Peanutbutter Choco-chip Hummus!

Today was my first time making hummus.

I like trying unique recipes, so when my friend Katie told me about this one, I was very "gun-ho" :)

"Peanutbutter Choco-chip Hummus"



I'm going to show you how to make this delicious dessert hummus.
Ready?


You'll need:
1 Can Chickpeas, Drained and Rinsed
Pinch of Salt
1 Tsp Vanilla Extract
1/4 c. Peanut Butter
1 Tbsp Milk
2/3 c. Brown Sugar
2 Tbsp Oats
1/3 c. Chocolate Chips

Got everything out?
Ok:


Step 1:
Rinse and drain the Chick peas.

Step 2:
Dump chick peas, and all the other ingredients (EXCEPT choco-chips) in the food processor.
Blend till smooth.

Step 3:
Stir in chocolate chips.
Serve with graham crackers!

Tah-dah!


It's so yummy!

Go buy some chick peas right now so you can enjoy it yourself ;)

~
Isabel

Las elecciones!

Hola! Como andas?


He estado pensando de las elecciones de este ano. 

Estoy muy emocionado por las elecciones, porque podre votar en el otono!

Me parece que la libertad de votar es una gran bendicion! 

No quiero gastar esta bendicion!


Pues, hay mucha considerar cuando vayas a votar. 

No me encanta la maquina elecoral. Prefiero la cabina electora porque es mas privado. 


Es importante que estemos muy informado de todos los candidatos y sus creencias.

Estoy buscando un candidato que apoye nuestras libertades: de palabra, de prensa, de religion.

Tambien, quiero votar por un candidato que ponga de pie por verdad Bíblica.


Y uno de estos:

Hoy en dia, no es facil encontrar alguien que proteja los derechos del concebido.

Que tragédia!


En algunas paises, la gente no esta permitido votar.  Ellos viven debajo una dictadura y estan presionados.

Pero tenemos la oportunidad de hablar sin rodeos! Que no gastemos esta oportunidad!

Es necesario que estemos buenos administradores de lo que Dios nos ha dado. 

No solo debemos leer todo lo posible de los candidatos y sus creencias, sino tambien orar para sabeduria y visión.


Necesitamos preguntar de cada   politico (a):  ?Que apoyas?
El narcotrafico? La aumentacion de impuestos? La continuacion del gasto publico? inmigración ilegal? Una sistema nacional de salud? ayudas estatales?
Puedo continuar pero dejare aqui.

Si yo tuviera mas tiempo, explicaria mas.

Pero en corto, busca lo que cada candidato cree, y comparar todo esto a la verdad de la Biblia.
Se alinean?


Estas preguntando tu mismo (a), ?Debo votar?
Mi respuesta es esto: Ya lo creo!!! Si como no!!!!!


Tengo que irme ahora.


Sinceramente,

~
Isabel

Forgetful Me

Do you recall that horrifying moment

When you reach down for your purse

Only to discover....

It's not there!

You're heart starts beating a mile a minute as you mentally retrace all your steps.

You call the friends who were with you, ask them if they remember seeing it.

Often, this panic is followed by a drive back to all the places you visited, and frantic backtracking.


This has happened to me a lot recently... twice with my purse, once with my coat.
All within the last month, actually! :/
Thankfully, I didn't lose anything (Praise the Lord!).

Nevertheless, it isn't an experience I want to repeat.

I think I would now qualify myself as an expert in the area of leaving stuff behind, and I'd like to give you a few words of advice so you don't make the same mistake I did.

1) Don't put put your purse down.  If you must set it down for some reason, make sure its either in your car, on your lap, on your foot, or right in front of you so you trip over it if you try to walk away.

2) If you are carrying lots of stuff (backpack, bags, instruments, etc) with you, just leave your purse at home! It's way to easy to forget your purse, when you're carrying so much other stuff. Bring a wallet in your pocket instead.

3) No matter how warm you get, don't take your coat off. If you're warm and you take your coat off, you won't miss it when you leave... and you won't realize it's gone till the next time you leave your house!
If you must must must take your coat off, carry it on your arm or put it in your car right away!

4) Whenever you leave anywhere, ask yourself: Coat? Purse?
This will save you lots of stress. Believe me ;)





Blah.

Once again, I'm sick. I think it was allergy induced... My system just wasnt ready for all this allergy stuff in MARCH!

It's frustrating to be sick when there's so much needing to be done and so much going on: school, schedule, life... etc.

AHHK!!

But it's for the better. God knew I needed a few days to rest.  Being sick has forced me to take a quick break, which I otherwise wouldn't have taken due to the late hour in this school year and the studying that needs to be done. 

I was dying at band practice. Try playing a wind instrument when you can't breathe through your nose- *GASPS FOR AIR*  Ay ay ay...




Well, I think it's time to call it a night.

I leave you with this inspirational song
:)

Stars&Stripes Forever

I love this song :]

Spumoni Sisters and Crunchy Cookies

At the moment, I'm listening to some lovely music, enjoying a cold, crisp plum, and yacking with my mum and sistah!

My sis <3 <3 <3
Em is so awesome- she's is gentle and loves pretty much every animal that God created.
Especially Lagomorphs.
;)
She's witty, inspiring, diligent, fast on her feet, insightful, often more mature than me, smart, loyal, and beautiful inside and out!
And best of all, Em encourages me in my walk with the Lord!
We have so many goofy, fun, happy, sad, insane, EPIC, spumoni, fowaboodle, xuiite, spumoni memories.
"And that's just one more reason why...."
She's really awesome. Sometimes I forget how awesome she is...
Like when I'm sitting on the couch complaining: "I'm all alone! I don't have any friends! ...Blaaahh Blahhhh blah."
Em: *Ahem!*
Me: "Tehe.. I meant I don't have any friends besides you. We're best friends, that's understood!"
She usually forgives me :)
Love you LOTS AND LOTS AND LOTS AND LOTS Melanie Suzanne <3





ADVENTURES IN BAKING!

I really enjoy baking and trying new recipes.
This week I finally got around to trying a cooking recipe a mom from church gave me!
I substuted a few things for the eggs and butter so the cookies would be dairy free.

The end result:

I used quick oats, so they turned out like a cross between a choco-chip cookie without the chips and oatmeal cookies.
I really want to find a chocolate chip that doesn't have milk... I'm not sure if that's possible.
But I'm going to start looking.
Choco-chip cookies just aren't quite the same without chocolate! :P

Still, they were a nice crispy little cookie!





Ok, I have tons of stuff to do.

Hasta luego.


~
Isa

Como quieras......

Hola!

Me parece mentira que hoy es jueves! Haaaaaaaaaaay DEEEE MIIIII!

Jaja.

Oye, El tiempo para hoy: "Una probabilidad de 50 por ciento lluvias y tormentas eléctricas después de 1pm. Nublado, la máxima alrededor de 78. Viento del sur alrededor de 5 mph, con ráfagas de hasta 15 mph."
Que bueno! Me encanta las tormentas y la lluvia! Especialmente las tormentas eléctricas, no??
Jejejjeeeee Hace buen tiempo.

Esta primavera, ha estado muy fresca y soleado! Es un gran bendición!  Ya hemos empezado nuestro jardin! Espero que no escarcha...

Ahora estoy escuchando a musica de la pelicula "Pirates".  Quiero bailaaaaarr!! ..estoy en broma jaja.

Quiero ir de compras hoy! Pero, tengo mucha tarea, como siempre.
 En serio, estoy listo para terminar! Estoy en mi ultimo ano de escuela superior y por esto, estoy alegre!  Sin duda, sera bueno terminar. Orar que Dios me ayuda hacer caso a mis debes escolares!

A ver.....

Nececito ir al aire libre. Basta de la computadora y la casa caliente!  Posiblemente dare una vuelta.
Y por supuesto me echare a reir y volverme loco. Estoy de bue humor hoy. Es obvio, no?

Digo disparates x)

Cuanto lo siento- tengo que irme.

Que te cuides.


~
Isabel

Happy St. Patricks Day!

I stayed up till midnight just so I could wish you a happy St. Patricks day!

Just kidding.

I was randomly inspired to use up the buttermilk in the fridge.

It's unfortunate that I'm always inspired so late at night...

Anyways, I found the recipe for this frozen pineapple dessert which called for buttermilk:

Beautiful, no?

I finished it just in time for Saint Patricks day!

Not really green or Irish but...

You know what?

Have a Happy Hawiian St. Patricks day!

:)




Oh but look!

THIS is festive!

"Pot 'o Gold Chex Mix"

Made it on tuesday which means if theres any left, it's likely green and moldy now.

Perfect for St. Patricks day!

So if you look closely at the above picture, you will observe LUCKY CHARMS

which is totally an Irish cereal, riight guys??

Duh!
;D

The annoying thing is, I was forced to use EASTER m&ms cuz thats all they had in the store.

Why stores don't carry St. Patty day m&ms is beyond me!

So this chex mix was a lovely combination of holidays {Lol}


Well, enjoy your St. P's day everyone.

This is Lucky Charms Lepaurichaun  here to say:

"HAPPY ST. PATRICKS DAY!"

~

Isa

Apathy towards "Appian Way"

Why is it that the songs I love are always the ones people beg to cut?

I'm so happy our director doesn't want to cut this one :)

I just can't understand why the other students find this piece boring...

Maybe because the song is meant to portray pine trees?

Nah.

"Pines of Rome"

A dramatic piece.

It sounds like it could be the soundtrack from a movie!

The entire work is a 4 part symphonic poem written by an Italian composer "Ottorino Respighi."

In part 3, Respighi includes the sound of a nightengale, which was something never done before in music.
I thought that was pretty cool :)

We're only playing the 4th part.

But all 4 are beautiful and inspiring.






Random subject change:

This warm winter has had it's advantages, such as a lack of snow.

However, a warm winter also has it's disadvantages.

BUGS!

Moths.

Flies.

And spiders!


*Shudders*


 And it's not officially spring yet.


According to a news article: "Insects that burrow deeper, like the Japanese beetle, will be out in full force since the frost line was shallow [this winter]."


The bug population will likely continue to grow and flourish in this lovely insect supporting weather.

On the bright side, maybe we'll have a bumper crop of butterflies!

:)



~
Isabel

Save yourself some time...

Flat iron your clothes!

Lol

I learned something new this week :)

If you need to go someplace, but the hem of your skirt is all wrinkly,

And you don't have time to drag out the iron/ironing board...

Save yourself some time!

Just plug in your flat iron, and iron away!

Presto- smooth hem in seconds!




This week has been insane!

It don't know where the days are going...

I wish I could slow time down a bit cuz I could use the "extra time" to get more things done!

So much to do, so little time!

Akkk!




~
Isa

Joy Joy Joy!

Amen! :)

A happy Wednesday

Yesterday morning I was making a smoothie and Em was sitting on the couch...
As usual, we were talking about our favorite part of the winter/spring transition season... Chickens!

"We need to call and ask when the Chickens are getting in." I said, as I dumped some pinapple into the blender.

Em- "I'll call!"

Me- "Oh good! You should call now!"

*Em calls the store, while I listen in as best I can* :)

"They're in? Today???" Em asks the store clerk over the phone.

Me- "WHAT?!! Moooooooooooooom!!! They're in TODAY!!"

Em (still talking to store clerk): "12 of each breed left? Ok.."

Me- "THERES ONLY 12 of each kind left!!! One farmer who comes in to buy 50 and they'll all be gone!!!  We need to go now!!"

What followed was a mad dash to make sure we had a heating light and a plastic bin, me throwing the blender in the fridge, and all of us leaping into the car.

We drove straight to the store. (I would have liked mom to drive faster but we had to obey the stop lights and all that... ;)

Mom said: "If God wants us to get chicks, there will be chicks."

And guess what?

We pulled into the parking lot, and walked straight to the back of the store.

5 bins of little peepers!

There were plenty of chicks left :)

So Em and I picked out 5 pullets.

I dubbed my two chicks:

Arrow and Cinderella.

Arrow is a Silver laced wyandott and Cinderella (Cindi) is a Black star.

Em's 2 are:

Aubrey and Jillian.

Aubrey is a New hampshire red and Jillian (Jill) is an Auracana.


And last, but most certainly not least, is our "shared chicken".

Moosey Spamette.

She's a Rhode island red.


You may wonder how Moosey Spamette got her name.

Well, I shall explain.

We named her Moosey cuz she looks like a little red furry baby moose.

And we gave her the middle name Spamette in honor of THE one and only, Spam.
:)


So despite my worrying and impatience, we still got chicks!

This is what I've learned: If God wants you to have something, he will give it to you.

And if he doesn't want you to have it, you doooooon't want it!


We need to trust him.
:)




Volunteering yesterday was awesome.

Well, mostly.  A few of the patients were crabby.

But it's ok, my job is to do my best to smile and mabye cheer them up :)

Anyways, what was awesome was, after volunteering, I got a crash course tour of the hospital!

I now know how navigate to all parts of the hospital... I think.

We went to the 8th floor!

WOW.

The view up there is gorgeously breathtaking.

You can practically see the whole city!

Ok not quite.. but you can see really far.

And it was just getting dark out, so the lights from the buildings all around made a sparkley contrast against the darkening sky!

Xuiiteness!!!





Random subject change.

You know what?

I have discovered that I'm not a soprano.

At least, not yet... :)

I've always enjoyed singing, especially in a group.

But when I get to those high notes,  my voice usually cracks.

So alto was my part of choice.

It's low, and it's harmony, which means you get to exercise your music reading skills to learn the part.

I like the challenge.

But I've been thinking about it, and soprano is a challenge too!

Although you don't have to work at reading the notes, you do have to work to reach them!

I've always considered myself a born alto... but maybe I can expand my vocal range?

There are many many vocal exercises to assist in comfortably reaching those super high and low notes. Maybe I'll try some of those.

From what I've read though,

The bottom line = practice, practice, practice!

Laaaaaaaaa! :O

Lol x)






Happy belated Wednesday, everyone!

~
Isa

Incantation and Dance

Out of the whole semester,

This is the part that I don't like.

These are the few weeks when the director starts to cut songs.

And this past week,

"Incantation and Dance" was cut!

NoooooooooooooOOO!!!!!

I think I'm the only one who's really disappointed lol

It's just so fun to play on flute!! And the runs near the end are way cool if you can get the fingerings!

You gotta admit its a cool song.

Seriously.

Oh well.

Maybe next band year.




Es todo por hoy!

~ISABEL

Snow&Solo&Ensemble&Babysitting!!

Don't you just love the snow?
It's mostly all melted now... but I so enjoyed watching the ginormous falling flakes yesterday!



Well, it's that time of year again!
Today was SEC (Solo and Ensemble Contest).

It was Caroline's first time playing for SEC. 

We did 2 songs as a duet.

The judge was really nice!

The judging is based on "your personal best"

They judge based on the ammount of time you've been playing and how many mistakes you make.

Superior= 1st, Excellent=2nd, and Good=3rd. 

We got an "Excellent", which is pretty good.

I'm so glad Caroline agreed to play with me!  

We played 2 songs.. "When I Survey" and "Eternal Father Strong to Save"

Em recorded us playing them!! Thanks Em!!! :)

I also enjoyed listening to other peoples Solo and Ensembles

And hearing the the other judges comments.

The woodwind judge gave some useful flute advice!


The symphonic clarinets did an Ensemble

"The Funeral March of a Marionette"

I found a performance of this song on youtube.

(Sorry the sound quality on this one isnt the greatest.. but you get the general idea.)

This is a really pretty song too (see below) 

I missed hearing Natalie play it because I was practicing for my ensemble :/

But I know she did amazing! :)

(Here's a version I found on youtube... Wow! This girl has a beautiful tone on her flute!!)

Solo and Ensemble is a great experience!


If you ever have the opportunity to participate, I highly reccommend it!



Hm lets see... what else?

Oh, babysitting!

We (my sis and I) babysat 4 boys and 2 girls tonight.

4 boys < age 10 in one house = one loud house.

Pillow fights... freeze tag... hide and seek... over and over.

And I wasn't allowed to sit on the couch while they played, cuz "It's only fun if YOU'RE it!"

After all the younger ones went to bed, the older girl looks at me and goes:

"I bet you're tired." 

*I flop down on the couch* "Yeah, I am."

Wow. I have a new appreciation for moms!

Really, I'm exhausted after 2 hours.  I don't know how they do it!

Praise the Lord for moms! :) I love my mummy <3 

The fun part about babysitting?

Good food!
Coffee ice cream, Pizza, Fresca, sweedish fish... :]

I really can't complain.

Plus, despite the kids' high energy level, they were all super adorable.

And while chasing them around, I got a workout! 

Which is good: I gotta burn off all those calories!! xP

Yay for babysittingggg!!

Buenoooooo! Tengo que acostarme porque tengo que levantarme por la manana para asistir iglesia!

Hasta luego!

~

Isa