While you're all stinkin' hot...

Hello lovelies, I thought I'd bring you a little something to cool you down while sweltering in warm July temperatures (U.S. readers, at least!)

This was the sight that greeted me as I hopped in to start up my car last Thursday:


And on my side window, lovely little ice crystals looking very ethereal.

Here in Melbourne, we have been having some very chilly mornings, but thankfully these result in nice mild days, with even an odd spot of sun appearing here and there! I enjoy the differing seasons, which is a great thing, considering Melbourne is renowned for having "four seasons in one day!"

On a different note, after my last post on shopping, I wanted to share with you a few specimens of cute jewellery I found on etsy.com by a Christian jewellery artist. The shop is called ForTheCrossJewelery (all one word). She's off camping for the week, so her store is closed until July 17th, but you can still see some of her gorgeous work by clicking on the Sales link down the side. Her profile is also on there, and is definitely worth a read!

But here are some of my favourites from ForTheCross:

Gold Finger - Grannys Jewelry Box Ring.

Countess ChiChi, if you're listening, this one's for you!
Tres chic!


Aqua and Copper Vintage Flower Earrings!

Oh so sweet!











Ivory Rose- another head-turner!



























Gettin' Squirrelly- Acorn Earrings.

Oh, I could go on, but it's best if you see for yourselves! Here's the link: ForTheCrossJewelery
Enjoy your sunshine!

P.S. Please have a look at my new Aussie food blog, too: Downunder Kitchen!

Adore 09 and Swine Flu scares... all in all, an interesting week!

This week has been full of challenges, both spiritual, mental and physical. Last Wednesday the first case of Swine Flu was confirmed on our shores. At this writing, a whole ONE WEEK later, we have 32 cases in the state of Victoria alone. For me, nursing in a medical centre in one of the hardest hit areas, this has come a bit close for comfort.

Here in Australia, we are only at the beginning of our winter 'flu season', so it concerns me to think how quickly it is spreading already. It's been a challenge to get information to the doctors, reception staff and patients quickly enough to ensure everyone is well informed, knows how to prevent transmission, and how to advise concerned patients and suspected cases! I'm not naturally a germophobe, so it's also been a reminder to me to stay vigilant with hand washing and cleaning.
On the home front, and in between all this, I attended our annual women's conference, ADORE, which was held at my church over the weekend. Over the past three years, our conference themes have embraced larger and more purposeful living. This year, our theme was "She Extends Her Hands", an encouragement to "Live Bigger", and care for the needs of others in our world. The speakers were Pastor Bobbie Houston from Hillsong , anointed evangelist Janine Kubala, and our leading lady Georgie Baxter. We also had Compassion bring an interactive walk-through display which showed us all some of the horrible conditions some of the children of our world have to live in, and watched the testimony of Rafonzel, who was sponsored by Compassion throughout her childhood and through a university degree.
What a beautiful testimony it is! Through all of this, God has been prompting me to unearth the heart for missions that is in me. I had allowed it to be buried by other things because it seemed too hard to do something about the massive problems in the world- things like poverty, mass disease, lack of access to health care, education and basic sanitation. But Compassion's message is a simple one: "Change is about Me", meaning that if I do something to change one person's world, I will be changing the world for that one person. The video really brought that message home. I can make a difference in the world!
To be continued...

God is good, and that's ALL THE TIME!

This week I have been having a bit of pain which we think is due to inflammation of the cartilage which joins my ribs together- pain around the sternum, radiating to my back either side of my upper spine. Before you get in a tizz though, let me assure you that we've checked out my heart, and all is well. This has all been a bit of a "pain", and has halted my gymming efforts. But on the finance front, we are forging ahead, and God is splashing out His blessing on the whole thing!

On Monday I asked my boss for an extra day's work so we can save for a house, and he was very agreeable about it, and said I could pick up the extra day as soon as I wanted to!
But at the end of the week, he also asked about my starting hours (I start at 9.30a.m. because I live about 45 minutes drive away, and have to get the kids to school). I said I'd thought of starting earlier, but I wasn't sure if I'd be able to consistently make it there at 9a.m. My boss' response:
"Try to come in earlier if you can, we'll continue to book your appointments from 9.30, and whenever you get in earlier, you can claim the extra half hour."
That is amazing! I was just gob-smacked at God- how GOOD He has been to me!! So instead of earning 20 hours' pay a week, I will be now earning between 25 - 27.5 hours! GOD IS GOOD!! It really shows me that He is behind me making this step to change our financial management- He is FOR ME!
It has caused me to be thinking of one of my most favourite scriptures: Jeremiah 29:11-
"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future."
Listen to this verse and it's fellows, as they are expressed in The Message Bible. Don't you feel so secure and loved as you read this?
Our God is kind and loving towards us. He's not harsh and judgmental!

Jer 29:11-14 in The Message:

"I know what I'm doing. I have it all planned out—plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for.
When you call on me, when you come and pray to me, I'll listen.
When you come looking for me, you'll find me.
Yes, when you get serious about finding me and want it more than anything else, I'll make sure you won't be disappointed.
I'll turn things around for you. I'll bring you back from all the countries into which I drove you. I'll bring you home to the place from which I sent you off into exile. You can count on it."

I hope YOU enjoy the goodness of our God this week!

In Him,

Cake Pops!

Today I thought I'd try my hand at something new! Inspired by the entertaining recipe blogging of Pioneer Woman, and the baking genius of the lovely Bakerella, I went to the shops and armed myself with cake mix, frosting, lollies, chocolate melts and lollipop sticks.

In March, Pioneer Woman hosted a Bakerella cake pop fest, where a few lucky people got to go to her Lodge way out in the sticks of Oklahoma (read, gorgeous ranch accommodation with a to-die-for kitchen) and learn how to make these cuties from the master herself! Naturally, she blogged about the whole process, but if you, too would like to give these cake pops a go, you can find the step-by-step instructions here.

Well, lacking an army of readers to flock to my door to join me in my quest, I conscripted my three girls, who were gladly prepared to experiment with me! That is, until I stipulated that kitchen cleaning assistance would be required by all who wished to participate in cake pop decorating. This decree weeded out one daughter, who was disinclined to continue her involvement in the program.

Part 1: The coloured sugar.
Being novices to cake decorating in general, I decided we should start with something easy, so we opted for plain white chocolate coating, rolled in coloured sugar, with a candy star to finish it off.
The girls had 20 good minutes of fun massaging and shaking food dye through small zip-lock bags of sugar. Our zeal resulted in eight colour varieties, and used up all of my white sugar, but was great fun to do!

Inky hands!

Part 2: The cake pops.
With cake pops, you can pick whatever flavour of cake you like, and cake mix is fine to use, so I picked a Green's Lemon Cake, and added a splash of orange essence, and a few drops of rose pink and yellow food dyes to make a nice apricot colour. The finished cake, complete with finger imprint in the middle. This was the first cake I'd made that I didn't have to be careful with- I was about to turn it into a pile of crumbs before forming it into balls. So, sure as eggs are eggs, I gave it a good bash to get it out of the tin, which resulted in a goodly sized chunk ending up on the floor. I'll be more careful next time... I think!

We mixed the cake crumbs with a good wad of frosting until it was a moldable consistency, rolled it all up into small balls, and pushed lollipop sticks into them. We dipped the sticks into melted chocolate first, so they would hold inside the cake a little better. Then we put the balls into the freezer for 30 minutes to firm up, which they did nicely.

Now the funnest part- decorating!

Melting white chocolate in a bowl in another bowl of hot water. It's a bit more tedious, but a bit safer than doing it in the microwave. Believe me- I've had melting-chocolate-in-the-microwave disasters before!

Some of the coloured sugars on pretty plates... aren't they sweet!


Cake pop battle!

Oops, I popped!

An interesting perspective...


Cuties!

Finished specimens... I thought I'd try the Bakerella trick and put a coloured backdrop behind them. I couldn't quite get the right angle though- you don't see any polystyrene blocks in her pics, although I bet they are there! I think it's the camera- I was just using my iPhone camera, and couldn't take great closeup shots of multiple pops. That'll teach me for not recharging the camera batteries!
Gift of love. My darling hubby got the honour of having the first one. I picked a real cutie for him- cos he's a real cutie!
My pick. Mmm, it was yummy! But very sweet. I'll definitely make these again, but only for parties or gatherings of some kind. I don't think my pancreas will stand it if I make them just for our family too often!
1st date...

1st kiss... don't they make a great couple!

Yummmm!


In Him,