It has been a little over a month now since Alex returned to boot camp in Fort Jackson, South Carolina. With Alex being away, this has meant one month (and 4 more weeks to go) with no form of communication other than letters. The only other time we have not been able to either talk or text every day is when I was in Colorado for two weeks for a conference. We have found that through our letters, we are both growing and learning all sorts of different things and even growing closer to one another!
I’ll share with you a little of what Alex has been up to via his letters:
- The first living recipient since the Vietnam War to be awarded the Medal of Honor, Salvatore Giunta visited Fort Jackson.
- Alex’s favorite day of the week is Sunday. Sundays are spent attending church and “beautifying” the grounds, which basically means deep cleaning. When Alex first arrived, he was raking leaves and another recruit said to him “man, you must be from the hood cuz’ you rake dem leaves real good!”
- Alex was fitted and received his dress uniforms. (I am very excited about this!)
- Shooting qualifications and fitness tests in which Alex did very well in both. Since everyone passed their shooting competition, they had a pizza party to celebrate!
- Alex completed NIC at night (Night Infiltration Course) that he described in one of his letters: “We had to crawl through a giant field while love fire by machine guns was overhead and explosions were going off. It was pretty fun.”
As for me, I have been trying to keep as busy as possible so the time goes by faster! I have been researching a lot about foster care, which is an overwhelming passion of mine and has been heavy on my heart lately. ( Did you know that there are TWICE as many churches in the United States as there are foster children?! Can you imagine if just ONE family from every church in the United States could open their home to a foster child, there would be no children without homes! ) I have been taking in as much as I can about how to help. This is an interview of a family that has hosted 14foster children, it brought me to tears and I feel the urge to be a part of this amazing mission and am excited to see what God has planned for us and what we can do to help these children!
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/FocusOnTheFamilyDailyBroadcast/~3/OXU6t5gH2TY/ffd_20111208.mp3In other news, January is the month for birthdays in our family! We have my Mom’s, my brothers, my sister in law, Alex’s Grandpa and my niece Nicole! So every weekend has been packed with birthday celebrations! I’ve been working long hours at the coffee shop during the week, having quality sister and friend times and getting to read more and more books just for the fun of it!
One particular book that has been especially moving to me is by a couple of my favorite authors; Eric and Leslie Ludy called “Wrestling Prayer.” It is truly convicting and life changing; you will not ever forget it and I highly recommend it to every one!
Lastly, I have been counting down the days until Alex’s graduation! Mark your calendars for February 23! We are still unsure of when I will be able to join Alex in Alabama; he will get his orders the week before graduation. Typically, a soldier does not get to move his family for Officer schooling, however, for Aviators, since they are both held in Fort Rucker, they allow families to move before Officers training. If I can move before Officer’s training, we will be moving during the first week or so of March, if we are approved to move before flight school, the time would be early May. Either way, we know God has perfect timing!
Since Alex has been gone, I have been eating terribly. Dinners have consisted of nutella and pretzels or tuna and crackers, things I am horrified to admit! It just is no fun to cook for one! My one cooking/ baking redeemer has been scones. I am a scone making machine!!! I have made pumpkin scones, lemon poppyseed, pepperoni and parmesan scones, cinnamon, cranberry and blueberry lemon. I just can’t get enough of them! I made lemon poppyseed for Grandpa Al on his birthday with a lemon glaze.
Lemon and Poppyseed Scones
recipe adapted from Ina Garten
4 cups plus 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar, plus additional for sprinkling
2 tablespoons baking powder
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 tablespoon grated meyer lemon zest
1/4 cup sugar, plus additional for sprinkling
2 tablespoons baking powder
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 tablespoon grated meyer lemon zest
3 tablespoons poppy seeds
3/4 pound cold unsalted butter, diced
4 extra-large eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup cold heavy cream
1 egg beaten with 2 tablespoons water or milk, for egg wash
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar, plus 2 tablespoons
4 teaspoons freshly squeezed meyer lemon juice
3/4 pound cold unsalted butter, diced
4 extra-large eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup cold heavy cream
1 egg beaten with 2 tablespoons water or milk, for egg wash
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar, plus 2 tablespoons
4 teaspoons freshly squeezed meyer lemon juice
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
In the bowl of a food processor combine the flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, lemon zest, and poppy seeds. Pulse a few times to combine. Add the cold butter and pulse until the butter is cut into pea-sized pieces. Combine the eggs and cream in a small bowl. While pulsing, slowly add the cream mixture, mixing just until blended.
This will be very crumbly, but no worries! Place approximately 3 TBS worth of mixture into scone pan, or form into triangles.
Brush the top of each scone lightly with the egg wash and sprinkle with a bit of sugar( I like halfway through the cooking time sugar in the raw best!). Bake for 20-25 minutes. The scones should be light golden brown on top and firm to the touch.
Let scones cool for 15 minutes on wire racks. Meanwhile whisk together lemon juice and confectioners sugar in a small bowl. Once scones have cooled, drizzle glaze onto scones. Let glaze dry for another 10-15 minutes. You will love these with coffee or tea for breakfast in the morning (or you will love them for breakfast, lunch and dinner if you're cooking for one like me! )
