Sharing hope!

As Christians, we are called to share our earthly possessions. However, I don’t think this sharing should be limited to our own churches. It should be extended to others within our communities as well. However, it’s often very difficult to choose which charity to donate to. To make an informed decision concerning how your donation will be used, operating expenses of the charity, the paychecks earned by the charity’s full-time employees, and the beneficiaries of the charity must all be taken into consideration.

 What if I told you that there’s an easier way?

 Vessel Hope is a charitable organization that allows you to give anonymously, while still giving you the choice of who you want to help. If you know of a particular individual or family in your community that needs help, you can provide them the helping hand they need without them ever knowing it was you. Even better- you can rest assured that your donation is going directly to people in need!

 How does Vessel Hope work?

 When you decide that you are ready to give, you can use the website to fill out all applicable information. Then, a Visa Gift Card (loaded with the amount you determine) is mailed to the individual or family of your choice. The gift card can then be used anywhere Visa is accepted.

 What if I don’t know anyone in particular that I want to help?

 If you don’t have a particular person in mind, you can donate to Camp Boggy Creek, a special place where kids with chronic or life threatening illnesses can enjoy summer camp while still receiving the medical care that they need.

 More questions?

 Visit the Vessel Hope website!

 http://www.vesselhope.com/index.php

Cookies!

So I promised to try to post the recipe for Chocolate Chip Pumpkin cookies…and I finally remembered to do it! Even those who claim to dislike pumpkin are wowed by these- they’re incredibly delicious. I hope you enjoy these as much as I do. They’ll probably be the first thing I bake when I return home. Note: I don’t have the exact recipe that I use out here with me, but after much research, these one seemed to be the closest to mine. I would recommend adding a little pumpkin pie spice if you have some in the pantry. I have also experiment with using canned pumpkin pie filling as opposed to plain canned pumpkin with great success. 

Ingredients

• 4 cups white flour
• 2 cups old-fashioned oatmeal, uncooked
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon, ground
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups butter, softened
• 2 cups brown sugar, firmly packed
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 eggs
• 3 teaspoons vanilla
• 14 1/2 ounces solid-pack pumpkin
• 18 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Combine flour, oats, soda, cinnamon, and salt. Set aside.
3. Cream butter, gradually add sugars until light and fluffy.
4. Add eggs and vanilla; mix well.
5. Alternate additions of dry ingredients and pumpkin to butter mixture; mixing well after each addition.
6. Mix in chocolate chips (I usually mix by hand at this point because my mixer is so full).
7. Bake 12 minutes or until cookies are firm and lightly brown. 

Beautiful!

Hey everyone! So sorry for the delay in posting....all that "fighting the global war on terror" kind of got in the way of posting more frequently. Seriously, though, here are a few updates of what's been going on.

I have been working steadily towards my goal of running 100 miles. I run 4 times a week, and right now I have 64 miles completed. For all you non-math-geniuses, that's 36 miles left. 3 days a week I swim, and I'm up to about 25 laps (or 1 hour), whichever comes first. In fact, I'm having so much fun between these two activities that I've decided to add another: biking. That's right- I'm thinking of signing up for a sprint triathlon. I think it will be a blast! Anyone who wants in on the training/racing fun please let me know!

I am starting to get a bit anxious to get home. One of the (many) things I am looking forward to doing is baking. I can't wait to get back in my little kitchen (please hold the woman-get-in-the-kitchen jokes.) One of my favorite things to bake is Pumpkin Cookies. They're basically chocolate-chip cookies with pumpkin and whole oats- wonderfully moist and cake-y. I will truly try to remember to post the recipe later this week.

Finally, who has seen this gorgeous picture of Angelina Jolie breastfeeding? Apparently Brad Pitt himself took it. I love how you can see the wee little hand in the picture. You go, girl!