Friday Favorites

We have almost made it through the week.  I admit, this week has been longer than most, & I know that has to do with Avery being out of town.  But, he comes back home this afternoon so we will resume to life as normal here.  All that to say, to highlight favorites didn't come as easy this week, but here are a few things.  Happy weekend friends!

Tuesday, I went to El Camino Academy (where Brook & I go for her art & bible classes each Wednesday).  There was an informational meeting for prospective families for the upcoming school year.  I made the first step to enrolling my girls in a traditional school.  This is a picture of the school.  They have just completed the 3rd floor & it is scheduled to open in February.

Here is a picture taken from the 2nd floor (library) in the brick section of the photo above.  This is a view looking out from the school.  You can always see mountains here & the guard station is on the right corner.

This was Brook's project for the week.  She is proud of it & it did turn out really cute.  I love to see her creativity in work.  She found a recipe to make dough (she had asked for cornstarch for several days & I finally found it here), made a dough & let it get hard in the sun.  Then, she dusted powder make up on it & gave it a glaze of mod podge.  She then painted the pieces in several stages to look like pizza she will use for her American Girl doll.  Last night she started working on her first online scrapbook.

Throw pillows have been a slow addition to our decor here, due to price & not finding what I wanted here.  While in the states last fall, I ordered 2 pillow cases from Amazon & brought them back to Bogota & stuffed them (these are the 2 you see in the background).  Last week, I found this pillow in the front at a store here for under $20 (which is still a little high for me:)), but I liked it & it was the perfect compliment to the other 2 pillows.  I will have an official apartment tour coming soon!

I mentioned it on my organization post, but I do love a clean house.  Every Thursday, my house does get clean & I am thankful.  We have a lady who comes to clean for us each Thursday, & it has been such a help here as I could have never done the cleaning she does & keep up with everything else.  It is culturally normal to have a person in your home at least one day a week, & many people have them come more often.  Our lady is very nice, yet we have limited conversation because she literally does not know a word of English!  Thankfully, Clara is here on Thursdays to help us when we get to a point we can't communicate.  I had never had help in the states with this, but for less than $20 a day (yes, you read that correctly), it is a win for us & she needs the work as well.

Manicures are super cheap here.  By cheap I mean $3-4 USD.  They are normally around $25 in the USA.  What is interesting to me is that some Colombians think that is expensive & give themselves manicures.  I have one good Colombian friend here & she likes to do nails & hair.  Yesterday, I went to visit her & she offered to give me a manicure.  Of course, I said yes, & this was the finished result.  I am thankful to have a Colombian friend here,.  We see each other maybe once or twice a month, but it always makes me practice my Spanish!

What's Cooking Wednesday

Today, I am going to share a Colombian recipe with you, & 2 other good 'ol American recipe links. First, a little background information on the definition of arepas:

Arepa - Arepa is a flatbread made of ground maize dough or cooked flour prominent in the cuisine of Colombia and Venezuela (courtesy of Wikipedia)

Arepas are super common here.  You see arepas being sold on many street corners from food vendors. Arepas are a typical breakfast food here, but are served at any time of the day.  Most arepas are flour based.  A few weeks ago, we tasted arepas con choclo, which are arepas made from corn. They were delicious, so Clara helped me make some this week.

You can actually buy the arepa mix made from corn.

Instead, we bought 4 small bags of maiz tierno, which is sweet corn.  I rinsed the corn, then soaked it to clean it.  

We then put the corn in the magic bullet.  

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It became somewhat of a pancake type batter.  Add about 1 tsp. of salt & 2 Tablespoons of sugar, or to your liking.

Then you simply put it on the griddle, like a pancake, although they take longer than a pancake to cook on each side.  Another way of preparing this, is to put a little oil in a skillet & fry the batter in the skillet.  I think this method actually would make them taste a little better.  

However, ours still turned out good.  I froze our leftover arepas & will probably fry them when I re-heat them to give make them crispy.

With this one, we simply added a piece of cheese & made it into an arepa sandwich.  You could also add ham, turkey, avocado, or whatever you prefer.

For 2 other recipes, totally unrelated......

One night last week we made one of our family favorites....breakfast food.  I would normally cook biscuits, but wanted to do something different, so I made these cinnamon rolls.  They were a quick, easy fix, & I promise they turned out much better than the picture looks.  For some reason the picture on the link looks like canned cinnamon rolls.

Last weekend, I had some potatoes to use, so I made this potato soup.  This turned out very good, & of course, the shredded cheese & bacon bits really made it taste great.  

I didn't take any pictures of these recipes, but they were good!

Book Review, 2nd Edition

Today I am continuing with some highlights from the book, The Power of a Woman's Words. Click here for the 1st edition.

When God created the world, He spoke.  He used words.  

"By the word of the Lord were the heavens made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth."

Psalm 33:6

This book talks continually about how our words have the power to encourage or discourage someone.  Here is an interesting analogy from the book:

Like a knife, the tongue has a sharp, powerful edge that can either be used to heal or destroy.  A knife in the hands of a skilled surgeon brings healing and life, but a knife in the hands of a felon brings death and destruction.

The tongue is difficult to control.  Our words should build up and not tear down.

The book also tells lots of stories, a lot including school teachers & how they encourage & discourage students.  One story, however, was about an inspiring writer.  Here is the quote:

Don't give up when you are rejected.  The difference between a writer and a published author is that the published author doesn't give up.  You can do it.  Press on!

Another great quote from the book:

Every individual believes deep down that he or she has a greater capacity for success than they are currently experiencing.  They simply need someone who will believe in them and tell them so - someone who will fan the flame rather than extinguish the fire.  We have that potential with our words. 

I hope that some highlights from this book encourage you to be an encouraging voice & choose words carefully.  I am learning I do not have to say everything I think or feel.  The next chapters in the book deal specifically with speaking with your children, spouse, friends & others.  May I be one who speaks that I believe in my children, spouse, family, & friends.

Weekend Wrap-Up, Week 4

Monday, Monday...Today's Monday is a little different for us.  Avery will fly out of Bogota today with our team leader & Colombian pastor to Santa Marta, Colombia.  They will attend the Colombian Presbytery General Assembly.

I Googled Santa Marta, & this was one of the first images I found.  Santa Marta is located on the Pacific Coast of Colombia.  The girls & I will be back here in Bogota :(.  We will have press on with school, Spanish classes, & I will attend an informational meeting to enroll them in school this fall.

But on to the weekend.........

Isabella attended her first middle school event Friday night.  The English speaking church here has a middle school group that will meet twice a month.  She enjoyed it, although there were only boys here age, no girls.  Maybe some girls will come later though.  The girls in the group were all 2-4 years younger than she is.  The apartment where they meet is about 105 blocks south of us....translation, a taxi ride, bus ride, & walk about 10 blocks.  So it took us a solid hour to get there. We left home at 4:30 & arrived back home a little before 9pm.  

Saturday, basically I had a lazy day.  By lazy, I mean I did lots of laundry, cleaned out drawers of papers, did correspondence, & got caught up on a few other things.  I love Saturdays where I can catch up on things that fall behind during my week.  I was able to Skype with my parents & "see them".  Brook has a friend here & she was invited to spend the night at her house.  This is the 2nd time in 9 months Brook has done this, so it was fun for her.  

Sunday we went to church, and then came home for the day.  Avery found his new favorite store here, so he went to spend Christmas money while the girls & I stayed home.  I wasn't feeling 100% Saturday night or Sunday, so when I was in bed at 7pm (6pm Central time) Sunday night, I asked Isabella to bring me some hot tea.  

Sweet presentation was more than I asked for....she also brought honey, milk, & sugar.

This did the trick & helped me feel much better.

Brook spends her spare time fixing hair & she did this yesterday without even looking & I thought it looked pretty good.  This is a braid bun on top of her head.

Brook closed out the night with Facetime with her cousin Eden.  I was asleep before they hung up, but I know they had fun.

Happy Monday!

Friday Favorites

My Friday Favorites

I saw this picture from another blogger this week, & it made me laugh.  In my family, my sister is the oldest, my brother is the middle child, & I am the youngest.  I texted this to them & think they found it funny too!  Mom & Dad, what do you think???

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Here I am in my new scarf & necklace my sister got me for Christmas.  When I put it on for church last Sunday, Brook told me I wear it "like every day".  That is not far from the truth.  I have been wearing this scarf 2-3 times a week.  4 things I love about this scarf:

1.  It is the softest scarf I've ever had.

2.  It is an infinity scarf, so easy to style!

3.  It is yellow....which is a neutral & goes with anything, solids or prints.

4.  It is from my sister.

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Another favorite of mine is for sure this GAP jacket.  I bought this on Black Friday while in Memphis, & 2 days later came back to Bogota without it :(.  The team from Memphis transported this back to me & I know I wore it for 2 days straight....like even sleeping in it.  I wear it on the off days when I'm not wearing my scarf, ha!  I bought this from the GAP outlet & it has been a warm jacket to thrown on over anything.  I also recommend everyone have one.

We got another round of Christmas cards this week....14 to be exact!

We've lived in our new apartment for over a month now & just got curtains for our bedroom window Wednesday.  Here they are in the open view.  We have a balcony with a sliding door, so we couldn't get traditional curtains or shades.

Here are the curtains closed.  They are called Japonese style curtains.

Happy Weekend!!

Week at a glance

How is it Thursday again, mid-way through January?  How have I lived in Bogota for 9 months? How has almost 14 years gone by since my first daughter was born?  

Looking back a day at a time, our days go by fast here due to Spanish.  Tuesday, I spent the morning working on MTW paperwork, then had a Lego project.

Brook has so many Lego sets, & most of them were accidentally taken apart when we moved.  So since then, Legos have been scattered in different places in her room.  I made it my goal to organize at least some of these & try to assemble some projects.  Avery helped me with this too.

Avery & I went out for a date night at a new restaurant at the mall.  We like that most of our favorite places are located in the mall near us.  This really helps when not having a car or having to get out in Bogota traffic!

The waitress gave Avery this bib for his meal, so he put it on for the picture :)

My dinner....salmon, plantain, salad

Avery's dinner....steak, rice, & kind of like potato salad?

Wednesday was Brook's school day, so that's always an early start.  I worked on Spanish homework while she was in class.  I had Spanish class in the afternoon, then we went to meet with our team leader for a few hours, then I went to the grocery store.  We talked with our team leader about many things, one of them being our travel plans to the states this summer.  We hope to work on tickets soon!!  Avery attended his church leadership meeting he has each Wednesday night, & the girls & I stayed home.  I skyped with my good friend, Lauren, who moved to Honduras, but is now in the states for a short time, all while I was texting a friend in Guadalajara.  I love keeping up with friends around the world, including those in the states!

Today, is my other day off from Spanish.  I am headed to tennis practice with Isabella where I will work on homework.  Then the day is full of lots of emails I need to send & a few cleaning projects.  Also, today I made biscuits to share with our language teacher.  I love introducing her to Southern, American food!

Bogota Bridges

Today's blog post is brought to you buy www.bogotabridges.com.

Happy Wednesday!

Show & Tell Tuesday, Organization Edition

Today's Show & Tell Tuesday link up is on the topic of organization. Living in a small space certainly reduces clutter, yet there is always still stuff to clean up & organize here.  Today, I will show a just a few ways I like to keep things organized.

I bought this magazine last fall while in the states & enjoy looking through these type magazines for inspiration.  I would encourage you to do the same!

This is an advertisement from a store in Bogota.  They also advertise organizational containers at this time of year.  After Christmas is a great time to organize, throw away, & streamline papers, & donate things.

These are my favorite, most often used, & practical organizational tool I have.  These are all empty lemonade containers (which we use a lot of!) that I use to organize art & office supplies.  Basically, clear containers seem to be a great way for organizing most things, whether it be office or beauty supplies, or food items.

It is a super handy way to keep things separated.  I don't have a label machine, but it is pretty clear how I have things organized.

A peek into my closet...these are bins I bought to organize make-up & hair supplies.  Of course, if you have drawers in your bathroom, that would be a great place for these things too, I just don't have that here.  Drawers are great, but usually do need some sort of organizer inside of it if you are putting little things in there.  I particularly am a big fan of drawers in kitchen cabinets.

This is a small rack that I use for most of my jewelry.  I am not sure what this was originally designed for, but I like using it for my bracelets & shorter necklaces.  I keep earrings in a separate tupperware-like container.

I keep my longer necklaces on an over the door hook that hangs in my closet.  These are too long to fit on the previous jewelry container.

My scarves all hang on a plastic hanger in my closet.

While in the states, I bought a cheap pair of shower hooks (maybe for just a $1.00) & put them on a plastic hanger.  

It has been a great scarf hanger....easy to see what I have, easy to remove, & easy to return to its place (which is a key point in organization!)

In our den, we have 2 storage cubes.  I am also a fan of something that does double duty.  These storage cubes have lids & inside contains our throw blankets, & a few misc. electronic things.  They serve as a foot rest & tables for drinks, etc.  These are also great because they can fold down, so they are easy to move.  We had a coffee table/storage bench we used in Memphis & really liked it too.  It is on loan to our niece now.  

This is just a small glimpse into organization tips from the Bridges home.  Neither Avery nor myself are extreme on neatness all the time, but we do like a clean house with clean lines.  We are use to living in a small space, so it has trained us to be organized & clean in many ways.  I hope you've found something helpful & would love to hear any of your organizational tips too!

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