The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

Last night Isaiah took me on a surprise date night. It was wonderful. I love being surprised. I hate knowing I'm going to be surprised, but I love just randomly getting surprised to go on dates. I have the most amazing husband, but this blog isn't about that.

Part of our date is to go see the new Narnia movie, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (TVDT). We have a movie theater near us that has movies for $4.50 and $8.00 for 3D so we splurged and saw the 3D version. Honestly the 3D wasn't that much better than the regular, and I just got a headache, but it was nice to try it once.

Now TVDT was my favorite of the Narnia books so I was really looking forward to this movie. I've read the book I don't know how many times, and love the old BBC versions of the book. And its so intrigueing, and I think one of C.S. Lewis's books.

If you haven't read The Chronicles of Narnia its about some children who travel to another world. This book is well into the series, but basically 3 children travel to Narnia to help the king of the world, Caspian, go on a voyage to find the 7 lords. They travel to various islands and have many adventures. They encounter slave traders, dragons, a pool that changes everything to gold, a star that becomes a woman and an island that brings all their worse fears to life. Its a great book, filled with adventure and lessons.

Needless to say, I had high hopes for the movie. I was expecting the movie to just add to the book, kind of like when Disney made the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. I was sadly mistaken.

Disney kept some of the plotline and some of the stories in the book but left out a lot of things. And changed so much it almost hurts. It felt like Disney was just interested in showing off the special effects they could now accomplish, with some thought to the original book, but only enough to keep the readers of the original book happy.

I love the book. I would recommend the series to anyone, young or old. C.S. Lewis wrote it as an allegory to Christian life, which is the best part. There is so much to learn about being a great Christian. C.S. Lewis wrote many books about Christian living which are amazing, and these allegories teach so much, and yet are so entertaining.

I would definitely suggest the books, but the movie is not that great in regards to the book. It would be ok if I hadn't read the book yet. But honestly, I would stick to reading the books.

Recipe Monday

So I thought I would do something fun and do a new recipe every Monday. It will be something we have loved and tried and love.

I made this for Christmas. It was delicious. Everyone loved it. I did change some things. I didn't use nut and used white chocolate chips instead. I didn't measure the chips on top but just sprinkled them on top.

Chocolate Streusel Bar

·         Yield: 3 dozen

·         Nutrition: See Below

·         Prep Time: 15 Minutes

·         Cook Time: 40 Minutes

Ingredients

·         Crisco® Original No-Stick Cooking Spray

·         1 3/4 cups Pillsbury BEST® All Purpose Flour

·         1 cup sugar

·         1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

·         1/2 cup butter

·         1 large egg, beaten

·         1 (14 oz.) can Eagle Brand® Sweetened Condensed Milk

·         1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips, divided

·         1 cup chopped nuts

Instructions

·         HEAT oven to 350°F. Coat 13 x 9-inch pan with no-stick cooking spray.

·         COMBINE flour, sugar and cocoa in large bowl. Cut in butter with pastry blender or 2 knives until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add egg. Mix until well blended. Reserve 1 1/2 cups crumb mixture. Press remaining crumbs evenly into bottom of prepared pan. Bake 10 minutes.

·         COMBINE sweetened condensed milk and 3/4 cup chocolate chips in medium saucepan. Cook over low heat, stirring until chips are melted and mixture is smooth. Spread evenly over partially baked crust.

·         ADD 3/4 cup chocolate chips and nuts to reserved crumb mixture. Sprinkle evenly over top. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until center is set. Cool completely. Cut into bars.

Our First Christmas

This was mine and Isaiah's first Christmas. It was so busy. But it was wonderful to spend Christmas together as a new family and with my larger family.

We went to my parents on Thursday night after Isaiah got off work. I had worked hard to get everything packed up, including the food, clothes etc. It felt so weird because by the time we left it was completely dark outside (I am definately ready for it to get light again). We got to my parents late on Thursday night and basically said "hi" and then "goodnight" to my family. My younger siblings, Daniel 11, Joshua 8 and Lydia 5, were so hyper when we got there that they basically overran us when we got there.

The next morning we woke up (too early for my opinion)
to a very busy day. The room we stayed in was a loft that overlooks the living room, dining room and kitchen so anytime anyone is up you can hear it. When the kids woke up the next morning I knew my sleep was over. I went downstairs while my husband woke up (slowly). The day of cooking was to begin. I made chocolate bars that were amazing!!!

During all this my mom amde my favorite meal and she makes it everytime I'm home. It is pot roast, lima or butter beans and macaroni cheese. Its become almost a tradition for us to have it when I'm home so she made sure she made it for lunch on Christmas eve.

After I was done, we did a Christmas tradition of my family which is to watch one of the greatest Christmas movies on earth, 'White Christmas'. Isaiah and I had already watched it, but I watch it with my family every year. While we watched it Isaiah made his signature buttermilk pie. It was so good. Its kind of like an egg custard pie with vanilla and nutmeg undertones.

After all the cooking, Isaiah and I went to church for a Christmas eve candlelight service with my family. Lydia was funny. She started out sitting next to Isaiah. Then she looked up at him and slowly got on his lap. We got up to sing, then as soon as he sat down, she sat on his lap again. A few minutes later he put her on the seat because his legs were hurting and next thing we knew she got up on his lap. This happened through the entire service. It was so cute. Didn't we look cute?

After the service, we went to a friend's house for a while. She had so much food. I ate way way too much. But it was nice to see her. She is one of my closest friends, and was in our wedding. We hadn't seen her since the wedding. After that we finally went back to my parents and crashed.

At around 2 am Christmas morning I hear little footsteps. I was so tired I just ignored them. This happened basically all the time until at around 4:30 ish I hear a bell. Santa had given Joshua the bell to wake everyone up that morning. I rold out of bed and went to my parent's room VERY grumpy. My mom and Lydia were not happy campers either. We curled up in my parent's bed until 5 when we couldn't put it off anymore. We got up and got dressed. We opened the presents and were done before day light. I was sooo tired.

Isaiah and I went back to sleep for about an hour. THANKFULLY

We went to my grandmother's nursing home for Christmas dinner with her. She has severe Alzheimer's. It has always been hard to see, but this time was by far the worst. When we first got there, she couldn't remember who I was. I knew this day was coming, but had been dreading it since she got Alzheimer's. I knew the day would come, but I did not expect it to be now. It was so hard seeing her like this.

Then we went to my sister Brenda's. Her husband is my brother Scott who is in Afghanistan. There were so many people there. My sister's family was all there, and so was my family. We ate a ton of food. There was Spanish food, regular Christmas food and all kinds of other things We do a potluck style dinner where everyone brings something. It makes for a very eclectic dinner.

After dinner and lots of family time, everyone opened presents. It was a mad house. Everyone just dives into the pile of presents. Its loud and crazy and honestly not the funnest way to open presents.

After we opened presents my mom, Isaiah and I left and went back to my parent's house. As soon as I got back I went to bed. I was so tired.

It was a fun, very busy, tiring weekend. We are still recouping (it doesn't help that we both got sick on Sunday). I had a great time with my family and with Isaiah. It was a wonderful first Christmas.

Some pictures:

Isaiah and my brother after dinner

Lydia and my niece

Isaiah and I visiting my grandmother

                    
                                                                       Daniel

                                                    
Though our Christmas was still great, we still need to remember that its about Christ, and everyday we need to seek and look for him.

I'll Be Home for Christmas (but they will not)

Today starts Christmas crazyness for me so I'm not sure how much I'll post, but I wanted to dedicate this to the men in my life, and all the men and women who are overseas with the military and can't home for Christmas.

Every where you see "support our troops" signs and hear songs about missing home for Christmas, but this year it really hit home for me. Christmas is about family for me. Its about sharing time with the people you love. And this year, our Christmas is missing some very important people.

I have 3 family members in the military who are overseas. Its hard thinking about them being over there, not with family. 2 are fighting in Afghanistan and 1 is stationed in Germany. I'm really thinking about them and missing them right now.

Scott is my older step-brother (though I just call him brother). He is stationed in Afghanistan. He does something with communications. I honestly don't quite understand what it is, but I do know that he is in danger, and that worries me. He resigned for another years so it will be a long time before I see him. He is very quiet and set back. He is not the life of the party. He can seem gruff and harsh, but to me he has always been a big softy big brother who gives good hugs. I sometimes think I see a side of him a lot of people don't. He is a workaholic and loves anything to do with eagles. He always fries the turkey for Thanksgiving and Christmas every year. When he makes it, I actually like turkey; its the only time. Christmas dinner is at his house this year; his wife is hosting it. It will be weird not having him there, in the background. I will miss him.

Charlie is the next one to be deployed.He's also a step-brother (though he is also just called brother). He is also in Afghanistan (I hear its a 15 minute helicopter ride from Scott). He flies helicopters, though honestly I am not sure if that's what he is doing there. Sometimes he handles personal. He is the most personable of all my siblings, or so I think. He does everything. If there is something he can be involved in, he is. He is on the local school board, he is deacon at his church, he is in the national guard (and works full time for them), he is a flag football coach and so many other things. He has 2 little boys, who are adorable and a wife at home. Though he can be so outgoing he can also just be quiet. He is the brother who I can sit in the same room with for hours and we not talk and that's just fine. He will be very missed.

And last, but not least, is my nephew Scotty. He is Scott's son. He is stationed in Germany. Him and I are very close, and have been since we were children. We knew everything about each other growing up. Christmas day we would spend as much time together as possible talking and just hanging out. He can be quiet, like his father, but he is so caring and sweet. I can't count the times I've been upset and he has helped me. He collects knifes, and always wanted to be in the military. When we are like 3 and 4 he would play with Army men and talk about when he could join. He is probably going to be sent to the Middle East within the next year, and will be in a lot of danger as his job is going door to door to look for bombs. Thankfully for now, he is in Germany and relatively safe. I will miss him so much.

So as I head home for Christmas, they are in my thoughts a lot right now. I am tearing up as I write this. But I am so proud of them for fighting for our country and trying to keep it safe. So this week as my gathers to celebrate, we will be praying and thinking of them. Stay safe, and come home.

My First Post

So here goes my first post on this site. This is my third blog to date that I started. Let's just say that I'm not the best at sticking with things. In my defense after I had gotten going with both blogs for a while, my life got crazy. The firs one I think I was graduating, interning and campaigning and the second one I got married. So life is crazy. But I'm hoping to stick to this blog. We will see.

I guess I should introduce myself and my blog, though its not like there are tons of people out there reading (haha). I am Katie. I am short, young, married, a student and most importantly, a Christian. There's me a in a nut shell.

I will not hold back on my faith, and probably you will see it pop up in my posts. Its just who I am and a huge part of me. I love the Lord and I would say my life verse right now is 1 Corinthians 10:31.

The main focus of my life is being married to Isaiah. I have an amazing husband who puts up with my emotional neediness, crazy hyperness and terrible housekeeping. He is the most selfless, caring man I know. I probably sound like a newlywed and you are probably thinking "just wait until they hit hard times and he won't be so amazing" but we have had our share of hard times, and he has grown more amazing.

I am a student (or I will be again in January). I took this last semester off and am starting back in January. I started college at a tiny conservative Christian college, got married, took the semester off and am starting at a community college. Its a scary thought. I've never been in a secular, huge school setting. I was homeschooled from kidngergarten through high school. So its a scary thing, but the Lord will get me through.

My ideas for this blog, well not sure yet. I knew I love blogging; I have thoughts that I wouldn't mind sharing to the vast unknown world known as the internet and thought I could use it glorify God in some way. Now I'm not sure how yet, but we will see. I would say my main goal is to glorify God through my blog, and give it to Him. This will not be a preachy, all sermonny blog. It will a life blog, with other things thrown in. It will reflect how I am. God is just a part of that.

So here's my blog. I hope someone reads it. If you do read something, sometime, please comment so I know I'm not alone out there.