Journal Covers

So as anyone who knows me well can tell you, I'm slightly obsessed with journals. There is just something about the opportunity and potential that all those blank pages posses. However, something that can really kill the excitement of a journal is an ugly journal cover. Now, sadly I forgot to take any 'before' pictures, but I can tell you that the cover of this book was ugly. Really ugly. A rather gross green color (there are only a few shades of green that I dislike but this was certainly one of them) with strange flowers and cupid/angel heads and yeah... Very creepy, very odd - not a good journal cover. What could I do? Well am I not my mother's daughter? I gathered my supplies, let my creativity flow, and fixed that journal!

Needle, thread, fabric.. Check!

Voila! New journal cover! I really like the patch-work
rough-around-the-edges feel of this too. I think it's a nice
change from the typical 'well-polished' semi-posh covers that you
see a lot now. It just seems to fit the whole aspect of where I was
and what was going on in my life when I made it.

The theme for my journal. Love hopes. Always.

Fall Cooking

So as you can see from my sister-in-law's recent post, spring is certainly coming to the northern half of our green earth. However, for those of us down south here, the seasons are changing, but summer warmth is certainly not on the horizon. Rather the colors are changing, the leaves are starting to blow around, and you certainly want to have a sweater handy for most of the day. Inspired by this chillier turn in the weather, after we got home from camp the other night I decided to make soup for my friends and I. They all considered it quite tasty so I thought I'd share the recipe with you here.

Carrot Harvest Soup

• 2-3 Large Carrot, Peeled and Chopped Small
• 1 Med. Potato, Peeled and Cubed
• 1 Med. White Onion, Chopped
• 1 Med. White Kumara (or a white sweet potato - it will have a purple-ish skin), peeled and chopped
•  1-2 Green Onions, chopped
• Chicken Broth (or herb broth)
• Cream, Heavy or Whipping Cream
• Cinnamon
• Paprika, smoked
• Ground Cloves
• Salt and Pepper

1. In a large saucepan, brown the onions in butter or oil.
2. Remove onions, and lightly brown carrots (will turn a more vibrant orange, the sugars of the vegetable will be caramelized and hence the brighter color)
3. Mix in potato, kumara, and onion. Add enough broth to just cover all ingredients. Add in about 1/2 tsp of cinnamon, salt, pepper, paprika and 1/4 tsp of cloves. Simmer till all are soft.
4. Once all the vegetables are soft, strain (save liquid) and blend together to smooth puree. You may need to use some of the saved liquid to make the puree smooth enough.
5. Place puree back into saucepan, add enough cream till soup is thin enough to pour, but not too liquidy. (the amount that you'll need to add will change depending on how much of the liquid you needed for your puree, the starch in your potato, etc)
6. Taste and re-season as necessary. Heat till slow boil.
7. Serve in bowls, garnish with green onion and more paprika.
8. Enjoy!

Just a few more ideas of ways to change this up;

• Great soup for toast, especially for a really thick heavy bread - good to scoop up the soup with :)
• If you don't mind spicy food, this would be a good soup to add a little chili powder, cayenne pepper, and cloves to. I probably would've added it to mine except my friends don't like spicy food.
• A hint; this soup does take a lot of salt for the herb flavors and flavors of the carrot to come out. Don't worry too much about this - carrot is a very sweet vegetable and can stand up to a lot.
• If you warm up the soup the next day (if you have any left-overs) - you may need to add cream/milk again to thin it out to the right consistency.

It's pronounced "Pie-row-uh"

And it's actually spelled Paeroa :) And I've decided that rather than try to put up posts in the order that they actually happened, I'll just put up the posts as I get pictures to illustrate them with. So I'm afraid that these next few posts will be slightly out of order, but then again, isn't that how life usually is?


One of the traditional items that fills the Capernwray calender is what they call "Ministry Week". This involves a staff member and a group of students heading off into various places in New Zealand and spending a week among the locals of a town, while being sponsored by one of the churches within that town. This year I was approached and asked if I would lead the team, and in my ignorance I thought this would be the easiest thing ever and agreed. Well, while it wasn't too terrible lets just say that I believe in the law of the rubber band and I won't be leading a team next term for fear of the snap. :)

The greatest team of all time!

In all honesty though I did have a great week and I couldn't have asked for a better team. We had an amazing time playing with the kids and joining in at all the different events. The church that sponsored us was so welcoming and I really think that as a team, we got as much out of the week as they did.

We had a really great time connecting with the different kids at the schools. Especially the
kids of Central School. I think we went back there 3 or 4 more times just to get to
hang out with them! They were so precious!

It really was an amazing time though. I mean any week that you can combine the following it's a good time:

Coffee (quite literally a latte bowl)

sports with the kids, so much fun!

Facepaint is always a good thing!

Breakfast on the way to Cathedral Cove. Yummy pancakes but
sadly disappointing coffee

Don't forget the pavlova fight :)

"Send me where You want me to, I finally have a mission, a promise I'll complete
I don't need excuses when I am Your hands and feet."

"Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that i commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." ~ Matthew 28:19-20

My Apologies... Again

So I'm sorry that this isn't a very interesting post. It's mainly just something to let everyone know I'm still alive and kicking here in the land of the kiwis. Things have been very busy and very exciting these last few weeks and I promise that I will put up pictures shortly. No really I mean it this time! :)

In all honesty though life has just been great and so full and incredible that I have been delayed from writing by only the very best of things. Including jumping into a river, a cemetery, a volcano and crazy (or just old?) people. You'll hear all about it soon friends!