School

So I started school this week.  So I know not all of my readers are in school but I'm sure everyone can remember the feeling of going back to school. The scared feeling of wondering how your professors or teachers will be. The excitement of learning something new. The worry that homework will overtake your life. Wow I could go on and on, but I will spare you. Basically starting school is scary. At any time of your life. Whether you are 5 or 25 (neither of which I am, but you get the picture) starting another semester or year of school is a whole grab bag of feelings.

This time starting school is totally different than any other starting school however. Last year when I was in college it was so different. I was at a tiny Christian college with less than 500 students and I was not married. Then I took the semester off. Now I am married, and at a large community college.

So now I'm going to school and being a housewife. I know it doesn't sound like a lot but right now, it feels very overwhelming. I have some housework and yet I am also taking 5 classes.

I should probably say what my plans are and why I'm in school. After I get my AA from SPC in education. Then transfer to USF for my bachelors in social studies education. After that, I'm not sure. I want to start having kids after that and raising them, but I also want to teach history or civics in underprivileged high schools. That is a few years off so we will see where God leads then.

Another thing you should know about me is that this is the first time I've been in a large, secular setting for school. I was home schooled from kindergarten through high school. Then I started college at a small Christian school. So this is a huge transition. That is part of the scary part. Its so far out of my comfort zone. I've always been taught by people who basically believe the same things I do. I have never been taught by anyone who doesn't share my beliefs. Now I am.

So now I am taking 4 classes at a secular college. I am taking astronomy, technology in education, ethics, government and humanities. Technology in education and ethics are online, while the other three are in class. The neat thing is I take government with an old friend (we planned it that way). But when I showed up to humanities I saw an old friend I hadn't seen in years. We are taking the class together, which makes it much more interesting.

 I love all the classes but government. Which is ridiculous because I love government and politics. But this professor basically makes it miserable. The professor hates democracy, Republicans, Christians, any kind of government and most of all God. Its obvious he does not want to be teaching us. To top it off, he has a lot of historical and government facts wrong. I just don't like the class, but oh well.

I'm already overwhelmed with trying to juggle everything. This week I failed. I didn't get the laundry done or the house cleaned. I feel like its going to be hard to try to balance homework, school, taking care of the house and being a good wife to my husband. I tend to overcompensate on one thing. I'm not great at balancing things. Thankfully I have a husband who can help. He is great at helping me learn to balance life.

So I guess I am overwhelmed right now. I think I really enjoy being in school and having a schedule and all. I am looking forward to it. I think I just am worried I will fall apart and school work will fall and housework will fall and I'm concerned. I have high expectations for myself, especially when it comes to school. I just want to be able to balance things and do well. We will see.

My Best Friend

So something really great happened this weekend (ok a lot of really great things happened this weekend, but that's for later).... my best friend got engaged. :) :) :) :)

Jaquelyn and I have been best friends with her for a while. We became best friends when we were 16. We were a part of the same ministry for many reasons, and at their summer training camp we became best friends. It was random for a girl from north Florida and a girl from St. Petersburg to become best friends, and stay that way, but we did it. We were close for so long. She helped me get a through a lot during this time. She was always ready to listen and help me.

Her and her "special friend" have been together for 4 years. WOW. They knew they were going to get married, but were not sure when. She has been ready for a while. She will be an amazing wife. She is already 100 times better as a homemaker than I am. 

Her man, Hayden, is pretty great too. They are perfect for each other. He is extroverted and outgoing, where she is quite and shy. They both are very sweet and kind people. 

Jaquelyn knows me inside and out. Besides Isaiah and my mom, she knows me better than anyone. She always knows exactly what I'm thinking and what to say. She really tries to seek God and know Him to the best of her abilities. She is such an encouragement to me to read my Bible and get closer to Him.

She has her own store on Etsy. The stuff she makes is amazing, beautiful. I would love to have a lot more of it. I would definitely encourage everyone to look at it. Here's the link.

Petunia Blooms

She was my made of honor at the wedding, and did an amazing job. She supported me through everything, and added a nice touch so many things in the wedding.

But the exciting thing about her right now is that she got engaged Saturday..... YAY YAY YAY. I have known for a while and had such a hard time not telling her. UGH its been rough. I saw her Thursday and had a hard time knowing it was coming. 

But Saturday was the day. I saw her Sunday night (we went straight from church to go see her; I couldn't wait any longer). She is so excited. Her ring looks like it was made for her hand. Its beautiful.

I'm so excited for her. :) Congratulations Jaquelyn. I love you.

Her and Hayden

The ring

Recipe Monday

So my best friend pointed out last weekend that I've done only dessert recipes (I love making desserts) so I thought I would do a different kind of food today. So today I am doing one of my favorite casseroles. Its pizza casserole! I love it. Isaiah's mom makes it and I tried it at their house and fell in love with it. Its one of those amazing everything in one dish thing (unless you actually want something healthy). I halfed the recipe and put it into a 8x11 pan because there is only two of us. It was a little too much for the two of us, but the size of this recipe would be perfect for a family. Or a couple and then to freeze some for another supper.

Pizza Casserole

16 oz pkg shaghetti
4 Tbsp butter or margarine
2/3 cup grated Parmeson cheese
4 eggs, well beaten
2 lb ground beef
2 small chopped onions (I didn't use because Isaiah hates onion, but you can use it)
2 - 32 oz spaghetti sauce
3-4 cups mozzarella cheese
2 pkg pepperoni

Cook noodles and rain. Combine with margarine, Parmesan cheese and eggs. Spoon into greased 9x13 inch pan. Brown ground beef with onion and drain. Spoon over spaghetti mixture. Pour sauce over all and sprinkle with mozzarella cheese. Arrange pepperoni over top. Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes in 350 degree oven. Remove foil and bake 15 minutes longer.

Enjoy!

A Soupy Pie, Cardboard Meat and Epic Meltdown

So after the last few posts I've felt like I had to bring great spiritual inspiration to every post. And I felt like to put anything besides pure awesome spiritual inspiration or something great would be a failure on my part. But today has been all about feeling like I'm a failure. Its been one of those days that everything seemed to go wrong and everything I tried to do just seemed to be a failure. And then God, through something my husband said, taught me a great lesson.

It started this morning. I woke up and went to the living room. Then I started getting super frustrated with Isaiah because our living is a wreck and its cluttered and I just looked out and started not being a good wife. I started talking to a dear sister from my church and realized that I had given it to God. Why was I taking it back?

Then I had a HUGE list of things I wanted to do today. My best friend was coming over in the afternoon and I wanted to get a lot done before she came over. But then I got so tired and bad cramps and I just wanted to lay down and not move. I had this whole day planned of stuff to get done and then a really nice supper I wanted to make.

So I didn't get my huge list done. And I felt like a total failure. I felt really bad. But I was honestly hoping the nice supper would redeem me. I totally felt like I was failing as a wife.

I made the supper and I was so excited to have made a nice supper for my husband. I started to make this casserole, and pulled it out of the oven and it looked TERRIBLE!!! I was hoping that the pie I made would salvage the dinner. Then I made rice.

While all this is cooking, I am miserable and tired and my stomach aches like no tomorrow. We sit down to supper. The rice is way way too wet, the meat looks like a weird cardboard, but the saving thing is still the pie right. Well the meat tasted worse than it looked.

My wonderful husband ate it dutifully and said it wasn't too bad. I was very close to just falling apart at this point. But I still had the pie. I went to cut it and it was basically soup. No, it was more liquid than soup.

I have to admit that I totally fell apart. I broke down crying. It was bad. I felt like a total loser and failure at life at this point. I felt like I am a terrible wife. Ever felt like that? Like you are just a total failure.

This is when my husband's amazing wisdom comes in. He holds me as I sob and blather on about how I failed at everything. Once I start to calm down he tells me that I'm not a failure. He tells me that I'm not failing. My standards are too high. I want to be superwoman.No, I want to be as amazing as our mother's are. And I can't. God doesn't expect me to be superwoman. He just expects me to be the best He made me to be.

I don't have to be superwoman. I don't have to be our mother. As Isaiah tells me, they have many years of experience over me. And another thing he tells me is that I have a different view of our mothers than is how they are. I see them as amazing and perfect. And guess what? I don't have to be them. And I don't have to be superwoman.

So I guess this day taught me, I can only do what God enables me to do. Sometimes that means that things don't turn out how I expect them to. But God will teach me through it. As I tell myself all the time, God doesn't care about our comfort; He cares about our relationship with Him.

The Role of Wife

Today I have been married for 6 months. I wanted to write a blog about being married or something like that and then in church yesterday my pastor preached about how the church is the bride of Christ and how God is the Husband to the church. He talked about our role as the bride of Christ and how we are to act and serve God and it made me think about my role as a wife to Isaiah and as part of the bride of Christ.

I used to think that being a wife meant giving up your identity, your mind and everything about you. I thought it meant becoming a smiling wife who did nothing more than cook, grocery shop and clean (all things I thought were very boring and hated doing). I know the difference now.

When we were first married I till struggled with feeling like that. I wondered if I was losing my identity. Was I stil Katie or was I just Mrs. Tamblingson? I realized I was both. I am still me. That will never change. But now I have the added honor and privilege of being Mrs. Tamblingson. Was I good for nothing more than laundry and cleaning? How was I serving God when all I did was cook and clean?

Then I struggled with I'm not being a good enough wife because my house is not as spotless as my mom keeps her house. And sometimes I got behind on the laundry. My tiny apartment is over cluttered and I was embarrassed. I refused to have people over. I felt terrible. I compared myself to other wifes I knew who had perfect houses and the laundry was always done etc etc etc. I would cry all the time because I wasn't living up  to other people.

But then I had to take a step back. I started asking myself, what does it mean to be a wife? What really is the role of a wife? I talked to my mom (the best wife I know) and reading my Bible. I realized that how good of a wife you are is not decided by if the laundry is done or if the house is spotless. No where in the Bible does it define womanhood or being a wife like that. It puts a totally different spin on it.

"Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as it is fit in the Lord." Colossians 3:18


"Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body.Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing. Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church: For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church. Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband." Ephesians 5: 22 - 33

"Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies. The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil. She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life. She seeketh wool, and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands. She is like the merchants' ships; she bringeth her food from afar. She riseth also while it is yet night, and giveth meat to her household, and a portion to her maidens. She considereth a field, and buyeth it: with the fruit of her hands she planteth a vineyard. She girdeth her loins with strength, and strengtheneth her arms. She perceiveth that her merchandise is good: her candle goeth not out by night. She layeth her hands to the spindle, and her hands hold the distaff. She stretcheth out her hand to the poor; yea, she reacheth forth her hands to the needy. She is not afraid of the snow for her household: for all her household are clothed with scarlet. She maketh herself coverings of tapestry; her clothing is silk and purple. Her husband is known in the gates, when he sitteth among the elders of the land. She maketh fine linen, and selleth it; and delivereth girdles unto the merchant. Strength and honour are her clothing; and she shall rejoice in time to come. She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness. She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness. Her children arise up, and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her. Many daughters have done virtuously, but thou excellest them all. Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised. Give her of the fruit of her hands; and let her own works praise her in the gates." Proverbs 31:10-31



This just showed me that God doesn't talk about being a wife in how my house is, or how people think my house looks; He cares that I submit to my husband,that I serve my husband and uplift him and that my marriage shows everyone around me how He is with His bride, the church. Then I realized that in serving my husband I am serving God. Its the way I serve God. And through my example and marriage maybe I am serving others. I can show them God and His love for them.

Its then that cleaning and cooking started feeling like an honor. With all Isaiah does for me, its an honor to serve him through keeping his jeans clean and his meals cooked. And in doing that for my husband I am serving my God, who has done so much for me.

I am finally fully starting to understand what it means to be a helpmate. I am Isaiah's helpmate. My job and purpose from God for my life is to love my husband and make him better. My purpose should not be to uplift myself, but to uplift my husband and his goals.

I will say I am not always perfect with submitting and uplifiting Isaiah. There are days when I don't want to. I want to do things my way. Or I think I know best. But that is not how God designed marriage. I am not just some robot that has to submit and stop thinking, that is not a real relationship. I am a part of the relationship. But when it comes down to it, Isaiah is my head and my job to raise him up.

Isn't that how we are supposed to as the bride of Christ also? Our goals should be to uplift Him and His goals. We are to submit to His headship and his direction. Our whole life should be about raising Him up and showing Him to everyone around us.

You know, I almost feel sorry for men. They don't get the everyday job of submitting to their husbands, like we do. We can already know what it means to lay ourselves down out of love and serve. Its our job. We are very blessed.

I will say that I am very thankful for a husband who encourages me to fulfill my potential and does not just want me to be a robot to him. He is understanding and loving. He wants my input in our relationship and life and wants my thoughts. I am so thankful for him.

I am so thankful I get to be a wife. God has blessed me with this job. Though people may not understand it, I am glad I get the honor of submitting to my husband. I am thankful for the job of serving him in my every day life. It is my purpose and my role in life. What an honor.

Recipe Monday

Happy Monday. Today's recipe is shortbread. I love shortbread. My mom would always make it when she was craving something sweet and had hardly any ingredients in the house. I was wanting something sweet and decided to try this recipe. One thing I like about this recipe is that it talks about the history of shortbread and variations. It tastes amazing too. Its just the perfect blend of butter and sugar. I did do something different in that I pressed the dough into a greased pie pan instead of making it into cookies, just like my mom used to. The though is to cut it into triangles like a pie kind of. It did not come out of the pan very well, so I want to work on that, but it tastes so well.

On the actual website there are links to variations of the basic recipe which look good, though I've never tried it. The link is on the bottom.

Shortbread Cookie Recipe

It's 3 parts flour, 2 parts butter and one part sugar. This recipe is for a small batch of cookies and the one I use for experimenting but it doubles or triples with no troubles. Just maintain the ratio.

3/4 cup flour, sifted
1/4 cup superfine sugar
Pinch of salt
1/2 cup room temperature unsalted butter (I used salted and it was fine)

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine the flour, sugar and salt in a mixing bowl. Work in the butter with a fork or pastry cutter until the dough has the consistency of short crust.

Pulsing in a food processor will work also.

Sprinkle a board or your counter top lightly with flour. Turn the dough onto the board and knead until it's smooth. Refrigerate the dough for a couple of hours or overnight.

You should have approximately 8 ounces of dough. Divide the dough into four equal portions for large cookies or eight equal portions for small cookies and shape into rounds.

For consistency you might want to pull out your kitchen scales.

Place each round on a parchment paper lined baking sheet and flatten them with the bottom of a glass to about 1/4 inch thickness. Prick with a fork. Bake at 350 degrees F. for 20 to 30 minutes, until the cookies begin to brown slightly. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet.

About The Butter

Butter is the only flavoring in this cookie. You get sweetness from the sugar and the flour gives it body but it's the butter that supplies the taste.

All true shortbread cookie recipes should include butter. Not lard, not butter flavored shortening and definitely not margarine but honest to goodness butter.

It should also be the freshest butter you can find. Since butter is the only flavoring you certainly don't want to use old tasting butter.

I've seen shortbread cookie recipes that say to use European style butter. I've tried it and for my taste it's not worth the additional expense. I'll just stick to my good old standby Land 'O Lakes.

The primary difference in American butter and European style butter is the butterfat content.

The American standard is that butter is 80% butterfat. European style butter is anywhere from 83% to 86% butterfat.

Try the European if you like but be prepared to take out a second mortgage on your house to buy it.

Shortbread History

Shortbread cookies are ancient. They started in Scotland way back when cooking, compared to today's standards, was crude at best. Of course they have evolved over time to what we know today.

The original shortbread cookie recipe probably included oat flour but when the English adopted it they substituted wheat flour. In Tudor England oats were considered animal food.

Traditional shortbread is baked in a round and then cut into wedges.

The story has it that the ancient Scots baked shortbread in the winter months and put cuts in the shortbread rounds to represent the suns rays. I suppose this was some sort of ritual to persuade the sun to return and do away with the cold winter.

The wintertime tradition holds on though because shortbread cookie recipes are among the most popular Christmas time cookie recipes.

Shortbread Pans and Shortbread Molds

If you would like to stick to the traditional round shortbread any round cake pan will do. Just press the dough in the pan and smooth out by pressing with any flat surface.

However if you really want to get fancy go for some of the shortbread pans or shortbread molds that are available.

You can probably find some interesting ones in your local cooking supply store but if not they're definitely available on the Internet.

I've even found the traditional round handmade wooden molds notched at the edges to signify the sun's rays. I've also found ceramic molds in all sizes, shapes and decorations.

Using a mold for your shortbread cookie recipe is not difficult. Just be sure to dust it with powdered sugar before filling and refrigerate for a time before baking.

The powdered sugar dusting will ensure an easy release from the mold and the refrigeration will help the dough maintain its design during baking.

Recipe

Happy New Year

Well its 2011. 2010 was a very crazy year. It was definitely a roller coaster. The highs were very high and the lows were very low. But its over. And now we look forward to a new year. So it made me think about what I want to do this year. What are my new years resolutions I guess you could see. Its more about just what I want to do this year to be a better person.

#1 I want to read my Bible more. Not just more but I want to read through it this year. Isaiah has a one year Bible and I want to do it. I decided that I will read the Old Testament portion in the morning to start my day out right, and then the other portions at night before bed. I think it will be good for me. I've never read through the entire Bible and I tend to give up when I try. But I wanted to do something to really grow my relationship with God and grow my knowledge in Him. I would say this is the most important resolution.

#2 I want to put myself last and God then others first. I know this is ambiguous but I want to consciously work on that. I need to show God to everyone around me. I don't do very well in that. I feel like I hide my faith far too much. I don't want to brow beat people with it so they turn away from my Lord, but I want to show how wonderful it is to worship and serve God. I want to serve others more also. That will come from serving God and just out of that service I will serve others. The person I want to serve more for sure is my husband. I tend to be selfish towards Isaiah and not thinking of him, but thinking of myself first. This is not what marriage is about. I need to serve him and think of him first.

#3 Finally, I want to work on my weight. I want to work on it in two ways. First of all, I want to be happy with my body. I have always hated my body and how I look. I come from families of naturally larger people. I'm not trying to use that as an excuse. Its true though. I don't want to constantly be hating myself for how I look and how much I weigh. I want to be happy about myself, and the body God blessed me with. Then I want to go on a diet and lose weight. I'm thinking about kick starting it with the slim fast diet. Then work on just living healthier. I want to eat much healthier, and start working out. I need to get fit.

So there we go. I've put out there my failures and struggles and what I want to do. I was brutally honest here, and that is hard. But its all true. This is what I want to do this year. Its not all I want to do but its what I am resolving to work on. I tend to give up easily and I'm worried that I'll give up. I want accountability and for people to help me on these goals.

So happy new year. Lets hope its great.