Obsessed.

The blog has been a little quiet for the last week and I'm here to say sorry to all my lovely lovely readers. Outside of watching the entire first season of Heroes on Hulu, I seem to be spending almost all of my free time on Pinterest. It's overtaken me!!!

It's this neato little website that can store all the little bits and pieces and ideas and pretty things that I come across while surfing the interwebs. I dont have to bookmark every great website, just pin the pictures to my Pinterest. Pinterest saves the links with the pictures!

Also (this is the really fun part)-- you can see all your friend's pins and steal their great ideas too! Moreover, you can look at EVERYONE's pins. I could spend hours looking at pins. Maybe I have. Maybe I havent. Anyway.

Pins about fashion...

I pinned this dress because I think it'll be perrrrrfect for a beachy wedding I'm going to in about a month.

Pins with recipes...
I pinned this recipe for S'more bars... because... Helllo? S'more bars?!! I'm thinking I'll be making these in the next few days. Full report to come.

Pins for home decor...
I pinned this painted wood hanging wall art thing because I think it'll be super cute on this little blank wall in the kitchen. Its a perfect blend of my lab love and my baking love. It wont really match all that well, but I love it and sometime's that's all that matters, right?

Hair & Makeup pins...
I pinned this because it's past time for another hair appointment and I think the color is perfect. Perfect auburn lovely hair.

So go waste an afternoon on pinterest. It's the bomb.com.

Tres Leches

My iPhone auto corrects 'Leches' to 'Leeches.'

I guarantee you this cake has no leeches.

While in Honduras, Rhonda made us a Tres Leches cake to celebrate 2 of our team members' birthdays. It was delicious! I had only had Tres Leches cake once since moving to Texas and had hardly heard of it before then. Georgia's all about pecan pie, peach cobbler, and 'nana puddin,' you see.

On Saturday, we invited the team over for a little post-trip dinner and I thought it would be great to make a Tres Leches cake for dessert.

I had fully intended to take a beautiful Pioneer-Womanesque shot of the cake (hold onto your hats-- this is not the PW tres leches recipe!). I remembered to get the camera only to find the battery was dead, and the charger was nowhere to be found. In the time it took to figure all this out, the cake went from lovely to almost gone. Luckily, one of the teenagers at our little shindig/dinner had brought a camera along and snapped a few pictures for me.

The general consensus

So, make this cake today! Or at least before summer's over- it's kept in the refrigerator (so it's cold and creamy and yum-yum) and is a nice compliment to BBQ or fajitas or... breakfast. You know, whatever floats your boat.

Tres Leches Cake

cake:

5 eggs, separated

1 cup flour

1 cup sugar

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp vanilla

some milk.

tres leches ("3 milks"):

1 can sweetened condensed milk

1 small can evaporated milk

1 cup whole milk

topping:

2 boxes dream whip

2 cups milk

2 tsp vanilla

350 degrees. In a bowl, whip egg whites until peaks are stiff. In a separate bowl, combine egg yolks, vanilla, sugar, and flour until combined. I added some milk because it seemed the right thing to do, but I neglected to measure exactly how much milk I poured in (which incidentally isnt the right thing to do.) I'm gonna make a wild guess and say it was about 1/2 cup. The batter comes out pretty thin- like skinny pancake batter. If it's still too thick, add a little more milk. Just go with it. Anyway, once you've gotten your batter to the perfect consistency, fold the egg whites into the batter. Pour into a greased 9x13 pan and bake 20-30 minutes or until the toothpick comes out clean! Combine your three milks in a small pitcher or large cup and pour the mixture over the hot cake. Put it in the fridge and let the goodness soak itself in.

Several hours later.

When you're about ready to cut & eat your TLC, it's time to make the topping. It is completely acceptable to just bust out a large tub of coolwhip and go crazy. It's also completely acceptable to whip sweetened cream until you have the real thing. I chose method #3, which is kind of a throwback to my past (see the Cherry Yum-Yum post to see what I mean). Make the Dream Whip according to the package. I started with 1 box, which is enough to cover the top of the cake, but I totally believe that TLC deserves a TON of whipped cream, so I made the second box as well. Spread the dream whip over the chilled cake. I also chopped a bottle of maraschino cherries and put those on top of the cake too, but that's totally optional.

So once you've got your cake made to your liking (what, with the coolwhip/whipped cream/dream whip/thin layer/thick layer/cherries/no cherries... there are so many possibilities!), cut into it and enjoy. The milks soak into the sponge cake and marry together to form a creamy, sweet, cold caketastic experience. Too little milk and it's nothing to get excited about. Too much milk and it's like soggy bread pudding. So thank goodness you have a recipe that's kind of not at all exact.

To be honest, I dont really know how mine turned out edible, but by the end of the night, the pan had been scraped clean and I'd gotten many thumbs ups & lots of "yum, that's delicious." I'd mark that down as a success.

Get Excited!

It's that time of year!

The Fall 2011 Collection from Stella & Dot has arrived!

There are tons of new & beautiful pieces that debuted last week! I am still wrestling over which ones I like the very best - but lets face it, I always agonize over choosing a few when I want them all!!!! They've got lots of fun vintage/bold/pearl/gold/silver/sparkly/whatever-floats-your-boat pieces. There is truly something for everyone!

In honor of this momentous occasion, I have partnered with my friend Lyndsie to do a fantastic giveaway!!!!!! Head on over to Lyndsie's blog and enter for your chance to win one of the following great choices:

1. Rio Chandelier Earrings

2. Soiree Earrings

3. Sun Disc Earrings

4. Bardot Hoop Earrings

(All are available in either gold or silver - just to suit your fancy!!!)

Visit my Stella & Dot Website (click the link or there's a handy little button on the right... yep... that one right over there... just click it!) and take a peek or a gander or a longing glance at the gorgeous jewels! I'm currently taking applications for some great hostesses: the work is ridiculously easy, the compensation is great jewelry!!!

Happy Shopping!!!!

Honduras: Odds & Ends

This is the final post from Honduras. Ok, probably not.

Want to know the truth? I actually wrote this post first. Long story. I'm still confused.

REGARDLESS!!!!!

Feast your eyes on the Hotel Plaza San Pablo! We called this luxury hotel "home" for 6 nights and 7 days. Funny thing is, it probably is one of the nicest hotels in Siguatepeque. Even though the water only worked about 80% of the time, the toilet paper was unflushable, there were strange cocoon-looking bugs on the walls, the mattress was hard, and the room smelled like sewage when the AC wasnt running, I still considered us to be FAR from "roughing it." Some of my favorite memories from the trip were in this hotel. We had nightly meetings to discuss what we'd learned from the day and it was encouraging beyond words to hear others share about God. The true highlight was a night spent in worship, singing songs in English and Spanish and pouring our hearts out in adoration. Incredible.

This is the restaurant where we ate breakfast and dinner each day (with the exception of the pizza night!). Again, we were far away from roughing it on this trip! Maribel and her ladies cooked some delicious meals for us- all served family style- this was another time of encouragement and bonding within our group. We had many laughs around these tables, and while I may not miss the daily pancakes (they do get old when you eat them 7 days in a row!), I certainly miss the jokes and conversations that went around during our meals.

Thursday was considered our "vacation" or "free" day, where we were neither at VBS or working at Destino. During the morning, Rhonda took us to a market and a pottery place to do a little shopping. These were big hits with the group, although Jordan and I brought back fresh coffee, hot sauce and vanilla extract "souvenirs." The other half of the day was spent at the waterfalls, which were spectacular!

Just like with the rest of the pictures, justice really isnt captured here. The falls were absolutely breathtaking. The power of the water was almost unnerving, but beautiful. We hiked up and down and got soaking wet from the spray and marveled at the beauty, majesty and power of God's creation.

It was hard to say goodbye to Honduras. I was thankful to see the other group members develop a heart for missions, and to deepen my own relationship in Christ. I think we all left Honduras with a large dose of humility, followed by immense gratitude.

Doctor Edwards left Honduras with 9 bags of coffee.

Honduras: Working hard

We spent Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday at a school in the village of "La Canada."

This is one of the school buildings. Spending time in La Canada was heartbreaking. The village was a true picture of abject poverty. The school buildings were basic cinderblock rooms with no electricity and the playground was a small area where the grass had been worn away to dirt (see frisbee picture below). Abuse, molestation and paternal abandonment was rampant in the village. I can safely say that all 19 of us wanted to take all these children away from their surroundings, and the hard lesson to learn is that we couldnt save them. But we brought the Word of God to the children of La Canada and truly Jesus is the only thing that can give these children the hope that they long for.

We taught the children many new songs, including "Father Abraham" (Padre Abraham), "I'm in the Lord's Army " (Soldado soy de Jesus), "Jesus loves me" (Christo me ama), and "I've got the Joy" (Yo tengo gozo).

You know you're singing these songs in your head right now. Oldies but goodies.

We also taught a different Bible story each day. Monday we talked about Zacchaeus, Tuesday we talked about Noah & the flood and then Wednesday we presented the Gospel message. Each day, the kids also did a craft relating to the Bible story. The last day, we helped them make the wordless book, which we hope they'll be able to take home to their families and pass along the message of Jesus.

We also had game/fun time each day. The children loved throwing frisbees, and were delighted to learn that we had brought a frisbee for each one of them! What's even better-- every frisbee also had the gospel message printed on it in spanish. We truly poured into these children from beginning to end and can only hope and pray that the seeds of God's Word are planted in the hearts of these wonderful children.

This little girl was remarkable and heartbreaking. She came from a home with no father and her mother was often away. She was left to care for her 3 infant siblings. Her home was dirty and food was scarce. She had been kicked out of the school for sleeping in class, but walked over from her home when we arrived. She is 7 years old.

This little gal stole my heart away. She is my little amiga! Always smiley and a total chatterbox, even though neither of us knew what the other was trying to say.

This little guy is a total ladykiller.

It was incredibly hard to say goodbye to these kiddos on Wednesday afternoon. There were many hugs and kisses and tears involved! The teachers pulled us aside and told us how thankful they were for us. They also told us that every single child was present (all 154 of them!) that day, which is something that has never happened before. We were all so thankful that we spent the day Wednesday sharing the message of Jesus and that all the children were able to hear it.

After VBS was completed, we did work for Rhonda at Destino. We spent time painting (although some of us got more paint on ourselves than on the railings!), weeding and doing general cleanup on the campus.

On Monday night, Rhonda took us out for pizza!!!! Who would've ever thought you could get great pizza in Honduras!? It was a delicious treat and a great night of fun and fellowship!

Stay tuned for another Honduras installment...

Honduras: The Beginning

We are back from Honduras and safe, healthy and in 1 piece! I cant even begin to describe how incredible and life changing the trip was, but I hope to convey a little of my heart in the next few posts. I took 350 pictures and while all of them arent featured, I guarantee these posts are picture heavy and full of wonderful stories and love.

Our travel days were long and tiring. We left the church at 11pm on Friday, July 1st and drove to Houston (Bush Intercontinental Airport). We flew on Taca (affectionately renamed "Taco") airlines and our flight left at a pre-sunrise 5:40 AM. We had no problems getting to the airport or on any of our flights. The first flight took us to El Salvador, then our second flight took us to San Pedro Sula, Honduras.

Once we arrived in Honduras, Rhonda & Carlos picked us up from the airport in the Destino bus and we embarked on the first of many adventurous bus rides. It took about 3 hours to get up to Siguatepeque where we would be staying. We stopped off at Destino del Reino and spent some time on the campus with the kiddos. It didnt take long to fall in love with these children!

One of the homes on the campus. Carlos (Destino's pastor, bus driver, repairman, construction worker, father, nightwatchman and all around cool guy) and his family live here.

The church.

The Elementary School

The beginnings of the Junior High School

Most of the homes in Honduras resembled this picture. It was incredibly humbling to serve in a place where people basically had nothing. Running water was scarce and contaminated. The homes consisted of 1 room, cinderblock with dirt floors and rusted tin roofs. Having dinner meant killing and plucking one of the chickens running around outside. We heard stories of children who hadnt eaten or slept in days. We heard stories of abuse and incest and molestation and abandonment. It was devastating. It's impossible not to be remarkably grateful for my life here in the US. Rhonda is doing an amazing work in an area in desperate need of Jesus. Destino del Reino brings children up in a clean, nourishing and most important, Godly environment. She also sends her mission teams to various villages in the area to do evangelism. The next post will be all about our time in La Canada.

Stay tuned.

Viva La Honduras!

I'm heaping on the prayer requests this week folks; I'm certain however that you're all up for the challenge!!!

Tonight at 11pm, I will be one of 19 people leaving FBC Rockport, headed to Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston. Then, at 0530 we'll board a plane destined for Honduras. For the next week, we will make our home in Siguatepeque, and be helping out at Destino del Reino. Destino is a children's home and school that is run by a sweet Christian woman named Rhonda. The school serves to meet the needs of the impoverished children in the surrounding villages by providing free education (usually only the wealthy children are able to afford education). The children's home is a place where parents send their children to live, and while there, the children are educated and learn how to cultivate the land, so that they may return to their families and provide for them. Both the home and school also immerse the children in the Word of God, raising up a generation of Christian leaders in the small, poor country.

Currently there are about 15-20 children living in the home and approximately 200 attending the school. All of which is possible because one woman stepped out in great faith, and God has used her to do tremendous and mighty works for the Kingdom. I highly encourage you to visit the Destino delReino website and read about what God is doing there.

The following are some prayer needs for our group:

- Spiritual preparation

- Safety in traveling to/from/within Honduras

- Good health

- Unity

- Flexibility

- The absence of anxiety (Being in a new country, traveling, etc.)

- VBS that we will put on for the children of the village

- That God will soften the hearts of the people we will come in contact with.

- That we would be Christ-like in all that we do.

And Continual prayer needs for Rhonda & Destino delReino

- Wisdom in leadership

- Spiritual growth

- That God would call out Honduran and American teachers for the next school year

- Financial scholarships for the children attending

- Transportation needs

- Support for a junior high building at Destino

Please, if only for a minute, take some time out of each day this week and lift our team up in prayer. We will covet your prayers during this time, as we know that we will face many trials and be tested in new and difficult ways over the next week. We are scheduled to arrive back in Houston at 2330 on 7/9/11. So expect the blog to be quiet over the next week, but there will be many pictures and stories from our trip to come!