Category Archives: Coffee and Chocolate

>Friday – Having Friends Over-

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>Today some friends of ours with their children will be coming for lunch, we are very excited about that! It is a great thing to do before mid-term exams start on Monday, don’t you think?

I will make something simple, but very yummy. It is something like a pizza with goat cheese, mozzarella, pretty slices of tomato, olive oil and rosemary.

Do you get the idea? I use puffed pastry for the base, very simple but we all love it!

To be true, I wish you could come too!

Now, I also found this these pretty nice project projects to do this weekend, hope you like it them, and find it them fun to do.

A pretty fabric origami box …

How About Orange

A fun calendar (a free download) to keep record of ALL the books we will read this year, right?

For my friends living where white snow is everywhere, I read these ideas on how to “Beat the January Doldrums” (Read the comments, too!), maybe you will find some inspiration there!

I would love also to share with you how my P2R project is coming along, but… I am running late, so if I have time later today, I will be back to share with you about that. (We are already on week 2!)

Thank you for visiting,  
for your kind comments this week, 
for sharing my journey!

Under His sun and by His grace,

>From Here and There

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The Adoration of the Magi (engraving) by Albrecht Dürer

Just for you to know….

Our Christmas Tree is still up; lights are on and the spirit of Christmas is still hanging in the air. We are still talking about the different events surrounding our Lord’s coming. Every thing will remain like this until the Feast of the Epiphany on January 6th (In the context of the Christian Church, Epiphany has a more specific reference: it celebrates the manifestation of the divine nature of Jesus to the Gentiles as represented by the Magi. The feast of Epiphany is observed on January sixth, twelve days after Christmas.)  So, yes… I still have one more post under the series “Celebrating the Incarnation of Our Lord” next Wednesday, when, God willing, I will be sharing about the Wise Men visiting our Saviour Jesus Christ.

On Blog Reading… what I want to do this coming year.

I just LOVE to read my friend’s thoughts, your thoughts,  I am always encouraged to hear how the Lord is dealing with each one of us. I am grateful that I have been “reading” many books with you, just by reading your excerpts, quotes and thoughts. Now, I don’t want to miss those grains of wisdom I am gleaning, so I have decided, to read you always with my journal on hand to pour in there what I am learning from you. (I have done it before, but not as a regular habit)

On Kindles…

I am in. Yes. I cannot believe it but I have a Kindle now.  The most surprising thing: I am actually enjoying it!  I even thought on writing a review, but my friend Trisha did an excellent one, so I will invite you to read hers here and please also read this little piece she wrote which really made me laugh. (also about Kindles)

On gifts that take one year to make and thoughts for 2011…

This is a B.E.A.U.T.I.F.U.L. idea that Missy shares with us… a book of quotes, thoughts and ideas, that she made for her husband. I would really want to do that.  You can read more about this here.
She also wrote a thought provoking post about her resolutions for 2011. I encourage you to read this too.

On Memorizing the Word of God…

My Moleskin is ready. I am already working with the first verses of this beautiful and challenging project: Memorizing Philippians “The goal is to memorize the entire book of Philippians by Easter Sunday (April 24, 2011) through partnering with other believers using the memory moleskine.”   You still have time to join us!

On reading together….

I also have my e-book ready to read along with other believers Help Heavenward by Octavius Winslow; Matthew Blair is hosting this Reading Group. maybe you would like to join us too.

A Closing quote from my good friend Elizabeth DeBarros:

“Resolutions scare me for the will-worship required to keep them, but if by some touch of grace I can change, become more like Christ, so help me God”

Have a wonderful weekend, my friends!

Under His sun and by His grace…

>Last School Project of the Year – Paper-Flowers-

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>My little one and I are studying Botany this school year and this is our last school project of the year. We made this beautiful flowers using cupcake liners (the original idea is from this place)

They are very e.a.s.y to make and super fun.

These pictures are also  posted on my Spanish blog, Delicias a Tu Diestra Para Siempre.

Enjoy your little ones today, enjoy your journey!

>Giving Thanks to God and Others

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Pixels and Stories (mom and daughter image)

Have you thought that sometimes it is easier to give thanks to God than to others?

This month, a month which some of us have set apart to give thanks, I want to be practical; I will give, first and foremost, thanks to God from whom all blessings flow, but I also want to show gratitude to those around me. How? Well,  I will be writing  “thank you” notes and “thinking of you” notes to many of my friends and relatives; some living in the same area, some others far away; and I will be doing this the beautiful and traditional way, with pen in hand and stationary paper… I have so much to thank each one of them!

Once, while in a journey, I walked in a bookstore that was on clearance and I bought this little book, for less than five dollars,  it has good and simple advices on how to write thank- you notes; so I thought you might enjoy reading some of her ideas:

1. Focus on the giver. Think of “the person who originated the act of kindness…”
2. Name the gift early. “Always connect the gift with the giver”
3. Don’t force or falsify a thank you. “rather, remember that by continuing to exercise your thank-you muscles you will begin to recognize the elements in every gift or kind act for which you can honestly be thankful”
4. Give a thanks on time. “Responding on time is important; but more important  is responding”
5. No- ocassion thank yous.  Give thanks to those who make your life richer and special.
6. Teach your children to give thanks and write thank you notes.  You can start as soon as your child starts to print.

The author includes some “Points of Etiquette” (page 40) few are here:

*Verbal thank yous for gifts don’t substitute for written ones.

*Stay away from general statements; make your thank yous specific.

*Don’t let your prose go beyond your true feelings.

I am planning on starting today! One every day, and mail them at the end of the week. My husband and children will receive one too. I have so much to thank them.

Pixels and Stories (mom and daughter image)

Well, today I raise my voice to say (#873) THANK YOU, LORD FOR SO MANY GODLY FRIENDS (including my best friend, my sister) that you have given me. That is a blessing indeed, even though many of them live in other countries or continents and I get to see them only once a year.

I am thankful, Lord, for all the technology that we have used to keep in touch with each other on a regular basis. I am so grateful for this! It is much easier to keep up building long-lasting friendships in this time than 15 years ago.(#874)


What are you grateful for today?

Join the Celebration here

The little book:

Find it here

>A Piece of Our Weekend

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These past two weeks have been full, the routine of our family which I much appreciate was broken and it was hard to keep up with so many little things, but I am grateful for mornings, aren’t you? Mornings are the promise of a new brand day, a day in which no one, ever, has lived before. Minutes and hours ready to be used; a whole day ahead of us.

My friend died on Wednesday which was very sad, but it was encouraging at the same time to hear her husband saying that he was grateful to the Lord for let him “borrow” his wife’s life for so many years, isn’t that deep gratitude in the Valley?  Isn’t that common Grace displayed in a broken heart? Keep him in your prayers as he starts his new life. His two sons are adults now and his first granddaughter will be born next month.

Our precious little one turned 7 years old yesterday and what a joy it is to see her growing in the Lord. Her big party will be tomorrow, so today, my friends,  I will be off to buy a piñata, candies, and everything to make lasagna. I wish you could join us!

By the way, and just for you to know, our family doesn’t celebrate Halloween at all; we have never done that and are at peace with it. For us it just seems so clear, why celebrating the death when we have light? Why having a big festivity in the darkness when we love light?  My friend Diane wrote about Halloween today, you can check it out here.

Don’t forget to visit this place tomorrow as we jump into our Philippians Study- week four– ; it has proved a great blessing to me to do all the homework; I am so grateful to my friend  Eileen because she has put a lot of effort into sharing this treasure with us. The nice thing about having the studies here, is that you can start any time, so if you missed the first weeks, no worries, you can even start today. Another good thing about this study is that it will help you to be more disciplined in your Bible study time, if you are still struggling with that; and as I mentioned this week, it is very important for us to encourage one another into godly disciplines; so here you have the links for the past studies.

Time to Study Philippians – Introduction- (meet my friend Eileen)
Time to Study Philippians – Week One-
Time to Study Philippians -Week Two-
Time to Study Philippians -Week Three- 

Rebecca Writes pointed her readers  (including me, of course!) to two very good articles, Presuppositionalism Anti-Evidence? and  the Parable of the Boat “distinguish between the various traditions with regard to divine sovereignty, free-will, and salvation.” I thought you might also enjoy reading them. Rebecca is also opening an invitation to have a Thanksgiving Celebration during November, would you like to join in? Read the details here. I am in!

Today I also recommend you to read some  good grammar reminders at Femina, Please feel bad, but don’t feel badly.

Well, this is a piece of our weekend; what are your plans for this weekend?

Rejoicing in Him,

>What About Some Oatmeal Cookies?

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>When you bake cookies, you are not just baking sweets, you are building memories, you are sharing the goodness in the every day ritual of our lives.

I learned this recipe when I was around sixteen yo. and was visiting with my dear friend Sandy in Dallas; She taught me how to make these delicious, old fashioned oatmeal cookies and since then they have been a favorite treat in our family.

I thought you might enjoy the smell, the taste, the goodness, so here is the recipe for you to try in a cold afternoon, with a good cup of coffee.

Old Fashioned Oatmeal Cookies
What you need to gather:

3/4 c. of butter (room temperature)
1 c. brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla (Mexican please!)

1 3/4 flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powered
1 tsp salt

3 cups oatmeal

 Call your little ones and have them follow the instructions:

 1. Mix all the blue ingredients in a large bowl, until you have a creamy, nice and smooth batter.

 2. Sift together all the pink ingredients.

3. Put together the blue batter with the pink dry ingredients. Add the oatmeal  and mix them all with a wooden spoon. It will be hard to do it!

4. If you wish you can add 1 cup of chocolate chips, walnuts, pecans, raisins, dried cranberries, or white chocolate in little pieces.

5. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto greased cookie sheet.

6. Bake for about 8-10 min. at 350ºF (200ºC)

   The Secret for Success: 

DO NOT LEAVE THE KITCHEN, LEST YOU FORGET ABOUT YOUR COOKIES!

  Yes, the secret is to take them out of the oven when they are still “bubbling” but cooked already. DO NOT OVER BAKE because if you do so, they won’t be soft and chewy, but hard.

Happy baking!