaria medicine, and ready-to-go pancake mix, to name a few.

I said yes to it all, since we had a couple of hours to kill. She walked me through the process of yogurt-making (although we didn’t make it), and she passed on her recipes for everything else. Then she proclaimed that it was time to make tortillas! As we began rolling out flat circles somewhat roundish blobs of dough she talked about tortilla-making tools. She is a marble rolling pin advocate; and after trying both her wooden and marble ones, I definitely agree! It totally beats the empty wine bottle that I had been using for a rolling pin at home…

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Meanwhile, I’m having a minor panic attack, wondering how I can afford a marble rolling pin {it sounds so posh; and I didn’t know they’re actually pretty cheap} and how I can possibly even get something that heavy to Papua New Guinea in my suitcase without paying exorbitant airline overweight charges.

When I got home that evening, loaded down with all kinds of floury and yeasty goodness, and still wondering what to do about a marble rolling pin, I looked through the document that my mother-in-love sent me from PNG listing our overseas “possessions.” She sent it to me a year ago, although I haven’t spent much time looking through it. Wouldn’t you know that at the very bottom of that list it said very clearly: green marble rolling pin.

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It was like a little hug from God, just because He likes to shower His children with love. Here, I didn’t even know that I wanted a marble rolling pin, but He already gave one to me over a year ago!

Encouragement, tortillas, humor, and blessings all wrapped up into one package. 🙂

thanksgiving weekend

Do you have any Thanksgiving traditions? Growing up, Thanksgiving Day was always pretty relaxed. We’d cook and eat, and play games, and eat some more, and talk, and eat some more… Then Black Friday we would go out to lunch, see a movie, and buy our Christmas tree. No crazy crowds. No meaningless shopping. Just family time.

Since getting married, Josh and I have looked to make our own traditions. We haven’t been in the same place twice for a Thanksgiving yet, so that’s kind of hard; but we’ve decided on a new Thanksgiving weekend tradition, which we put into practice this year. Camping. 

We had a beautiful Thanksgiving supper with some good friends adopted family, played some games, and just enjoyed being together. Everyone pulled out all of the stops. Friday morning, we all packed up our friends’ camper, and drove to a little spot in the woods until Sunday afternoon. It was wonderful! There was a small (and extremely cold) creek running behind our campsite, lots of cozy campfires, breathtaking clear skies, lots of stars, and a whole forest of trees! (Be still, my heart!)

One afternoon, our friends took us hiking in the Chiricahuas. I have never seen anything like it, and it was such a fun afternoon of hiking, climbing, and “hellooooooooo”s into Echo Canyon.

It was plenty cold while camping, but it was so cozy and nice. I love the peace of being in the woods. It makes my whole soul feel good. Although, I was extremely grateful for a hot shower and my own bed Sunday night. 🙂

How was your Thanksgiving weekend?

P.S. Since I totally slacked off during November, I have several posts planned out for December, to hopefully get back on track!

my husband

I don’t often brag about my husband, but in this case, I’m going to. If you like airplanes and training details, read on. If you don’t like hearing a proud wife talk about her husband’s cool airplane job, then you should probably stop reading.  🙂

We’ve arrived at the end of our training in Arizona! As of last week, Josh has completed his training and is officially an NTM Aviation missionary pilot! He has worked very hard and we’ve both learned a lot during our time here. We’ll still be hanging around here for a time before we pack up and make the long drive back to Florida, but there is no more curriculum for Josh to go through. Yay!

Here’s a little bit of what that training looks like…

via Josh’s office view

Josh has been getting up at the crack of dawn every day. Since it’s now officially the dead of winter fall in the desert, it’s been really, really cold this early in the day. The weather at the small airstrips tends to be better first thing in the morning, so that’s when he went. He’s a braver soul than I.

via Josh

This airstrip is only 900 feet long, is just about as wide as the airplane itself, and is at an incline. There’s not a whole lot of room for error. At this point, he had an instructor with him. The last flight of the curriculum is solo. You go from one small/challenging airstrip to another, and as they say in the hangar, “If you come back alive, then you pass!” Comforting words for a wife, don’t you think? {cue eye roll}

The chief pilot and Josh. via Josh

Yesterday, Josh completed his last flight with an instructor, and then did his solo flights. Since he’s obviously still alive, he passed! I got to talk briefly with the chief pilot yesterday after Josh’s flights, and he said that Josh did very well.

During the rest of Josh’s day, he gets to work in the hangar with the other guys. Their big projects now are the two Kodiaks sitting in the hangar that need some modifications before they can go to Papua New Guinea. Josh has been able to work on them while he’s here.

via Josh

We may be finished with the training side of things, but there is still plenty to do before we can go to PNG to serve.

The next step for us is to pack up and move back to Florida. We’ll be driving from Arizona to Florida just in time for Christmas. Then we’ll hit the ground running and work on building our support team so we can get to Papua New Guinea and begin serving there. We’re currently at 38% of the recommended amount for couples in PNG, and we can’t go until we are at 75% at least; although, obviously, we’re aiming for 100%. If you want to get involved, just shoot me an email or follow the GIVE link at the top of the page!

raw salted caramel sauce

Are you a care-a-mell person, or a car-ml person? I’m a car-ml person; care-a-mell just sounds snooty to my ears. However you say it, I love the stuff; and since Josh decidedly does not like it, there’s plenty for me!

I mentioned in my last post how I was involved in a ladies night of Christmas card assembly, and how I brought snacks, including a caramel sauce that was a huge hit with the ladies! It was such a big hit, and I had so many requests for the recipe, that I decided to share the recipe love instead of just emailing it to those people.

I never thought that I could make caramel, but this is a raw sugar caramel that is super easy, and you don’t need a candy thermometer to do it!

Raw Salted Caramel Sauce
printable recipe here

I served this with “fruit nachos.” Sliced apples, bananas, and strawberries with this homemade caramel sauce, coconut whipped cream, and dark chocolate chips. There were ladies there with gluten and dairy intolerances (and me with my sugar intolerance) and everyone enjoyed all of the fruit nachos. The plate was clean within 40 minutes! 

And I may or may not have definitely added a dollop of coconut whipped cream and a drizzle of this caramel sauce to my coffee for my own {refined sugar free} caramel latte. Mmmm!

I’m definitely planning on making this again.

weekend aviation expo

Last week I shared the heaviness that has been hanging around and weighing so many people down. Since then, there have been a couple surgeries, and many more prayers for Jon and Adie. The Lord has met me and so many others in those heavy places, right where we were, and held us close, reminding us that His plan is bigger and better than our own.

This past weekend was the NTM Aviation Expo – it was only for NTM Aviation, and those who are interested/support missions aviation. There were over 200 people who came out to support this event! Both of the new Kodiaks were present, one was giving rides, and both were dedicated to the service of the Lord during the event.

So much love in these prayers of dedication for this airplane!

No sooner had we arrived back home than it was time for the ladies Christmas card event, which I was honored to help with. One lady started this project last year, where the aviation ladies here in Arizona send Christmas cards and a small gift to the NTM Aviation wives serving around the world. We had an evening where were assembled the cards + gift + envelopes; it was such a sweet night of fellowship and laughter. I’m going to share my raw-sugar caramel sauce recipe this week – it was a BIG hit with the ladies this week!

All of the NTM Aviation volunteers at the Expo!

Things are beginning to slow down and cool off (at least in the morning + evenings) around here. After being so busy upon arriving, I’m looking forward to the slow down. Before we know it, though, it will be time to pack up and move on to the next phase. We’re not really sure when that will be, yet, as it all depends on how the training goes and what the new plan is for pilots in PNG. However, we do know that building relationships with people is going to be our full-time ministry upon leaving Arizona. We need to raise our financial support levels before we can go to PNG. We are hoping to visit as many people as we can on our way from Arizona to Florida; if you would like us to visit you, just comment here or send me an email and we’ll see what we can work out!

beautiful things

It has been a heavy week around here, and really around the globe. Our world has been rocked and our hearts are hurting. As one of the executives here at the office said, “I’m ready to take that step of faith into the Jordan and follow Jesus; but I can’t find the Jordan!”

Early last week one of our pilots in Papua New Guinea was in a motorcycle accident which resulted in him losing his leg. Jon and Adie Leedahl were already a step of faith by the NTMA leadership, as they were sent to PNG to train with a different mission organization on an airplane that we didn’t have yet. Shortly after that, we received our first Kodiak, and then our second. God made it very clear that the aviation program in PNG should be continued and strengthened; all we needed to do was follow Him and let Him work.

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Now things look bad. A man lost his leg. Jon has a long time of recovery and relearning everything ahead of him. Adie has a hard job of adjustment ahead of her. At least for the foreseeable future, there’s no one to fly for NTMA in Papua New Guinea. We have two brand new Kodiak’s sitting in our hangar here, being outfitted for exportation to PNG, with no pilot. There are two brand new pilots who arrived on-field this summer, with no one to train them in-country. Between people retiring from the mission or simply not in a position to take over, the personnel needs in PNG were already huge, and now they are even more dire. This is one of those impossible situations that only God can fix.

We could look at this as a list of things to discourage and sadden us, or we could look at it as an opportunity to watch God do amazing things. Yeah, there are a lot of unknowns right now. Yeah, it makes it hard to know what to think or do or even pray (seriously, what do you pray in this situation except for a miracle?!). But my God is bigger than even this. He is always good, always perfect, and His plan is always completed beautifully. I don’t see it now, and it really doesn’t feel good or perfect; but I trust Him.

This song came on the radio right after we heard about Jon’s accident, and all of the questions about what would happen now began spinning around our head. Josh and I both found it to be such an encouraging reminder of God’s love and power. This accident will change a lot of things for NTMA here and in PNG, it will also change things for us. We don’t know what any of it will be. But God does.

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God makes beautiful things out of the ashes we bring to Him, we just have to step into the Jordan (once we find it!) and follow Him.

no-bake energy crack

Recently, Josh and I started the Insanity at-home workout program. We do it every day, even when we don’t want to. At first the only thing we really noticed was that we couldn’t walk (or breathe, or move in general). Then I noticed that I was totally crashing in the afternoon because I wasn’t eating enough throughout the day to keep my (new powerhouse) body going. I did some research and found the perfect fix!

Remember my breakfast cookies? Well, this recipe is even better than that! These are packed with protein, totally customizeable, refined-sugar free, there’s no baking required, they have dark chocolate chips in them, and they’re husband approved! What could be better? They’re seriously the perfect thing to grab for breakfast, or afternoon snack, or dessert, or just because… You could just keep eating them. It’s healthy energy crack that you can’t get enough of.

No-Bake Energy Crack
(original recipe by Gimme Some Oven)
printable recipe here

You can add or subtract anything you want and definitely check out Ali’s site for more ideas for different no-bake recipes; I haven’t tried them all, but so far, I’m quite happy with this one! I make a double batch every week and a half. Try melting some chocolate and drizzling it over the bars, or dipping the balls in chocolate sauce. Maybe adding some nuts or dried fruit would be good, too. Go crazy with them!