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Life is about the “Adventure”…that envelopes the simplicity of line, color, perspective and balance…all wrapped up in the emotions of life, that motivate us to change, be more than we are and inspire us and others to make the journey worthwhile, no matter where we end up.

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

YES YOU CAN LIVE BY BREAD ALONE...well almost






February 2nd, 2010:
My parents gave us a wheat grinder for Christmas, and we were so excited to start using it. I made several batches of bread successfully but only by babysitting our old oven to the temperature that kept fluctuating and made for a long sit to wait and watch and keep changing the controls to keep the temperature consistent enough to bake my goodies. Then one day just before I was ready to put the puffy raised bread in the oven, I opened the door to black smoke. I turned it off tried to scrap off whatever was causing the smoke on the bottom and then tried to turn it back on,..NOTHING, nauda,...just beeping sounds and no heat at all. My oven had officially DIED! I called a neighbor and borrowed her oven to bake that batch and then came home and frantically spent hours doing research to what was available and how much and what features. It was all very frusterating as we are so limited up here in Alaska for appliances and most things are ordered with a 6-8 week wait. THAT WAS NOT AN OPTION for me. I looked for a freestanding electric, glass top, white, convection oven of 30" width. However, our emergency fund was only $400, and an average oven with the features I wanted was at the bottom price level of $1000.00- up to $2500.00. Plus the liklihood of any store having what I needed IN STOCK and available with in a week or so was next to impossible.I did however email the store in Kenai where we had purchased the dead oven from and got a response of what they had and didnt have and how much. Guess what, they had something I could use and it was ON SALE! The reason was because it had been dropped and dented a bit, mostly cosmetic but considering what every one else had to offer it seemed the only deal. I still had no idea how we were going to come up with the money ($750 +240 *5 year warrenty=$990). THEN MY DAD called who had a strong feeling we were in need and he happened to have some funds available after the final signing and closing of their house selling in Washington. He called my mom, to talk with her first and she had been having the same strong feelings, so when he called he had NO IDEA ..he was a literal answer to a prayer, only moments before. I talked to Rob, told him of my parents offer, then had him double check what I had researched, get a hold of the store and asked permission if they'd stay open an hour past closing time, so he could drive up the 1 1/2 hours drive to Kenai and pick it up. This was on Saturday late afternoon, and if this wouldn't work out, we would have had to wait another whole week since Rob coudn't get the time off from his work in time to go get it durring thier store hours. So with in a few hours of my Dad's call and a few other calls to the store in Kenai, Rob drove up and picked up a new stove for us! He stopped in to see his Dad & Mina and didn't get home till almost 10pm. After church on Sunday two friends stopped by and helped move it into the kitchen, where Rob had to take off the power chord to the old one and attach it to the new one. (*did you know that you have to by the chords SEPERATLY??? thats so silly, glad there was nothing wrong with the old one). By that evening I had ground some fresh wheat into flour, with our new wheat grinder (ABSOLUTLY LOVE IT!) and made two batches of bread already. The only problem was..I had gotten use to the old oven NOT working that I almost burnt it.The new oven WORKS..it's HOT and stays at the same temp you set it at and the convection setting realy does cut the time in almost half!

I'm including some pictures of our NEW wheat grinder and of a GOOD batch of mini bread loafs, Lasagna (*we had for dinner tonight) and some Cinamon rolls I made that turned out great!
THANK YOU!
THANK YOU!
THANK YOU!
MOM & DAD!

You are generous beyond words and always seem to be the ones to deliver answers to our families prayers. I feel indebted to you ....for so much!