Riverdance Date

Riverdance is one of my all time favorite shows. I had seen it twice before, but Truman had never seen it, and they are currently doing their farewell tour, so I knew we had to take advantage of our last chance to see it when they came through Denver last week.

We turned it into a fun date night and went out for dinner before the show at a restaurant a few blocks from the Performing Arts Center. (Love restaurant.com! It makes nice restaurants so much more affordable! If you've never used it, you should check it out.)

The restaurant was festively decorated for Christmas and we had a booth right in the front window with a view of some of the downtown lights.

Riverdance did not disappoint! Every minute is full of phenomenal talent and high energy performance. Truman loved it. I think every time I looked over at him he was shaking his head in amazement.

My camera battery died at dinner because I forgot to charge it, but a sweet lady who was there to see the show with her mom took a photo for us and e-mailed it to me. It was such a fun night out!

If you have never seen Riverdance, don't miss this last chance to see it! Check the tour schedule to see if it will be coming to a city near you. I don't know anyone that has seen it and doesn't love it! It is truly a spectacular show.

Sara Groves & Big Summer News!

I have listened to the music of Sara Groves for years. I appreciate her unique voice, vulnerable and poignant lyrics, and the instrumentals that are common in her albums. Her songs have been a soundtrack for many seasons of my life. Some of my absolute favorites are Painting Pictures of Egypt, He's Always Been Faithful, Going Home, This Journey Is My Own, Maybe There's a Loving God & This Peace. She even has her own playlist on my iTunes.

This morning at our church, we were blessed to have Sara Groves share one of her songs with us during the service. This video played while she sang and is a moving portrayal of her inspiration for the lyrics. I wanted to share it with you because I was so touched by it.

I think that the images especially resonated with me because of some big news that Truman and I are excited to share. This summer, we are headed to Cape Town, South Africa for our summer mission trip with Campus Crusade for Christ! We will be taking a group of students for 4-6 weeks. We are really excited and already anticipating how the Lord will be at work in and through us this summer. I look forward to sharing our experiences in South Africa on my blog this summer!

(Photo Credit: Source Unknown...Let me know if this photo is yours! I saved it on my computer awhile ago.)

(Photo Credit: my friend Leslie Savage, www.lesliesavagephotography.blogspot.com)

I will post about our Thanksgiving in the next few days once I have a chance to upload my photos! We visited Truman's family in Houston for the holiday. I hope you had a wonderful celebration with loved ones and lots of delicious food!

Book Cover Journal

I recently created a book cover journal as a gift for my mom. I've seen book covers used for a variety of projects and was inspired to use the cover of a Nancy Drew book to create a journal for my mom.

I chose an old Nancy Drew book because the series holds fun memories of special time with my mom. When I was younger, we used to lay in my four poster bed at night and read chapters of Nancy Drew mysteries aloud to each other. I found a worn copy at a used bookstore to take apart for the journal.

I started by using a box cover to cut the front and back of the book cover away from the spine.

I purchased a spiral bound notebook that included manila page dividers. I tore out the manila pages and folded up the bottom of the manila page, creating a pocket, and securing the 2 sides of the pocket with Tombo adhesive.

Using the measurements of the book pages, I cut the pocket pages to size, to match the pages of the book, and used rubber stamps and black ink to add details to the pocket.

I took the book pages and the spiral bound notebook to Kinkos and asked them to cut the spiral notebook pages to the same size as the book pages. (They use an industrial paper cutter and can cut the whole stack at one time for just a couple of dollars.) I also had them drill 3 holes into both the book pages and notebook pages in one stack.

By rubbing a brown ink pad on the edges of the pages, you can add a worn, vintage character.

I chose a few sections of the book to include in the journal, mixed in with the notebook pages. I used a page that had drilled holes to pencil mark the 3 holes on the manila pockets and the front and back covers of the book.

I used a hole punch to punch holes in the manila pockets and my crop-a-dile to punch holes into the book cover. I was surprised by how easily the crop-a-dile punched right through the book cover! (You can purchase a crop-a-dile at Michaels or any craft or scrapbooking store.)

I stacked the journal pages in the order that I wanted and secured them with 1 3/4 inch looseleaf binder rings through the 3 holes to assemble the journal . (After searching all over and only finding mixed size packs at office supply stores, I found a pack of 12 rings in the 1 3/4 in size at Hobby Lobby.)

I then tied ribbons along each of the binder rings and added embellishments, from tags and brads inside, to a metal key attached to the ribbon on the top binder ring.

I was really happy with how the journal turned out and would love to make others with a variety of book covers. It is an easy project that can be personalized and tailored to your needs, from adding day planner pages to address book inserts. My mom loved her gift and will be reminded of our book reading memories each time she uses it!

Reflections from the Couch...

There is a good reason that I've been absent from blogland for the last 2 weeks! Truman and I were working 12-14 hour days for over a week and a half straight, preparing to host a conference for 38 Campus Crusade for Christ staff here in Denver. Since the conference ended on Wednesday, I've been resting and recovering!

Monday through Wednesday of this week, Campus Crusade staff all over the US participated in Cross 09, a focused time of ministering cross culturally on college campuses. For years, CCC staff have been crossing oceans with the Gospel message. Countless lives have been transformed because of those staff who crossed cultures. But even here in the United States, there are still “oceans” to be crossed. The number of ethnic minorities enrolling in colleges is continuing to exponentially increase. In fact, Latinos are on track to be largest demographic of school age children by 2050.

As staff who work with ethnic minority students full time, Truman and I, with the help of our Denver staff team, planned a 3 day conference for staff from across our region to join us in Denver for a time a cultural learning. On Tuesday morning, Truman and I gave a 2.5 hour seminar on Latino culture, a snapshot of the Latino presence in America, and how to work with Latino students on campus. As we are continuing to learn about the Latino culture ourselves, all of the research and preparation we did for this time was extremely helpful to us as well.

Nearly all of our time and energy in recent weeks has gone into preparing for this conference. I wanted to share some photos with you of all that we got to be a part of during Cross 09:

On Monday and Tuesday afternoon, we spread out to 5 campuses across the city to engage ethnic minority students in a photo survey that allowed us to learn about their cultural experiences and ask about their personal stories.

On Wednesday, we broke into groups and served with a variety of ministries who work in communities throughout Denver. Groups tutored adults who are taking an ESL class, took breakfast burritos to undocumented workers in the labor line and prayed for them and their families, and worked on two homes with the Extreme Community Makeover project.

Below is a photo of part of the group that painted the exterior of a home, with the proud homeowner. Her face absolutely lit up when she saw her home's "new look"!

We loved having this opportunity to serve the staff in our region and we are so thankful for the ways that we saw God work in the hearts and lives of both staff and students during Cross 09! We are praying that God would continue to use the experiences that took place this week as staff head back to the campuses they minister on across Colorado and Kansas.

Since Cross 09 has been the main focus of our time for the last 2 weeks, there has been minimal cooking and no crafting going on in the Lo household! But, I have several projects sketched out in my idea notebook and plans to break out my sewing machine this coming week (after I get caught up on the piles of laundry and cleaning that has been neglected, of course!) I am looking forward to working on some gifts and enjoying some creative time before Thanksgiving. After long hours of research and planning, I am itching for time to create!

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween everyone! We had a great fall day. It is back in the 60's and much of the snow has already melted! We carved our pumpkin this afternoon and dressed like burritos to get free burritos at Chipotle for dinner. Some friends came over to play games and enjoy homemade apple pie with vanilla ice cream while we passed out candy to trick-or-treaters.

Until we have little ones of our own to dress in fun costumes, a highlight of Halloween for us is seeing all the cute kids that come to our door. We had a TON of trick-or-treaters and went through 5 bags of candy in less than an hour and a half! I had to turn off our light because we ran out of candy. So sad! I had no idea our neighborhood was such a Halloween hot spot since this is our first year in the house. Now I know and will make sure we are fully stocked next year!

Touches of fall have found their way into our home these last few weeks. With autumn being one of my most favorite times of year, I love to tuck little bits of fall around our house. I am not big on decorating for Halloween, because I prefer fall decor that can stay out until Thanksgiving (when it gets packed away and the Christmas decorations come out!)

There is something about the rich colors of autumn pumpkins and fall leaves that add such a coziness both inside and out. We are enjoying every last day of fall before the cold days of winter arrive!

Snowy Fall Day

I was planning to share some photos of my fall decor this week, but my plan changed when we woke up to this:

We are having an early winter storm, and the snow is piling up outside. I've been sitting on the couch all day watching the flurry of flakes fall. We had a staff meeting with our ministry team at our house this morning, and we watched inches and inches accumulate while we worked. We had a staff member from India visiting, who joined us at our meeting, and this was the first time he'd ever seen snow!

The first significant snowfall of the season is always exciting in a childlike way. Last night when the snow started falling, I turned on our back porch light and peaked out the window each time I walked by, checking to see how much snow had fallen.

We have about 14 inches right now, with 2 foot tall drifts in our backyard, and the snow is still falling. They are forecasting snow for the next 25 hours, with several inches overnight and several more inches tomorrow. I think it might be time for us to buy a shovel!

I love the natural slowness that comes with a winter storm. Curling up with a blanket and a warm drink on the couch, watching the snow fall, with no place to be because everyone else is also at home, escaping the snowy weather. After the busy seasons of spring and summer, winter is like a natural, built-in season of rest....staying home more, movies and reading, having friends over for dinner and game nights, and weekend trips to the mountains. We still have several weeks of fall to come, and more gorgeous sunny fall days ahead before winter comes to stay, but I'm enjoying this little snow storm, and a return to the little joys of seasons. I'm also enjoying my hubby's face and amazement as he learns about life in a state with true winters.

Don't worry, it is supposed to be back in the 50's this weekend, which hopefully means melted snow and a warmer evening on Halloween for little trick-or-treaters decked out in the costumes they've been begging to wear for weeks! Maybe I'll post my fall photos on Saturday.

Food For Friday: Slow Cooker Pot Roast with Garlic Parmesan Mashed Potatoes

I tried a new pot roast recipe tonight. I wasn't intending for it to be my Food for Friday recipe, but it was so delicious that half way through our meal I decided to share it with you. As you can see, my hubby really enjoyed it. I barely snagged a photo before he cleaned his plate.

This was such an easy meal and the meat was flavorful and fall apart tender! It took me 10 minutes of prep this morning before we headed to campus, and a delicious aroma greeted us when we came in the door this afternoon. Truman was hungry all afternoon smelling the pot roast simmering from his office.

This recipe makes a richly flavored gravy with the roast that can be spooned over the meat and mashed potatoes. (Adapted from a pot roast recipe by Paula Dean)

Ingredients:
1 (3-4 lb.) boneless chuck roast (I just used a 2 lb. roast for the 2 of us)

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion sliced into pieces
3 cloves garlic, crushed
2 bay leaves
1 can cream of onion soup (I am not a fan of mushrooms, so I substituted cream of onion soup, but you can also use cream of mushroom soup.)
1/4 cup red wine (I recommend using a wine that you would enjoy having a glass of with dinner since you only need a small amount for the recipe!)
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 beef bouillon cube
3/4 cup water

Preheat a skillet to medium/medium high heat.

Season both sides of the chuck roast with freshly ground pepper, kosher or sea salt and garlic powder.

Heat the oil in the skillet, then brown the roast, searing it on both sides. Place the roast into the slow cooker. Add the onions and garlic to the skillet and sautee for a few minutes to absorb any leftover roast juice. Place into the slow cooker with the meat and 2 bay leaves.

Combine the can of soup and Worcestershire sauce in a bowl and pour over the roast. Dissolve 1 beef bouillon cube into 3/4 cup warm water. (If it doesn't dissolve completely, it's ok.) Pour the water over the roast and add the red wine to the slow cooker. Mix the liquids together in the slow cooker.

Cover with the slow cooker lid and simmer on low for 5-6 hours until meat is falling apart tender. If there is visible fat on the top of the gravy, skim it off. Stir the gravy. Remove and discard the bay leaves.

*If the gravy is not thick enough, remove the meat from the pan and pour the gravy into a saucepan. Bring to a boil and thicken it by adding 2 tablespoons of cornstarch mixed with 1/4 cup cold water, stirring constantly.

Garlic Parmesan Mashed Potatoes

Ingredients:
4 Russet potatoes (I use organic because potatoes are one of the Dirty Dozen)

3 cloves of garlic
Land O Lakes Fat Free Half & Half
2 tablespoons butter
fresh ground pepper
sea salt
1/2 to 3/4 cup freshly shredded parmesan cheese

Boil a pot of water.
Wash the potatoes and dice into large cubes (approx 1 1/2 inch cubes) with the skin on. Remove the skin from 3 garlic cloves. Add both the potatoes and the garlic cloves to the pot and boil for 20 minutes or until the potatoes are fork tender. Drain.
Put the potatoes and garlic into a large mixing bowl. Add 2 tablespoons of salted sweet cream butter and allow to sit for just a minute to soften. Add half & half to desired consistency. (I used approximately 1/2 cup.) Using a hand mixer, mix until creamy, but still chunky. Add a few shakes of fresh ground pepper and sea salt. Sprinkle in 1/2 to 3/4 cup of freshly shredded parmesan cheese to taste and give the potatoes another mix to blend.

This is a perfect meal for a chilly fall or winter evening. I know it will be on our weekly menu again soon!