Beef and Pepper Recipe

Well, I have been staying with Wilson and Tanya this weekend and it has be a privilege!
Here is a recipe that I love and I finally asked Wilson how to make it and watched him make it.

Beef and Pepper

Marinade:
1.5 lbs. Tender beef sliced in bite size pieces (Tops sirloin, Flank Steak, Round steak, etc.)
2 Cloves Garlic
1/2 cup Soy Sauce
1 Egg
1 Tbls. Corn Starch
1-2 Tsp. Pepper
1 cap full or 1 Tsp. Sake (Rice Wine)

1. Marinade for 30 minutes in refrigerator (Longer it marinades, more flavor)
2. Slice 2 bell peppers (red, yellow or green) into bite size pieces
3. Place 1/3 cup oil in skillet.
4. When oil is hot, place meat mixture in it.
5. Brown meat mixture in skillet. When it is 1/2 done, add the pepper pieces
6. Cook until meat and peppers are tender.

Best served over sticky rice (brown rice works well too)

Alles Gute Zum Geburtstag!

So, while in Conway, two of my best friends Jessica and Laura were so sweet to make sure that I had a wonderful birthday.

First, I woke up to a wonderful card that said, "Oh Happy Day..." and then stuff on the inside like, "this is the day that the Lord made you"...I know, I know--cheesy! But I liked it. It was all decorated pretty and thoughtful :-)

And then later on Jessica decorated the house for me and bought balloons. She put Happy Birthday! in like 10 different languages on her door, it was cute...she even included German and Hungarian since she knew that those were "family" languages. We went to dinner at Pia's (a small family owned Italian restaurant) with some friends and then headed back to Jessica and Laura's house to enjoy a wonderful tasting cake that Jessica made herself. She tried hard to do it while I was not home.

So, below are some pictures from my birthday! here I go...23 and only two more years till I am a quarter of a century.

Happy Birthday in different languages!

Megan, Rachel, me, Laura and Jessica at dinner.

Drew, Laura's boyfriend, Laura and Rachel

Blake and Megan, me and Jessica

Me and Jessica! I think we take great pictures ;-)

My free home made hot fudge sundae cheese cake...it was amazing!

unexpected gifts at Jessica's...
I love cards with written novels :-) they are the best as my love language is words of affirmation

Believe it or not...I had to take two breaths to blow these out...I'm getting old already :-(

Beautiful cake Jessica made with cream cheese frosting, my favorite!

Our Home is Safe!!

Dan made it home this evening as he spent the last few days with Tanya and Wilson (Thanks for taking him in).

Dan said that the house looks great. The windows are all in tact and there was no flooding. The grill hadn't even moved from where it was in the back yard. There was one piece of wood on the fence missing but that will be repaired. The electricity is on and the internet works.

We praise the Lord for keeping our home safe and for protection. Our thoughts and prayers go out to those who are still without power and we are grateful for your prayers through all this chaos in Texas.

We love you all! I just love having this blog as a way of communication. :-)

Conway #1

I planned a trip to visit my friends in Conway, Arkansas before I knew about this hurricane and I was here before it hit. I had a very very disturbing drive as the "Love-bugs" were out like rain on my windshield, which i had to stop and scrub off twice. I have posted some pictures as it was very nauseating as I was driving. I wasn't sure people would believe me so I had to post some pictures before I washed the car--and they are STILL stick in the grille and other areas, any idea for how to scrub them out??




So, here are a few pictures from our fun as we went to Fuji Japanese Steakhouse for lunch after church with our church group...a special treat for my birthday. And, Jessica taught me how to make my hair curly and I think I like it, what do you think?

Jessica and me

Laura, Jessica and me.

Laura, Jessica, Becca and me

Chris and Tiffany

Japanese Guy

Laura and her boyfriend Drew

Hurricane Ike Update 9/14/08

There is not much to update.

All of Houston's power was out as of yesterday morning and we received news that our power had been restored in our area last night.

We still are unsure if there was any damage to our home, wind or water damage. We are waiting for our landlord to make it over there, he said many power lines were down and it wasn't possible yesterday.

When we find out more information, we will update again. Until then, have a blessed day!

Thursday Hurricane Ike Update

Hello Everyone,

Since I have been receiving many calls/e-mails I decided to update everyone on our actions as Hurricane Ike heads our way. Fortunately, I am in Conway, Arkansas visiting friends this week while Dan was in Houston. He headed to Austin, Texas to stay with his sister, her husband and their two kids. So, for now, we are safe.

As for our house, we wont know until after the storm. The Lord is watching over us and we pray that He will watch over our home and what he has blessed us with.

The Hurricane is a Category 2 right now, but it is expected to strengthen to a Category 3 or even 4. The Gov. of Texas has issued an evacuation for the Galveston/ Houston surrounding areas and President Bush has issued a state of emergency for the entire state of Texas. The weather meteorologist's are saying that Houston will receive a lot of thunderstorms, rain and tornadoes.

At this time, we are safe and we have taken the necessary precautions in case our home is wind damaged or rain damaged. We do have renters insurance so we are praying it won't flood, but we have made sure everything important to us is off the ground. We have taken video and pictures of everything.

Please be in prayer for us as we wait to see what damage it any at all will be done.

We love you all and are grateful for your prayers always. We will update as we receive more news.

A first for me and a tribute to my Dad

This may sound weird, but I mowed the lawn today for the first time, it was tiring. I really give lots of credit to those of you who do it. I mowed and edged and used the blower and fertilized and watered the lawn and now I have 10 blisters to prove it!!

Growing up, my Dad would never let my brother or me mow the lawn because he wanted the lines straight (now he let's my brother). I must say, he ALWAYS has the greenest grass on the street and the most comfortable to play and lay on and I will always remember that. I don't think anyone could beat him with his grass :-)

So, the next time I'm mowing the lawn I will be thinking of Dad and all you who mow your lawn. This may seem silly but let me tell you, it is "tough" work!

Hope you all are well, have a nice weekend!

And a reminder...we are officially Texans now...we have plates and D.L