Blessed Be the Name of the Lord

As you can see, I've been noticeably absent from blogging for awhile here.  The last few weeks have been chock full of appointments at the doctor and dentist offices for the kids, the usual Tuesday run into town for Isabella's dance class and Selah and Arianna's rec class, ice skating, at the Iceoplex, my Wednesday morning Bible study, and just other errands and events that have popped up.  Finally, this week, things seem to be settling down a bit. Even the weather, which has been very hot up until last week (upper 80's, 90's, and even some in the 100's) is finally settling into fall.  It's been awhile since we've had overcast, misty, and cool, but today is exactly that and just lovely.  I'm sitting here with my americano with Trader Joe's soymilk creamer in it enjoying the slower pace.

One of the items occupying our time recently has been having Isabella, our oldest, seen by the Allergy and Asthma specialist that helped to finally track down Selah's chronic condition, bronchiectasis.  Isabella has also coughed for years off and on and had lots of sinus and allergy symptoms.  I always though, after talking with her pediatrician that most of her symptoms were from seasonal allergies because they would  be better and worse throughout the year and she didn't spike high fevers and have frequent "illnesses" like Selah.  Recently, Isabella's pediatrician diagnosed her as asthmatic, but this just didn't seem to be true to her symptoms and after trying asthma meds over the summer, it was obvious something else was still going on and it seemed too much like Selah's symptoms to ignore.  My hubby especially pushed me to make this appointment for Isabella, and am I ever glad he did.  Thankfully, Dr. Welch, the specialist, is a very thorough physician that doesn't look for easy answers, but rather looks for the true answer to what is really going on.  Consequently, he not only did allergy testing on Isabella (she is allergic to dust mites, which we are now managing with bed and pillow covers, frequent washing of bedding in hot water, etc.), but also had an X-ray done of her sinuses and a chest CT, as well.  It turns out that not only has she been living with a long-term sinus infection, which hopefully will be kicked by a longer-than-usual treatment with antibiotics, but she also seems to have bronchiectasis like her sister, Selah.  So, now we will travel a road that we have already been down before with tests for cystic fibrosis, other genetic disorders, probably a bronchoscopy, and visits to the pulmonologist.  Needless to say, this is not the news that we wanted to hear.  I would have been thrilled to just have it be a sinus infection, easily fixed with a round of antibiotics, rather than a chronic lung condiditon where the lung damage is irreversible.  Of course, as much as it doesn't help, all the same thoughts as before are flooding into my mind and even more so in some ways.  How can I have two children with the same chronic lung condition that has been previously diagnosed as an "unknown cause" in Selah?  How do I wrap my mind around that?  Is this due to genetics and a predisposition for lung problems that I passed on to my girls (I had many lung problems as a child, but grew out of it with no permanent damage)?  Was there an environmental factor involved from our last home that contributed to this?

As I was still reflecting on all of this, I was also going down to San Diego for a meeting of my Women of Vision group and was listening to the radio.  This song by Matt Redman called "Blessed Be Your Name" came on and it really spoke to me and brought me to tears.  There are circumstances in our lives that we can't change and it comes right down to our attitude and the choice we make in how we view that circumstance that determines our outlook on life.  Here are the lyrics.

Blessed Be Your Name
In the land that is plentiful
Where Your streams of abundance flow
Blessed be Your name

Blessed Be Your name
When I'm found in the desert place
Though I walk through the wilderness
Blessed Be Your name

Every blessing You pour out
I'll turn back to praise
When the darkness closes in, Lord
Still I will say

Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your glorious name

Blessed be Your name
When the sun's shining down on me
When the world's 'all as it should be'
Blessed be Your name

Blessed be Your name
On the road marked with suffering
Though there's pain in the offering
Blessed be Your name

Every blessing You pour out
I'll turn back to praise
When the darkness closes in, Lord
Still I will say

Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your glorious name

Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your glorious name

You give and take away
You give and take away
My heart will choose to say
Lord, blessed be Your name

No matter what sickness, disease, or difficulty that my children or I have or may have, I know that God does have plans for our lives and that He can use our pain, difficulties, and suffering for his good.  Sometimes I don't feel like that is true, but I know it is true.  Like it says in 

 Romans 8:28, " And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."  

When I arrived at my meeting that Saturday, I listened to Renee Stearns speak about the difference we can make in the lives of impoverished women and children around the world.  Renee is the wife of Rich Stearns, president of World Vision U.S.A., and what she had to say to us was not only inspiring, but also impactful when reflecting on the day to day suffering that goes on in the lives of individuals around the world.  Every 7 seconds, a child dies of hunger in the world.  1 in every 7 people in the world does not have access to clean water.  The lack of just50 cents for a bus ride might be the difference between life and death for a mother needing to get her sick child to a clinic that is far away from her remote village.  These and other statistics caused me to stop, re-evaluate, and be thankful for all that I do have.  My children, while having a chronic illness, are not only living fairly healthfully from day to day, but also have access to some of the best doctors and hospitals in the country.  An ambulance is only a phone call away.  And we are not living in destitute poverty.  I don't think that hardship and difficulty should ever be discounted, no matter where we live in the world.  I know that my family's sickness and problems are real and that they matter to God, but I also think it is good to understand one's blessings in the midst of hard times.  Choosing to reflect on my blessings instead of my difficulties keeps me thankful instead of depressed.  So, I'll take the road with bronchiectasis one day at a time, and by God's grace, my girls will live healthy, productive lives in spite of this challenge. 

Shutterfly Update - Two Thumbs Down to Their Customer Service

Well, I don't want to waste much more time on this topic, but since I put up the previous post, I will give a brief update on what transpired since.  I find it exceedingly frustrating to be offered a "deal" and then find out that the conditions to fulfill that so called "deal" are so frustrating that it turns out to not be worth my time or effort.  Such was the case with this one.  After I used the link from Shutterly to embed the book I made into my blog, I went back looking for the e-mail address that I had seen so that I could send in the link to my blog post.  After talking with a customer service representative from Shutterfly online who had no idea what I was talking about, I ended up calling their customer service phone number.  Can I just say, "complete nightmare!"?  I was literally on hold for 45 minutes just to get an actual human being on the line (don't worry, I didn't waste any time; I just put the cell on speakerphone and went about my usual business while waiting) and then when I finally did get a response, the lady put me back on hold for another 15 minutes so that she could find a manager to ask about my inquiry.  And the not-so-amazing answer to all of this is that the deal was actually through Blogger (or so they say) and was just being offered with Shutterfly on their website after you make a purchase.  At that point, I was so fed up by having even wasted my time to not be helped, that I decided the $10 credit I could receive wasn't worth the effort and I'd stop wasting anymore time on it.  It still irks me, though, that companies will offer "deals" to customers or collaborate with other companies on these "deals" but still have no idea of what it actually is and fail to inform their customer service representatives about it.  Based on this experience, I will need to find some pretty good coupons online before I purchase another item from them again because any product could arrive at my house defective and I wouldn't want to encounter that same customer service situation that I've already experienced.  Snapfish, as I mentioned before, won't combine coupons, but in all my dealings with them and various requests for them to replace items that did not come out with good printing quality, they have always responded with wonderful manners and the attitude that the customers is right - I like that!

A Photo Book Gift made on Shutterfly

Click here to view this photo book larger

Shutterfly offers exclusive layouts and designs so you can make your book just the way you want.

Here's what I made for my hubby for his birthday.  I took some pics that he took this summer when we were out on a hike and put them together in a themed book.  Hopefully, he doesn't see it on here and take a peek.  I can get a $10 credit at Shutterfly, though, for putting this up on my blog so I thought that I would give it a go.   I usually use Snapfish, but I had a $20 credit on my account at Shutterfly, so I decided to try them out this time around.  Something that was different and really cool is that they let me combine my account credit and a coupon code from their website in the same order making it a really great discount.  I've tried that on numerous occasions on Snapfish and it never works; you can use one coupon code or promotion per order.  I hope this looks as good when I receive it as it looks on the computer!  

Oil-Free, Vegan, Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

One of our all-time, family favorites for breakfast is a banana muffin recipe that I have been using for years.  My mom made these for us as kids and we always loved them, and I continued the tradition with my children.  Lately, I've been tinkering with the recipe to make it not only vegan and fairly healthy, but to also preserve the taste we love and get the texture as close to a "regular" muffin as possible.  This morning when I made them for breakfast, we all agreed that they tasted great and were what we expect out of our banana muffin recipe.  So, I had better get this down on "paper" before I forget what exactly it was that I put in them this morning.

Vegan Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Mix together in a bowl by hand or on the lowest mixing setting of a stand mixer:
3 mashed, ripe bananas
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup applesauce
1 portion of egg replacer equal to 1 egg*

After these ingredients are mixed together, sprinkle over the top of the dough:
1 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. baking powder

Pour 1/4 cup of sparkling water over the soda and powder so that they are mostly dissolved and the mixture is bubbling a bit.  Mix it all together again, mixing as little as possible.  Add in the amount of vegan chocolate chips that you desire and mix very gently one last time (or fold them in gently with a spoon).  I use the semi-sweet chocolate chips from Trader Joe's that have no dairy in them.

Fill 12 muffin tins with the muffin batter and bake between 18-20 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.  (There is not oil in the recipe, but I do lightly grease my muffin tins or muffin cups before filling them.  Using either silicone muffin tins or non-stick muffin tins is also a good option.)

*A friend gave me a good tip for the egg replacer and that is to make sure the water is very hot (not boiling) before mixing in the powder.   For the Ener-G replacer the formula is 2 Tbs. of water to 1 1/2 tsp. powder. 

Making the Most of the Dog Days of Summer

Although we live near the ocean, the water temperature doesn't often rise up or above 70 degrees.  Having grown up in the tropics in Panama, I can hardly contemplate putting a toe in the water for most of the year here in San Diego.  But, come August and September, the water finally warms up just enough that I will venture in.  Once you get adjusted to it, the water begins to feel really good, especially on some of our hottest summer days.  This year, we have been to the beach several times in the space of a few weeks and hope to go a few more times before the weather changes to fall temps.  My older 3 girls are acquiring quite a passion for boogie boarding and once they get in, it is hard to pull them back out of the water, even when their lips are blue and they are shaking like a leaf.  The younger 2 enjoy the very shallow water, the sand, and making sand castles.  There is something so wonderful and carefree about going to the ocean and taking a few hours to just kick back, relax, and detach from the hustle and bustle of everyday life.  I feel so blessed to live in a place where this is possible!

Around My Yard

A couple of weeks ago, as I drove across the bridge over our creek, I noticed something surprisingly beautiful that I wasn't expecting.  It was a feathery-like extension growing out of a grass that had been transplanted twice on our property.  The grass originally came from my parents' old condo and my dad put in in a pot and brought it out to me and planted it first behind our house.  Then, we decided it needed to be moved, so my dad was nice enough to plant it down by the creek (he planted 2 of these grasses, but only 1 survived).  To be honest, I wasn't a big fan of this plant because the grass is sort of like a razor grass that can give you a cut as bad or worse than a paper cut, but now that I see it in its full glory, I've decided it is definitely a keeper.  This time of year in inland southern California is rather dry and naturally brown (unless you irrigate which is costly), so this was a welcome sight when I came upon it.

Truly, Guilt-Free Tortilla Chips

A favorite snack in our house is tortilla chips with salsa and/or homemade bean dip.  The dilemma, though, is that store-bought tortilla chips are not all that nutritious (despite the whole-grain corn status that they have) because of the oil content.  While looking through the McDougall's recipes, I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw this super simple and easy solution to store-bought tortilla chips.  And, the results are wonderful, too, because they come out crispy, taste great, and make the idea of nachos at home (at least, vegan nachos) a healthy and fun dinner and snack alternative.  I also love that the tortillas chips are a whole-grain starch!  Here is the process:

 

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.  We like the Guerrero brand of white corn tortillas.  I stack a few up and use my kitchen scissors to cute them into triangles (I divide the tortilla in sixths).  Then, I lay them flat on a non-stick, ungreased cookie sheet and put them into the oven.  The other day, I made these and used three cookie sheets, rotating them in the oven with 2 in and 1 ready-to-go.  

Here they are about half finished baking.

 Bake the chips for approximately 5 to 7 minutes (a few minutes more may be needed depending on your oven), just until the chips start turning a very light brown and are crispy.  Also, you can sprinkle salt on before or after, if so desired (I think the salt sticks better put on before baking).  

 And there you have it!  Tortilla chips with no oil that are still crispy and taste great with your salsas and dips.  If all the chips do not get eaten, just be sure to store them in an airtight container.    Who knew eating healthfully could be so delicious!