The beautiful berries

so this is the first picture I took with my new iphone- I am obsessed!  (about the wheat berries, and, I guess the iphone too-it's pretty stinkin' cool!)

Ok, so they aren't berries in the "traditional" sense.... they are wheat berries.  We have been eating these every morning for breakfast.  My dear friend gave me a wonderful recipe for Wheat Berry Pancakes- or also know as Blender Pancakes.  In an effort to change our diet a bit and incorporate more TRULY whole grains, organic, and fresh produce, we have embraced these little glorious grains.  And YES, we eat pancakes EVERY morning- they are the BEST pancakes you will ever have- not to mention they are so jam packed full of actual nutrition- none of this whole grain claiming to be nutritious but is actually so processed the nutrition is severely depleted! No, this stuff in its raw-est (is that a word?) form, is the best!  And.... drum roll please... I do believe that I have slimmed down while eating them!!  (at least Scott said he thinks I have- I can never tell) 
I am currently saving up for a food mill and Bosch Mixer so that I can start making my own bread.... can't wait!!

So seriously, I DARE you to try these!!
*** but you HAVE to use maple syrup- none of that processed sugary stuff, cause otherwise what is the point?  (and they truly do not need much mapley goodness, but sometimes it just tastes so good I add extra!)   YUMMY!!!

Blender Pancakes
mix in a blender on high for 3 minutes:
1 cup wheat berries
1 cup (plus a splash more) Milk

add the following and mix on high for 1 minute:
1 egg
1/4 tsp salt
2 Tbspn butter
vanilla to taste
1/4 tsp cinnamon
2 Tbspn honey

Add 1 Tbspn Baking Powder and pulse 3 times-
**No more than three times, b/c they will get too tough!

Jessie and Emma vist

 My dearest friend Jess visited from a land far far away last month with her precious baby girl- Emma-Lou.  If you remember past (long long ago) posts that included twin boys- well this is their baby sister!  It was such a joy to have Jess and Emma for a brief visit while they were in Ca!  Jess and I worked on a puzzle while chatting away.  Emma rolled/scooted around-  have you ever seen so much pudge!!  I just want to reach through the pictures and squeeze her!!  She is a precious doll and it was so great to finally meet her.  Thanks Jess for coming to visit!

Uncle Scott and sweet smiles Emma

Sweet Jess and our completed puzzle!!

Would you look at those rolls!!

Profile update

 We have been working on an updated profile for our adoption.  I has been a year since we put our last profile together, and I felt the need to update it.  I never liked a few things about it- including the picture on the front.  So we had yet another photo shoot this weekend at my parents house, and I was very happy with how the pictures turned out this time.  My mother was the photographer, my father held the bounce lighting, the sky was overcast and provided the perfect filtered light, and the backgrounds were beautiful.  The top picture will be our new front cover for the profile.

I love this of Scott and my mom- Hey, they match!!

Oh Beautiful!

It had been three years since our last journey to Colorado, and we had been chomping at the bit to get there again!  This October we received the phone call we had been waiting for.  Our good friend (and Scott's old roommate) FINALLY announced he was getting married on New Years Day!  Without waiting for the formal invitation we said we would be there!  We were thrilled for Steve and Becca, and thrilled to finally get to take our long awaited trip back to The Springs!
God's timing is always perfect!  We had the money to travel, Scott had accrued a few days off, and we were in desperate need of a vacation!
We spent every moment of each of the six days there with friends and "family" in our home away from home.  We were inspired and encouraged by the lives and going-on's of our friends.  We were completely awed and inspired by the mountains and the beauty.  (I LOVE how you can never get tired of God's creation!!)  Colorado Springs had a pretty large snow fall a couple days before Christmas, so we were able to enjoy the snow on the ground- something we hoped for, and experience clear roads and ease of travel- something we prayed for!
The wedding was held in Westcliffe Colorado which is in the mountains about an hour and a half from The Springs.  We had never been there, but heard it was stunningly beautiful.  It was!  Westcliffe lies in a valley between two mountain ranges.  The Sangre De Cristo Mountain range lies to the west and is comprised of many high peaks, including seven that are over 14,000 ft!  Scott and his former roommates who all attended the wedding reminisced about climbing many of those peaks.  They recounted stories- some of which I had heard before, and some "death defying" ones which I hadn't heard about (and asked not to hear again!)  It was a blessing to watch Steve and Becca marry and share in their Christ- centered wedding!

** Name the inspiration for the title of this post, and why I chose this title for this post and you win...!!

Scott and Steve at Steve's bachelor party.  Steve's brothers had this costume picked out for Steve.

The Broadmoor Hotel

Bridge at the Broadmoor where Scott proposed!

Scott and Rob

Isn't it lovely?  Our dream home!

Christmas tree at the Broadmoor

Buck in the front yard down the street from our friends house

Good friends, Herman and Christina

A snowy field in Divide

On his dream bike!

Uncle Mark and Aunt Sue

Shot from the car!

Sangre De Cristo range.

closer up at the Sangre De Cristos

Aww... log home!

Adventures with Josh and Avery-Lynn!!

Sweet friends

We are happy in the mountains!

Abandoned house

why wouldn't you use the car mats to attempted snowboarding down the hill?

View from the church

Four roommates and spouses

Four roommates and beautiful bride!

Julie and Chris Clasbey at Old C's.  

Pikes Peak

Part of The Garden - Garden of the Gods

Charlie, beer, and mountains...!

A New Year

“How often do we loose heart, fear man, worry about the outcome of the current/upcoming circumstances? God is sovereign. We must not fear, but stand firm and see the salvation of the Lord. He will fight for us. We need not rattle on, but instead be silent and wait on the Lord — fearing Him all the while. [Inspired by Exodus 14]“

I was reflecting on the past year and looking toward the coming year when I was shown this blog which included the quote above.  The New Year is such a great time to set new goals for the coming year, to renew our commitment to continue working on those old habits that die hard.  The new year is a time to once again press into the Lord and it is a reminder that we need to seek Him in All things.  

I am anticipating many changes this year- possibly big ones.  Do I know for sure that this year will bring many changes?  No.  But I feel like God has been preparing our hearts for changes coming. 

I am not sure what those changes will be.  Maybe a new job for Scott?  Maybe a new home?  Maybe a new baby?  We do not know what the future holds, but as we look toward the future we wait with eager expectation for the good things God has in store.  Does that mean it will all be "good"?  Probably not.  But in the "bad" God always brings Good!  Of that we are sure! 

I dove into God's word last week looking for some scripture in which I could focus as the New Year began.  Here are a few of the verses I found:

"For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them."  Ephesians 1:3-4.  
"...He chose us... that we should be holy and blameless before Him in Love..." Ephesians 2:10
"The preparations of the heart belong to man, But the answer of the tongue is from the Lord." 
"A man plans his own way, but the Lord directs his steps."  Proverbs 16:9

Celebrating 6 years!

We celebrated six years of marriage on the 17th.  I found a killer deal at a five star resort in Santa Rosa that included a dinner at a five star restaurant!  It was a luxurious and restful retreat for the night, and we were able to savor a five star meal- a real treat!  

We met my Aunt for lunch the following day, and she encouraged us to buy fresh crabs to take home.  We had always wanted to try them....  it was a bit "scary" as we set the bag with the fresh crabs on the kitchen counter and the bag kept moving.  I didn't particularly like the idea of putting the crabs in the boiling water, so I watched Scott do it.  If you've seen the movie Julie and Julia, you will remember the "lobster killer" scene....  it was pretty much the same thing, though the crabs didn't knock the lid off the pot!  Nothing better than fresh crab, a nice warm loaf of french bread, and crisp glass of white wine!  It was a very nice Anniversary weekend! Six years flies by when your having fun!

Add caption

Waterfall outside our room at the Vintner's Inn

Cooked crab.

MMMMM Good!

Poor crab!!

2011 year in Review

Persicke Family Year in Review.

In reviewing our year, the over-arching theme in the Persicke family has been thankfulness and gratitude for the many gifts that God gives us on a daily basis.  Inspired by the book "1000 Gifts" by Ann VosKamp, Scott and I have journeyed through the practice of recording our gifts and purposing to be more thankful each day.

Scott began the year working at Trader Joes.  While he absolutely loved working there, it was not providing nearly enough income for our family.  In March he was hired at Auto-Chlor, a commercial-grade dishwashing company.  In the first part of April he started his new position as a Sales and Service technician.  For the most part the job has been a very good fit for him, and has brought many challenges along the way.  Scott enjoys the service part of the job as he gets to fix machines and solve problems.  The sales part of the job has been much less enjoyable, but has provided the opportunity to stretch and grow.  We are continually blessed by God's faithfulness in answering daily prayers for Scott on the job! We are so thankful for Scott's job and we are looking forward to what God has for him in the future!

Another answer to our prayers came in March when my online business really started to grow.  (For reader who do not know, I have had a shop on Etsy where I have sold bags, nursing blankets, quilts and the like since 2009-  see my shop home  here.)  Early in the year I began making small handbags (some call them clutches).  In late March I had a bride contact me wanted me to make 8 similar clutches for gifts for her bridesmaids.  Ah-ha!  The lightbulb went off- bridesmaids clutches- why didn't I think of that?  So I started labeling my items to grab the attention of brides, and sure enough order after order started rolling in.  By the middle of the summer I was swamped (I think I got up to 110 clutches on my backlog at one point) so I hired a girl to come help my once a week.  The rush lasted until about October when things slowed down considerably- which was a very nice break for me!  It has started picking up again, and I am sure after the New Year things will really take off.  I am working on expanding my business by starting my own website and contacting local wedding venues to help promote my work.  For those of you who have known me for a while you will know that this business has been a dream for a very long time, so to see it finally come to fruition is a huge answer to prayer and a blessing!  

God has been incredibly faithful to us this year!  I cannot tell you how much He has proven time and again that He is in control and we can trust Him fully with ALL aspects of our life- both great and small!  In this uncertain world that provides a great comfort- and as scripture says: "a peace that surpasses all understanding!"  God is good!

Many of you have asked about our adoption process over the past few months.  It has been almost a year since we started this process with a private adoption facilitator.  While it seems like that may be a long time to wait, it is a typical amount of time to wait for an adoption to happen.  Many often ask what we can do to speed things up, or what we are waiting for.  Simply put, we are waiting for a birth-mother to see us online or view our profile and choose us to adopt her child.  For many waiting parents this time can be very difficult, but for us it has been a time of complete and total trust that God has the perfect child in His perfect time.  We have a complete peace knowing that His perfect timing is best, and we rest in that peace.  Scott and I both know that God will bring the adoption about in the way and in the time that is absolutely perfect.  The situation is out of our control (as is so much else in our lives) and so we have no choice but to wait patiently!  I am so thankful to God that I do not have to worry about this- I'd be a wreck if I tried taking matters into my own hands!  I am also thankful that God has kept us quite busy over this year- busyness can be a good distraction too!

Scott and I are continually thankful to the Lord for how He has grown our faith and our trust in Him during the past year!  We are thankful for the daily provisions- both big and small!  We are so thankful for our supportive family and friends who have encouraged us through job/financial issues, infertility, adoption, and so much more! God has blessed us with an amazing support group in our immediate family and our church family!  We are looking forward to see what God has in store for us this coming year!

We wish you all a wonderful Christmas, and hope that you remember the reason for the season as we celebrate the birth of Jesus our Lord and Savior!  We have much to be thankful for indeed!

With much love and gratitude in our hearts!

Scott and Jen (and Kona and Jake too!)

Christmas 2011

I've enjoyed decorating a little differently for Christmas this year.  I have had this "addiction" to burlap and muslin and decided to use these wonderful fibers to go a little more rustic with the decorations this year.   I was inspired by one of my favorite blogs, Dear Lillie.  She made some burlap stockings similar to these.  I also recently discovered Pinterest (both a good and bad thing!) where I saw a friend post this burlap wreath.  I changed it up a bit by adding some muslin with a little red for Christmas!  And of course, our tree- it has to be a real one in the Persicke house!  You cannot pass up the $30 trees at Larry's produce!  I made all my own decorations this year (with the exception of the snowflakes).  I filled glass bulbs with ribbons and of course strips of burlap and muslin.   Both Jake and Kona enjoy the warm glow of the tree!

My first embroidery attempt!  My mom drew the trees for me and I embroidered them.  (Shhh... she is getting this for Christmas!)