Valentines Sugar Cookies - Microwave HOW TO

I love food blogs, so I decided I'm going to start my own India version.

These Valentine cookies are soft and delicious and can make your V-day great no matter how far you are from home!

First, be sure to become a member of a really cool church who will send you a package with Trader Joe's sugar cookie mix. (If you are looking for one currently, I might make a recommendation for www.summitnorthwest.org)

Read the directions thoroughly on the package. Make a journey to the nearest village and go to several different shops to acquire each ingredient.

Return home and locate the nearest microwave oven (if a regular baking oven is unavailable of course). In a large bowl (or a cooking vessel if you don't have a large bowl), combine the cookie mix with butter and egg and mix well. If you don't have quite enough butter, like me, you may have to add a drop of oil to get the right consistency. No problem.

Next, borrow a roller from your neighbor and roll out the dough onto a flat surface. Use a knife or some pointy utensil to cut cool heart shapes into the dough. Or whatever other random shapes you would like. I encourage creativity at this point!

Finally, use a microwave safe plate, place the cookies a half inch apart and stick into the microwave. Cook on high power for 1 minute and 30 seconds (depending on your microwave of course) and VOILA! You have delicious quick baked sugar cookies. After cooling, squeeze on some of the packaged frosting that came in the box and spread on the humidified sprinkles that soaked up lots of moisture for a nice touch.

ENJOY!
Happy Valentines Day

Expectations

Expectations ruin relationships. When I expect something in return for something I’ve given, what does that say about me? That I’m selfish. This is what destroys happiness. A gift is not a gift when you expect something in return.

Christian hands never clasp

And He doesn’t give gifts for gain

Because a gift can never stop being a gift—

It is always meant to be given.

I am supposed to be Christ-like. God gives us gifts—of grace, joy, friendships, love, LIFE—so that we can serve the world and share them. The more thanks we give, the more He gives back to us, and we in turn should continue spreading it around! It’s supposed to be an endless cycle. “The way through the pain is to reach out to others in theirs.” That is how we are healed. We share ourselves and serve someone else, giving to them, and God heals us with happiness.

Why is this so hard? It’s hard for me, and it’s hard for others, which then makes the service even harder for both and THEN it becomes this backwards cycle that is going the opposite way God intended. Expectations kill happiness. It is hard to ignore selfishness because it makes the next person feel selfish, and then the selfishness just keeps multiplying until everyone is sitting around complaining to themselves! I want to make it stop. I can definitely say that I’m surprised by what the hardest part of my seven months in India really is. 

Adventure Number 2 (or it might be 236)

The last week has been full of adventures! My mom and Debbie Hayes arrived safely to the Kadapa train station where we picked them up last Monday night. We had a fun two days at school showing them around and introducing them to everyone. We ended up eating almost every meal at someone’s house. The first night we had dinner at our neighbors, Ramana and Chandu , where we ate some really good homecooked Indian food and sat on the floor. Of course there was way more food than any seven people could possibly eat, but it was good and Trevor and Sid had lots of left overs to eat while I was gone. The next morning was breakfast downstairs at the Headmasters house with Sunetta who also fed us a feast and continued to try and put more and more food onto their plates even though they were stuffed. Indian breakfast is very different from American breakfast, just throwing that out there! Ha! Then we had lunch at the principals house where, AGAIN, we were served enough food to feed an army. And finally, dinner at Vara and Prim’s were we ate like Sid, Trevor, and I usually do, family style around the table and every man for himself. But of course, they also made us a feast. It was fun to share our daily routines and house with Debbie and my mom. We even took them into town on a packed auto rickshaw (luckily we picked a guy who likes to pump his stereo system so they could have the full experience). We showed them our friends at the shops in town, the vegetable guy, the bakery guy, the twins at the cookie/soap/everything else random shop, and the pots/pans guy! It was fun, but may have been a little overwhelming. My mom and Debbie brought 500 toothbrushes in a duffle bag that were donated by Peach Orthodontics and at midweek prayer (vespers program on Wednesday nights) we did a tooth brushing demonstration and passed one out to every single kid. They were so excited. My mom told me that every single girl she handed a brush too said thank you. So THANK YOU Brenda, Carl, and Peach Orthodontics!

50 rs scarves - our favorite place!

Two days later, we were off to the Tirupati Airport (we opted for a taxi instead of the train) and headed for Delhi! Our trip was the golden triangle, Delhi-Agra-Jaipur with a tiger safari in Ranthambore on the way. We saw lots of cool stuff, some things I had seen in December, but others I didn’t have the opportunity to see! After our sight seeing in Delhi, I took my mom and Debbie to the area that Trevor, Sid, Evan and I had stayed in a very different part of town…we had fun running through the bazaar and getting good deals at the shops. It was exciting! Let’s just say that area caters to a different type of tourist. J I tried to find our favorite 50 cent chowmein street food guy, but had no luck. There is a possibility that my mom and Debbie will come back to the US and try to barter for their purchases at Walmart, but we’ll see…

We had the same driver the whole trip, his name was Krishna, and he was super cool! We made good friends with him and he took good care of the three blonde American ladies traveling India alone. We made it to Ranthambore National Park and got to see a tiger (people only see them 25% of the time) and stayed in a sweet tent. It was nice to get out into the country side. After the tiger adventure, we went on to Jaipur, which is still my favorite with its pink sandstone and the Amber Palace. We rode an elephant and a camel and before I knew it, I was back in Delhi getting on a plane bound for Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh!

Now I am sitting in the Tirupati Railway station with my good friend Ramana waiting for a train to Kadapa. After that we hop on one more bus and we’ll be back to school. I hope that Sid and Trevor have been coping ok without me…I’m sure they are starving… ;)

Jantar Mantar Observatory in Jaipur

I am blessed to have such a loving and caring mom and ‘auntie’ that would come over here to visit me and take me on such a cool trip! I am proud of them for conquering the crazy India traveling and the many stares…(especially three blonde white ladies ha!). They are both awesome travel partners and I am a lucky girl!

Can’t believe there are only three more months in India…time is flying. It cracks me up to see Ramana helping to carry my backpack which he slings over his shoulder backwards every single time, but it makes me sad when he says things like, "April 23, my brothers and sister going, my crying..." It makes me say MY CRYING TOO!!! (I might need an English speaking refresher course when I get back). I guess it's just a reminder to use time wisely and enjoy every second of it because this is a once in a lifetime experience. 

Time Continues!

Another week down. Monday my mom and Debbie arrive! All the kids know already (don't ask me how) and each one asks me about her every time they see me. "Brooke! Your mom is coming? When, monday?" Even though I know they already know this... They are excited for some more foreigners to arrive, and so am I! We already have two meal invitations from different families. I'm thinking we should have visitors more often!

Pramila :)

Yesterday was our sister Prim's birthday. It was kind of supposed to be a secret, because they hadn't planned any meal or cake for all the staff (which is expected). But......the secret kind of got out. I may not have helped when I went and asked our neighbors if I could use their microwave to make a cake for her. Unfortunately, the microwave option didn't work out, but they decided to announce to the whole school that it was her birthday! I felt bad, so I went a bought a cake in town and we shared it with all the staff. The day was saved, no problem. :) 

But, since I couldn't make a cake for her, I decided to make the next best thing that I could decorate, a pancake! Topped with some peanut butter frosting and candies, I'm pretty sure they enjoyed it, especially little Nancy, who is addicted to sweets already at a young age of two. 

Her middle name should be sugar

This Sabbath flew by. In the afternoon we led Bible study as usual and then we hosted a game night for the kids. We have a bunch of gifts for kids, but not enough for everyone, so we had to come up with some creative ways to give stuff away! It was kind of a long night, but they had fun, and so did we. It's crazy how much a small gift, such as an eraser, can make a kid so happy. I think the most popular new game he introduced was the one where you race eating a donut that is dangling on a string (only we used Jelabi, deep fried sweets that are somewhat similar to donuts...). It was a hit!

The same girls quiz me every day, "what is my name ma'am?" and every day I tell them their names...again. Today I decided to let them know that I will never forget their names. I will remember forever! Maybe they will finally stop asking, but I doubt it. :)

I have been stuck on a thought all day that I read this morning: 

We learn to trust God with our future when we remember what He has done for us in the past. So when we are thankful for all that God has done and is doing, we not only gain joy, but we grow in faith. 

It's so interesting how many places in the Bible express that we should 'give thanks' that I have never noticed before. It can be a real challenge to be thankful sometimes...I try not to be cliche when thanking God, but sometimes it ends up that way. I just need to remember that the little things should be my focus, making the familiar become unfamiliar and thanking God for it. A verse happened to appear in the Bible study lesson I did with my kids today... it was Colossians 2:7

"Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with THANKFULNESS."

There it is again, the Bible sneaks in some thought about giving thanks... it's everywhere! Our faith will grow strong in the truth we were taught. So the truth from our past. We see what God has done for us, thank him for it, and we know he has a will for us in the future that is good and pleasing and perfect. [Romans 12:2] I think that's a good enough reason to trust.

One of the cutest people on this planet!

Sun flower fields in full bloom.

***

What you don't know won't hurt you

I have been reading about thankfulness and gratitude. I received a book from an amazing person that is very inspiring. It's called 'One Thousand Gifts' and is written by Ann Voskamp. She talks about her search for joy by making a list of things she loves or is thankful for, not just the usual list like 'my family' or 'my friends' or 'a roof over my head,' but the simple things in life that usually go unnoticed. The small things that are gifts from God but we normally don't even think about twice. So I've been trying to notice these things and be thankful for the simple and small things in hopes it will bring me joy.

When we first got back from our trip, I was so happy! Our apartment was so homey and I had missed our friends here. I was in such a good mood. It's silly that a mood can change so quickly... The past couple days have been frustrating and a struggle to be thankful. As much as I don't feel like being nice to people who frustrate me, I have told myself I have to kill with kindness. I will admit, I complain and grumble to myself about how generous I am being with nothing in return when I definitely should not... But it is irritating! I don't want to be nice when someone comes and TELLS me to give them my ziplock bags. Or when I'm told I can bake away (my therapy) with the oven I usually borrow as soon as it's fixed and then go to the work of hunting down someone to fix it, only to have it taken and sent away as soon as it's finished! I ask myself, why do I share my cakes and cookies all the time with people who seem to selfishly hoard theirs?

I guess there are always those people in life that you won't get along with. They will frustrate you and drive you crazy but if we got along with everyone, what would be the challenge of life? I think about how I should be thanking God for all the small gifts and be happy regardless of those challenges. I read, not only in the book by Ann Voskamp, but in another by Ravi Zacharias about Appreciative-love. "Thank you" is the highest form of love. He writes that this is how we worship God and use our love and gratitude together as powerful weapon.

I found it funny that in a two day period, the books I'm reading emphasized the same point. It makes me think about how God speaks to us. I don't think I've ever really felt that God has spoken to me personally, but maybe its because I just don't notice it? Maybe I need to notice things like this and take note because it could be God making a point for me to remember. That must simply be the way He works, but I guess we won't know until we get there. It's like a train in India. You ride the train for hours, really having no idea where you are on the map and not knowing exactly when you will arrive at your destination. You can ask people around you and they will tell you some amount of time, but really they are just guessing and are often very wrong! No one really knows, not even the conductor, because things always happen along the way that cannot be predicted. But that is the mystery of it all. That's the excitement, the wonder and awe! We don't know how God works. He does it, and we live. If we knew everything about the end and all the wonders of God, we would lose interest. When you finish a good mystery book or movie, you don't keep reading or watching it over and over because there is no way to have that feeling of excitement or wonder every again. You know how it ends, so its not as fun to experience the story again! I think God made our lives a mystery on purpose. And I am glad that we don't know how things work or why things happen. Otherwise life would be unbearably boring. So I truly thank God for not telling me where or when because anticipation is what fuels our lives. I can plan as much as I want, but it will never turn out exactly as I think it will. Our lives are just like the books, and what would a good story be without some conflict or pain or confusion? If the main character always had it together or always knew what was coming next, would they enjoy their part? Nope.

The mystery and wonder, the questions and confusion and struggle to make decisions, those are blessings. And I thank God for those things because life would be robotic without them!

Travels and more travels

I did not know what I was in for when we set out on our Christmas journey on December 9th. We stepped onto our first delayed sleeper class train at 1 in the morning and shared two berths because only two of our tickets were confirmed. The first people we encountered were a group of about ten bald guys who spoke loudly, laughed a lot, and smoked their cigarettes late into the night. It was a shock. But over the course of the last month, we have gotten comfortable jumping onto these gross trains where the mice run freely and the berths and walls look like they haven't been washed in 20 years. There is always someone playing indian music loudly from their cell phone and some guy walking down the aisle with his canteen and tiny cups yelling "chai coffee chai coffee!" (They always seem to pause a little longer at our berth...just checking us out). It is an experience I will never forget.

We have traveled a complete circle around India. I am currently sitting on our first AC 2 Tier class train that we decided to upgrade to for our last 20 hour train ride (let me tell you, it is plush!!!). In about two hours, we will arrive in Vijayawada where we jump on a bus for 10 hours that will take us back to our school! I honestly can't wait to get back. 

Our trip was a lot of fun. In summary, we started by spending a few days at the beach in Goa on the west coast of India. Here we cruised around on rented scooters and enjoyed the sand and the sun. Evan met up with us here. We then headed north to Mumbai for a day and a half where we saw the Elephanta caves and did some exploring of the biggest city in India. Then we headed to Jaipur in Rajasthan and saw the Amber fort, Jantar Mantar observatory, some camels, and some more cool Aladdin looking architecture. We continued on the golden triangle to Agra to see the Taj Mahal, then up to New Delhi. From Delhi we got on the longest train ride of our lives that took us to a town that was a few hours from the Nepal border. The train was six hours late to the station, so we didn't end up leaving on it until about 3:30 in the morning. This 12 hour trip turned out being about 21 hours long and we finally arrived at 10 pm where we crammed eleven people in a jeep and took off for the border where we woke up the officials (since it was the middle of the night) to get our visa and got on the first bus leaving for Pokhara, Nepal at 3:45 am in order to avoid the strike that wouldn't let buses through later that morning. Nine hours later, we FINALLY arrived in Pokhara, exhausted. Pokhara is great because its on a lake, and you can see the mountains. We spent Christmas here and even did small trek into the hills. We headed off on another long bus ride to Kathmandu for New Years and the next day, an even longer bus ride to the eastern border of Nepal. We weren't so lucky this time and got stuck in the strike creating another crazy long journey to reach the mountain town of Darjeeling, Inida. We made a nice German friend named Philip along the way and ended up hanging out with him for our time up in the hills of Darjeeling where we went to a tea plantation, a tea festival, tasted tea, bought tea, and then left in order to catch our train to Kolkata where Evan would fly home (Darjeeling is famous for its tea in case you were wondering). From Kolkata, Trevor, Sid, and I got on our last train and are almost on the last leg of our journey back to the farm land of Andhra Pradesh. 

I can't tell you how much I appreciate the small town that we are living in. The big cities are cool to visit, but being based in a little town out in the middle of nowhere is a blessing. 

The lonely planet was our best friend on this journey, but we wouldn't have been able to do it without the good friends we made along the way who helped us get from place to place. I learned a lot on this trip, but I am excited to be almost back. I have missed our friends and family at the school and can't wait to see them... Over the past month I have been reminded of how blessed we are to be surrounded by our Indian families during these seven months away from home. It's good to have a place to be taken care of. I spent about a week of our time traveling sick as a dog and wishing I could stay in one place and be taken care of. Now I can really appreciate all the pestering I get when I'm sick at the school when everyone wants to come and visit me or make me "porridge" or tell me to drink hot water (haha)... Friends and family are GOOD! And I love them. :)

More photos of our trip will be coming soon!!!

I don't know what the plan was for this photo!

Scootering in Goa :)

PS. Our Merry Christmas to everyone...enjoy!