A delectable hot chocolate recipe

My dear friend, Mrs. Kelly Harp, gave me this delicious hot chocolate recipe last year that I wanted to share, in light of the recent "snow" we just got in Houston.
If you have ever been to Elena's art blog, you will see that Elena is soon going to open a shop on Etsy. Mrs. Harp also does Etsy and here is a link to her business.
I could go on for quite a while about how warm, smooth, sweet, and just GOOD this stuff is but I think you should test it for yourself. Trust me, it won't fail. Sadly, I am not able to drink this delicious chocolate because I'm doing a dairy-free diet.

Mrs. Harp's Hot Chocolate

4 cups milk (can substitute half water)

1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp salt

Combine condensed milk, cocoa powder, vanilla, and salt in a pot over medium-high heat. Once combined, stir in milk slowly. Stir constantly until heated through. Do not boil!

In Christ,

Micaela

One Week

This is what I will be like a week from today...minus the beard, cards, great vintage suitcases, and wallpaper.

Yes, one more week until my

first hospital stay,

first time to undergo general anesthesia,
first time to go on a month long liquid diet,

and second time to feel like the elephant girl,

and hopefully the last time to have bizarre dreams on account of pain meds.

(Please, I am really not looking forward to the 3D, matrix-like spy dreams that leave me more tired than when I went to bed.)

To put it all in a nutshell, I've developed a class three...mandible...well, I don't remember the name but basically I have a severe under bite and my lower jar is askew by a few millimeters (Which means a lot when your trying to chew your food or talk without spiting). So, I've been wearing braces for the past few months to align my teeth to where they ought to be on my lower jaw line, all in preparation for this surgery.

Next Tuesday, Dr. Taylor will break both my jaws and set them properly.

And I'm not sure why, but I wish I could be there when he does it--I mean I wish I could see it happen on someone else. I've never seen a surgery before and I'm so interested to know how he will break it and everything. But I realize that this is not a popular opinion :)

And no, I'm not nervous...yet.

I'll know more details on Thursday when I meet with the very funny Dr. Taylor, his equally funny daughter/assistant, Patti, and different people at the hospital.

After that appointment I'll either post

"The Top Ten Reasons Why I Wish Tuesday was Not in the Seven Days" or

"Why I'm Thankful for General Anesthesia."

So, this week I am thinking about different smoothie ideas, what I'm bringing to the hospital, and wondering if I'll remember my semester of ASL--among other things.

As you've gathered, this is a bit of a big deal, so I'd like to do another "Photo of the Day" series; all with Mica's help and a bit of inspiration from NieNie again.

Stay tuned for more updates and "First Time" accounts!

Mia singing......

When Nicole and the kids(Sophia, Mia, and Dominic) last visited, Mica got this video of Mia singing "Light of the world". Actually, now that I think of it, Mia should have been eating her food! :) Oh well, here's the video:

Quote from The Pleasures of God

I am currently reading, among four other books, The Pleasures of God by John Piper This is my first book to read by him and by the first chapter he quickly became a favorite.

I was in Austin this past weekend and it gave me a good chance to really dig into books that have been neglected, this one included.

In one of the chapters, he discusses a letter he wrote to a man who didn't believe God is fully sovereign and he has a quote from A.W. Tozer on the subject. If you haven't read anything by Tozer, you really should. Here is a small taste of his writings:

"Omnipotence is not a name given to the sum of all power but an attribute of a personal God whom we Christians believe to be the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ and of all who believe on Him to life eternal. The worshipping man finds this knowledge a source of wonderful strength for his inner life. His faith rises to take the great leap upward into the fellowship of Him who can do whatever He wills to do, for whom nothing is hard or difficult because he possesses power absolute."

-A.W. Tozer

In Christ,

Micaela

Four and a half: Glass, Lunch, and Paint

Dear Mom and Mica,

Yes, two posts in one day; doesn't exactly follow code but there you have it.

Here is a photo of my delicious lunch; the pbj tortilla was...yummy.

I can't think of many other things that are better or equal to pbj tortillas, it's no wonder I grew up on them. I think the glass that was sweetly given made the milk taste even better.

I would post a picture of Caro and Dad's wonderful work on her desk but I'm not at liberty to disclose those photos to the public; besides, I value my life more than that photo.

See you tomorrow!

Love,

Elena

p.s.

Since this is the second letter I posted I really can't think of a thing to say in the "p.s. section"

Ah well.

Three/Four: Pardon Me Please

Dear Mom and Mica,

I'm very sorry there was no picture yesterday.

It was just one of those pictureless days that you shouldn't have when you are doing a "Photo of the Day" blog series. No real excuse.

But here is one of my favorite Norman prints, and no it does not represent yesterday in any way.

Caro and I spent the day cleaning, helping her with the dreaded algebra, and making meatloaf which didn't taste as good as Mom's. Ah well, one of the disadvantages of not being Mom, nothing tastes quite like hers.

I hope you like the way I re-arranged the room for the Superbowl; do you think they know that people re-arrange the furniture in their living room to make room for the telly for the day?

Love,

Elena

p.s.

Mica, I am wearing your purple long-sleeve shirt today. I'll wash it before returing it.

Two: Bye, Bye Bermiliad

Dear Mom and Mica,

Dad, Caro,and I are getting on quite well, especially since we were able to unlock the back door this morning (Thank you Mrs. Beach!)

I took out all of the dead plants and sticks in the front; it made me feel quite the "Safari Jane" in my jeans, dragging a great branch to the back. The weather was perfect.

Tomorrow we are planning/hoping to have our study someplace cold...with stones...get my drift? Dad and Caro are hoping that the cake shake is gluten-free (Never mind the "CAKE" part of it); I'm fine with Sweet Cream and strawberries :)

E called me today and now I'm very excited for next weekend, but I'll talk to you later about that.

Love,

Elena

p.s.

Dead plants smell absolutely "bisgusting", but crisp, fresh air is the remedy.

One: Lunch

Dear Mom and Mica,

Here is our humble salad with homemade dressings (yum!).

Through a series of events Dad was able to stay home for the day and we were able to have lunch together! I was suprised by how many dishes three people don't accumulate :)

I hope you are having perfectly delectable food at Tita's and that your time is sweet.

We miss you.

Love,

Elena

p.s.

I organized my closet today! I'll post a picture of my new and improved closet tomorrow.

While I was doing it I listened to a few of the messages from the SOS conference--very good!

Things to Do

Well, as it turns out, my Mom and Mica will be abandoning---I mean deserting---ahem.

Tomorrow my Mom and Mica will be going to Austin for the rest of the week; my grandpa has an appointment that he wanted my Mom to attend with him and Mica is going to accompany her, hug and kiss Tita, carry the three Stickies (Sophie, Mia, and Dom) like a donkey, and hang out with The Lovely Nicole. I must say that I feel a bit sad to be left behind; I'd love to smother the Stickies with kisses and spend time with Tita (sniff), but I'm sure Caro, Dad, and I will amuse and occupy ourselves very well :).

Here is my list for the week:

::Remove weeds and dead plants from our "flower" garden. I think our neighbors have looked at our wilted Bermiliads long enough.

::Organize and condense my closet to make room for a craft area; if I can waltz in there I may as well make room to create and store my craft things also.

::Create a "Photo of the Day" series while they are gone. I love the Nie and You blog that Nie Nie created and thought it would be a fun project for Caro and I, so stay tuned!

::Complete the new, gluten-free recipes for dinner! Our family has started this two-month gluten-free diet and we are having lots of fun trying recipes and discovering new favorites (Like the yummy plum-vinegar! Thank you Hood family!). Hopefully there will be pictures as well :)

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Picture Credit