Good day all!!
Update: Private surgery date has been set for May 12th. Cost is now $2000. We are praying for the funds which are due on date of surgery.
Doctor says surgery is urgently needed to avoid permanent nerve damage to my foot and leg. I'm still on their cancellation list and if my name comes up on that list before May 12th I won't have to pay for my surgery.
Please pray that we'll have the funds when needed. Right now I have absolutely no source of income as EI has denied me a medical claim. I have sent in an appeal but have yet to hear from them on this matter. I'm not allowed to work you can see that we are in financial hardship at the moment. I was told that my EI should begin again mid-May (but I was originally told that I qualified for the medical EI...).
Please also pray for my surgeon, his aids, and the anaesthetist. Spinal surgery is not without it's risks and complications so I'd prefer to have The Great Physician present, guiding everyone involved in my surgery.
I will only be staying one night at the False Creek Surgical Centre and will be discharged the next day. They say recovery should be four weeks. Freddy's wedding is on the 28th of May and I am hoping to be physically capable to perform all my duties for that special day. I'm looking so forward to my dance with my son on his wedding day!!
So, you can see that I truely do covet your prayers!! Please add my name to any prayer list you come across!! I'm so looking forward to getting up and about again!
Thank you for all your prayers. Without them, I believe we wouldn't have come this far this fast!!
Much love,
Go with God!
Lea B.
-- Post From My iPhone
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Why Not Trust God Again by Kurt Carr
After my stressed out doctor's visit last week this song seems a tad appropriate:
When life seems cruel
And so unfair
With each new day it seems a greater problems waiting there
For each step forward I take
Seems I get pushed two steps behind
Don’t think I’m going to make it sometimes
Don’t think my nerves can take it this time
As I’m about to call it quits a solution comes
Why not trust God again
I know that He can do it
I pray again, believe again
My God will work it for my good again
I know that He will see me through it all
If I trust in God again
Is there a mountain standing in your way
Is there a loved one you’re worried about today
Is there a blessing you desire that seems intangible
Instead of giving up the fight
Cling to faith with all your might
The One who’s seen you through before is still able
Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus
Just to take him at his word
Why not trust
Chorus:
Why not trust God again
I know that He can do it
I pray again, believe again
My God will work it for my good again
I know that He will see me through it all
I will, I will, I will trust in God again ( repeat )
Do you want to hear this beautiful song?? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ksdwKRVLiNw
Go with God!
Lea B.
-- Post From My iPhone
When life seems cruel
And so unfair
With each new day it seems a greater problems waiting there
For each step forward I take
Seems I get pushed two steps behind
Don’t think I’m going to make it sometimes
Don’t think my nerves can take it this time
As I’m about to call it quits a solution comes
Why not trust God again
I know that He can do it
I pray again, believe again
My God will work it for my good again
I know that He will see me through it all
If I trust in God again
Is there a mountain standing in your way
Is there a loved one you’re worried about today
Is there a blessing you desire that seems intangible
Instead of giving up the fight
Cling to faith with all your might
The One who’s seen you through before is still able
Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus
Just to take him at his word
Why not trust
Chorus:
Why not trust God again
I know that He can do it
I pray again, believe again
My God will work it for my good again
I know that He will see me through it all
I will, I will, I will trust in God again ( repeat )
Do you want to hear this beautiful song?? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ksdwKRVLiNw
Go with God!
Lea B.
-- Post From My iPhone
Friday, April 9, 2010
MRI is DONE!
Well, I suppose I should be whooping and hollering because this huge mountain has been climbed but now comes the hard part: convincing the surgeon that surgery is needed right away.
My doctor says that I'm able to mask the pain to a point where the surgeon commented to her that patient appears to not be in any pain. Well, when I met this strange person I was, of course, on my bestest behaviour! I was also on painkillers which numbs the pain and makes it bearable to move around.
She now suggests that I go to see him to discuss results but go without having taken the painkillers! Just the thought of this brought me to tears in her office (cue sunglasses!). She quickly changed her mind and said that if I could explain the pain to him (and cry about it) that that should suffice. I'm not sure what to do...
I don't ever want to feel that pain again! I cannot miss my pills or I'm in agony for hours afterwards. I will have to find a middle ground. I don't know when my appointment is but will post about it after the fact with what went down.
On a brighter note, I've ordered the dress I'm wearing to my son's wedding at the end of May. I ordered a size 12 but am hoping to be a size 10 when it arrives... We'll have to see... weight has stayed the same for the last couple of birthday weeks and hasn't gone down at all... So, I ordered a safe 12. :)
I can't sit up any longer... I had to type up an appeal on an Employment Insurance decision to NOT pay me any sickness benefits while I have this injury. It's frustrating and I'm doing what I can to explain my situation to them, one that I feel should be supported financially by them. Having worked in the Federal Government I am aware that special situations exist all over the place and am hoping that I may qualify for an adjustment and a back payment from them.
Still seeking your prayers for my back (and might as well throw the financial situation in there too!! :) ). Thank you to all who have been prayerfully supporting me during my time of crisis.
Much love in Him,
Lea B
My doctor says that I'm able to mask the pain to a point where the surgeon commented to her that patient appears to not be in any pain. Well, when I met this strange person I was, of course, on my bestest behaviour! I was also on painkillers which numbs the pain and makes it bearable to move around.
She now suggests that I go to see him to discuss results but go without having taken the painkillers! Just the thought of this brought me to tears in her office (cue sunglasses!). She quickly changed her mind and said that if I could explain the pain to him (and cry about it) that that should suffice. I'm not sure what to do...
I don't ever want to feel that pain again! I cannot miss my pills or I'm in agony for hours afterwards. I will have to find a middle ground. I don't know when my appointment is but will post about it after the fact with what went down.
On a brighter note, I've ordered the dress I'm wearing to my son's wedding at the end of May. I ordered a size 12 but am hoping to be a size 10 when it arrives... We'll have to see... weight has stayed the same for the last couple of birthday weeks and hasn't gone down at all... So, I ordered a safe 12. :)
I can't sit up any longer... I had to type up an appeal on an Employment Insurance decision to NOT pay me any sickness benefits while I have this injury. It's frustrating and I'm doing what I can to explain my situation to them, one that I feel should be supported financially by them. Having worked in the Federal Government I am aware that special situations exist all over the place and am hoping that I may qualify for an adjustment and a back payment from them.
Still seeking your prayers for my back (and might as well throw the financial situation in there too!! :) ). Thank you to all who have been prayerfully supporting me during my time of crisis.
Much love in Him,
Lea B
Monday, April 5, 2010
Strawberry Shortcake Trifle
It's my mother's 87th birthday weekend! Every year I make her an angel food cake with strawberries & whipped cream, her absolute favourite!
This year, with my injury, I was not looking forward to the finickiness of the whole thing: trying to cut it in half horizontally evenly, to remember what order the innards were in, getting enough strawberry juice into the cake so that it would saturate enough to her liking, and the worst, making sure that all seams, corners, and sides were covered thickly enough in whipping cream to look beautiful. See what I mean?Finicky!
A few days before the roast beef and Yorkshire pudding (that's an amazing recipe unlike any other I've seen anywhere!) dinner I was thinking of the cake and remembering everything I'd need from the store: fresh dark strawberries, whipping cream, a Betty Crocker angel food cake, and a container of frozen crushed strawberries in juice. It was then that I thought about getting two boxes of cake so that I'd have one on hand for last minute ideas (The @DailyChef I love and curse you simultaneously!
) and just in case my cake failed somehow; it was too important an occassion for any errors! I was remembering my absolutely failed fallen chocolate cake and how @BettyCrocker cake to my rescue with a Chocolate Peanut Butter Trifle that was an AMAZING success! (Again, another recipe!) Could I do this with this cake? Surely! Would I dissappoint my mother? An absolute possibility! Would she say something hurtful before trying it and loving it? Another absolute possibility! I was very scared but my sense of adventure was piqued! All these great, impressive, Tweeting bloggers out there were my encouragement.
Now, if you don't have a trifle dish/bowl there is NOTHING stopping you from having one! Walmart has a simple one for just under $7! That's right! My friend Gail and I were on my quarter-yearly shopping trip to the States at the Bellingham Walmart on the Guide Merridian when I needed a trifle dish & there it was! Affordable & simple! We were so happy to find it!
I prepared my cake but for some reason, my impatience perhaps?! I turned it right-side up too early and it fell and slid right out of the pan! I set that mess on the cooling rack and started all over!
Cake done and cooled, I removed my whipping cream bowl and beaters from the freezer where they'd been chilling for 30-60 minutes. Using a 500ml carton of whipping cream (the real thing!), about 1/4 cup of Splenda white sugar (get it in bulk at Costco to save a bit of $), and about 2 tsp of vanilla extract (I prefer to use my Watkins White Vanilla when making whipping cream & a white icing to keep the colour as pure as possible). I stationed my husband on the other counter with these tools and a silicone spatula and got him beating the whipping cream. When he started to think it was ready I encouraged him to continue. I'm looking for not just soft peaks but for a stiff, chunky appearance to appear. ;) At that point I told him to make a well and to add the Splenda white and the vanilla. (Note: Splenda white inhaled is no fun so make sure you do what you need to to make sure it's a but mixed in before starting your beaters up again! ;) )
Ok, trifle dish in hand, fresh strawberries washed and deflowered (ok, can't recall term for removing leaves & making that triangular cone shaped cut in the top to remove whitish core... Shucking comes to mind but that's for corn, so I'm going with deflowering! So there!), frozen strawberries thawed and opened, both cakes sitting at the ready, and whipping cream whipped I began my masterpiece!
I placed cubed/bite-sized pieces of cake on the bottom of the dish (it's a squishy cake so I quickly abandoned the knife and ripped off pieces between 1-2 inches cubed) leaving about an 1/8-1/4" of space between pieces. (If when making trifle you place your pieces too close you may end up with dry cake pieces at the bottom when serving. They need a "bit" of moisture so leave a bit of room.) I then added a few heaping tablespoons of the mushy strawberries and a layer of whipping cream and pressed down gently to fill those spaces. On top of this layer of whipping cream I laid down some of the thin (maybe about 1/8" thick) fresh strawberry slices. Not a lot of them, maybe around 10. (In retrospect I should've cut these in half, top to bottom, for the onside of the cake. Their size proved awkward when eating.) I then took some and stood them up along the glass around this layer for presentation. (Notice on the picture how you can see inside your cake? To make what looks like a mess a bit nicer, try to think of the ingredients of your trifle and how they can be eye-pleasing as well as yummy.)
I then continued this process of cake, mushy strawberries, whipped cream, and fresh strawberry slices till I got to the top. (The reason I added the fresh strawberries was to give this yummy, mushy, soggy, dessert some texture, some interest for the teeth. :) )
Now that you're at the top ensure you end with a layer of whipping cream and then you can either leave it that way or use some of your sliced strawberries or some whole strawberries as decoration. I recommend locating your best looking (darkest) strawberries at the beginning and putting them to the side until the end.
I covered my concoction with plastic wrap & refridgerated until I served it.
How did it go over, you may be wondering? I don't know what happened but my mother's face lit up when she say the beautiful trifle. :) I was very afraid of that initial reaction but with all the baking and learning I've been doing from my two favourite Twitter foodies (@DailyChef and @BettyCrocker) I think she trusted me to take her favourite dessert & improve it! I was so happy that everyone loved it. Seconds were seen to be had by a few!
You may be wondering what I did with that last bit of mushy strawberries? (Don't you just hate incomplete recipes/instructions?) I took my leftover fresh strawberries and diced them up, added them to the remaining mushy strawberries w/1-2 tbsp of white sugar and stirred. This was refrigerated until dessert when it came out and was served on top of each serving. Enjoy!
Served 6 (with a few people having seconds & two servings sent home with the birthday girl!)
At a shower or a potluck this could've served 12-16 people.
At my house though... ;)
Indredients:
1-2 boxes of Betty Crocker Angel Food Cake (my preference)
500ml (2 cups for my American friends) Whipping Cream
Large clamshell of fresh ripe strawberries (about a dozen LARGE strawberries)
2 containers of frozen strawberries in juice (about 500ml sized containers)
Water for cake mix(es)
1-2 tsp Vanilla for whipped cream
1/4 cup Splenda White Sugar (or white sugar) for whipped cream
Directions:
Bake cake as directed, let cool completely. Remove from pan and using your hands break up into bite-sized pieces. (I did this as I put them into my dish. No prepping is really required)
Whip your whipping cream as directed above or as you usually would.
Wash & slice your fresh strawberries reserving about 4-6 of the best looking ones for garnish.
Defrost your frozen strawberries overnight in your cleaned sink or dish drainer.
Layer cake, mushy strawberries, whipped cream, and fresh strawberries as instructed above ending with a whipped cream layer.
Garnish with whole or sliced strawberries. Wipe off any stray whipping cream near the top of your dish, cover & refrigerate for at least an hour. Serve chilled and enjoy!
Because of my flopped cake I have a bit of cake left over. I also have another carton of whipping cream and some frozen blueberries lurking in my freezer and a delish recipe for a blueberry sauce that uses oranges! Do you smell a sequel? ;)
Go with God!
Lea B.
-- Post From My iPhone
This year, with my injury, I was not looking forward to the finickiness of the whole thing: trying to cut it in half horizontally evenly, to remember what order the innards were in, getting enough strawberry juice into the cake so that it would saturate enough to her liking, and the worst, making sure that all seams, corners, and sides were covered thickly enough in whipping cream to look beautiful. See what I mean?Finicky!
A few days before the roast beef and Yorkshire pudding (that's an amazing recipe unlike any other I've seen anywhere!) dinner I was thinking of the cake and remembering everything I'd need from the store: fresh dark strawberries, whipping cream, a Betty Crocker angel food cake, and a container of frozen crushed strawberries in juice. It was then that I thought about getting two boxes of cake so that I'd have one on hand for last minute ideas (The @DailyChef I love and curse you simultaneously!
) and just in case my cake failed somehow; it was too important an occassion for any errors! I was remembering my absolutely failed fallen chocolate cake and how @BettyCrocker cake to my rescue with a Chocolate Peanut Butter Trifle that was an AMAZING success! (Again, another recipe!) Could I do this with this cake? Surely! Would I dissappoint my mother? An absolute possibility! Would she say something hurtful before trying it and loving it? Another absolute possibility! I was very scared but my sense of adventure was piqued! All these great, impressive, Tweeting bloggers out there were my encouragement. Now, if you don't have a trifle dish/bowl there is NOTHING stopping you from having one! Walmart has a simple one for just under $7! That's right! My friend Gail and I were on my quarter-yearly shopping trip to the States at the Bellingham Walmart on the Guide Merridian when I needed a trifle dish & there it was! Affordable & simple! We were so happy to find it!
I prepared my cake but for some reason, my impatience perhaps?! I turned it right-side up too early and it fell and slid right out of the pan! I set that mess on the cooling rack and started all over!
Cake done and cooled, I removed my whipping cream bowl and beaters from the freezer where they'd been chilling for 30-60 minutes. Using a 500ml carton of whipping cream (the real thing!), about 1/4 cup of Splenda white sugar (get it in bulk at Costco to save a bit of $), and about 2 tsp of vanilla extract (I prefer to use my Watkins White Vanilla when making whipping cream & a white icing to keep the colour as pure as possible). I stationed my husband on the other counter with these tools and a silicone spatula and got him beating the whipping cream. When he started to think it was ready I encouraged him to continue. I'm looking for not just soft peaks but for a stiff, chunky appearance to appear. ;) At that point I told him to make a well and to add the Splenda white and the vanilla. (Note: Splenda white inhaled is no fun so make sure you do what you need to to make sure it's a but mixed in before starting your beaters up again! ;) )
Ok, trifle dish in hand, fresh strawberries washed and deflowered (ok, can't recall term for removing leaves & making that triangular cone shaped cut in the top to remove whitish core... Shucking comes to mind but that's for corn, so I'm going with deflowering! So there!), frozen strawberries thawed and opened, both cakes sitting at the ready, and whipping cream whipped I began my masterpiece!
I placed cubed/bite-sized pieces of cake on the bottom of the dish (it's a squishy cake so I quickly abandoned the knife and ripped off pieces between 1-2 inches cubed) leaving about an 1/8-1/4" of space between pieces. (If when making trifle you place your pieces too close you may end up with dry cake pieces at the bottom when serving. They need a "bit" of moisture so leave a bit of room.) I then added a few heaping tablespoons of the mushy strawberries and a layer of whipping cream and pressed down gently to fill those spaces. On top of this layer of whipping cream I laid down some of the thin (maybe about 1/8" thick) fresh strawberry slices. Not a lot of them, maybe around 10. (In retrospect I should've cut these in half, top to bottom, for the onside of the cake. Their size proved awkward when eating.) I then took some and stood them up along the glass around this layer for presentation. (Notice on the picture how you can see inside your cake? To make what looks like a mess a bit nicer, try to think of the ingredients of your trifle and how they can be eye-pleasing as well as yummy.)
I then continued this process of cake, mushy strawberries, whipped cream, and fresh strawberry slices till I got to the top. (The reason I added the fresh strawberries was to give this yummy, mushy, soggy, dessert some texture, some interest for the teeth. :) )
Now that you're at the top ensure you end with a layer of whipping cream and then you can either leave it that way or use some of your sliced strawberries or some whole strawberries as decoration. I recommend locating your best looking (darkest) strawberries at the beginning and putting them to the side until the end.
I covered my concoction with plastic wrap & refridgerated until I served it.
How did it go over, you may be wondering? I don't know what happened but my mother's face lit up when she say the beautiful trifle. :) I was very afraid of that initial reaction but with all the baking and learning I've been doing from my two favourite Twitter foodies (@DailyChef and @BettyCrocker) I think she trusted me to take her favourite dessert & improve it! I was so happy that everyone loved it. Seconds were seen to be had by a few!
You may be wondering what I did with that last bit of mushy strawberries? (Don't you just hate incomplete recipes/instructions?) I took my leftover fresh strawberries and diced them up, added them to the remaining mushy strawberries w/1-2 tbsp of white sugar and stirred. This was refrigerated until dessert when it came out and was served on top of each serving. Enjoy!
Served 6 (with a few people having seconds & two servings sent home with the birthday girl!)
At a shower or a potluck this could've served 12-16 people.
At my house though... ;)
Indredients:
1-2 boxes of Betty Crocker Angel Food Cake (my preference)
500ml (2 cups for my American friends) Whipping Cream
Large clamshell of fresh ripe strawberries (about a dozen LARGE strawberries)
2 containers of frozen strawberries in juice (about 500ml sized containers)
Water for cake mix(es)
1-2 tsp Vanilla for whipped cream
1/4 cup Splenda White Sugar (or white sugar) for whipped cream
Directions:
Bake cake as directed, let cool completely. Remove from pan and using your hands break up into bite-sized pieces. (I did this as I put them into my dish. No prepping is really required)
Whip your whipping cream as directed above or as you usually would.
Wash & slice your fresh strawberries reserving about 4-6 of the best looking ones for garnish.
Defrost your frozen strawberries overnight in your cleaned sink or dish drainer.
Layer cake, mushy strawberries, whipped cream, and fresh strawberries as instructed above ending with a whipped cream layer.
Garnish with whole or sliced strawberries. Wipe off any stray whipping cream near the top of your dish, cover & refrigerate for at least an hour. Serve chilled and enjoy!
Because of my flopped cake I have a bit of cake left over. I also have another carton of whipping cream and some frozen blueberries lurking in my freezer and a delish recipe for a blueberry sauce that uses oranges! Do you smell a sequel? ;)
Go with God!
Lea B.
-- Post From My iPhone
Sunday, April 4, 2010
The Reason for the season!
When I look back on my childhood I could tell some stories! The story that is most important, the beginning of the story was in June 1981, it began when I was 16; that's when I found out. It was when the missing Piece fell into place. When I heard about how a Man had lived & died just because of His love for ME?? A huge weight, all the anger, fear, loneliness, confusion & misinformation was lifted as I picked up that cross!
I am SO thankful to Jesus for the life that He gave up so the I could live!
So, may I take this opportunity to remind you, in your chocolate haze, to remember The Reason for the season? If you, like I, don't know anything about why we are celebrating Easter and why you have been given a long weekend... I invite you to meet The Reason! He is just waiting to meet you!
He Is Risen! Happy Easter!!
Much love to you all!
Go with God!
Lea B.
-- Post From My iPhone
I am SO thankful to Jesus for the life that He gave up so the I could live!
So, may I take this opportunity to remind you, in your chocolate haze, to remember The Reason for the season? If you, like I, don't know anything about why we are celebrating Easter and why you have been given a long weekend... I invite you to meet The Reason! He is just waiting to meet you!
He Is Risen! Happy Easter!!
Much love to you all!
Go with God!
Lea B.
-- Post From My iPhone
Location:Surrey,Canada
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Happy Easter Everyone! Doctor's Appointment on Tuesday.
Years ago I heard Tony Campolo preach a message entitled: It's Friday... But Sunday's A Comin'." Well, today may be Saturday but Sunday is still a comin'! In case you don't understand this reference, Tony was saying that you may be in your darkest hour, but... Christ may be seen hanging on that old rugged cross, but... (as the saying goes) Help is on the way!
As you celebrate this long weekend with friends, family, and chocolate, remember the real Reason for the Season (interesting how that can be used here as well, isn't it?) and celebrate His return!
Tuesday we head off to the doctor's office for the MRI results. I'm not really sure why the doctor wants me to make this trip. We know I need surgery; there's a 1-year waiting list; there's nothing to be done except to wait... Check, check, and check! Am just glad I need a few more prescriptions refilled.
Yesterday was my mother's 87th birthday!! Happy Birthday, Mother!!
May the Lord Bless you.
He is risen!
Lea B
Sent from my iPhone
As you celebrate this long weekend with friends, family, and chocolate, remember the real Reason for the Season (interesting how that can be used here as well, isn't it?) and celebrate His return!
Tuesday we head off to the doctor's office for the MRI results. I'm not really sure why the doctor wants me to make this trip. We know I need surgery; there's a 1-year waiting list; there's nothing to be done except to wait... Check, check, and check! Am just glad I need a few more prescriptions refilled.
Yesterday was my mother's 87th birthday!! Happy Birthday, Mother!!
May the Lord Bless you.
He is risen!
Lea B
Sent from my iPhone
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