The kids at church just got back from a youth retreat called Winter Vision, and one thing they got out of the retreat was the concept of how each of us is a teacup. The red plastic cups used for parties is disposable. Coffee mugs are a little better than those plastic cups, but they seem to breed in my cabinet like rabbits, and also they’re “common,” they’re not anything special. Teacups, on the other hand, like the fancy ones in your mom’s china cabinet which you’re not supposed to touch, are precious and protected. We are each teacups—precious and protected by God. I thought it was a great way to think of ourselves. But I want to go one step further. Yes, teacups are precious and protected, but they also should be used. If they’re just on display, they’re of no use to anyone. Instead, people are using their common coffee mugs rather than the beautiful teacups. And yes, I do think it tastes better if it’s drunk from a fancy teacup. For my birthday, my mom had shipped to me t...

Most years, I ask God to give me a word for the year to focus on, and this year it’s been Worship. It actually coincides nicely with how our pastor is focusing on Prayer this year for our congregation, so I’ve recently been reading up on prayer, and finding how it includes worship in our communication with God. I read this book, Lord, Teach Me to Pray in 28 Days by Kay Arthur , a long time ago, but started reading it again to rejuvenate my prayer life this year. I’m enjoying it a lot so far. Some of it is stuff I remember, but some is stuff I’ve forgotten, and the Lord is speaking to me through the scriptures the author has me look up and study. Did any of you have a word for this year? How are things going with that? Any suggestions for me for my word for the year, worship?

I’m going to write a romantic suspense novella and I’m still in the planning stages. For those of you who’ve read my Sonoma series, what would you like to see? Any characters you want me to write about? If I use your idea, I’ll include you in the book dedication!

Has anyone seen the new TV show on Syfy, Helix? I just watched the first 2 episodes last night on On Demand. It reminds me of Resident Evil meets Outbreak or something like that. I’m not entirely sure if I’m hooked enough to want to keep watching it, although the creepy Asian scientist is fascinating in a Hannibal Lector kind of way. What have others thought about it?

If you ever go to Hawaii, you must visit Royal Kitchen and try their char siu manapua. It is a little golden bun so delicious that it will send you into a higher plane of consciousness. Basically, it’s marinated pork baked inside a fluffy bread bun. It’s like those Chinese steamed bao buns you see in restaurants and sometimes at bakeries, but manapua is usually baked rather than steamed. You can get steamed manapua too, but I tend to like the baked ones. You can get the manapua stuffed with char siu pork or other things. I’ve also eaten it with kalua pork , which is Hawaiian-style smoked braised pulled pork. Captain Caffeine had frozen some pulled pork he made in his smoker a few months ago, so I pulled it out of the freezer to make manapuas on my own, using this recipe for the bun. I’m too lazy to knead, so I used my bread machine to make the dough. I just put all the ingredients in my bread machine, with the liquid ingredients first and then the flour and yeast on top, and pu...

If you’re fine with how you look, you can skip this post. But I’ve been battling my weight almost my entire life and this year I want to do something about it. I’ve failed so many times and I wanted to figure out what I could do so that I wouldn’t fail this year. One thing I’m doing is blogging my goals to you guys. Nothing is more motivating than a public confession that my bum is the size of Oregon. I used to be okay because my upper body wasn’t really that obviously big, but now I’ve started to squeeze out of my bras like toothpaste out of the tube, which means I can no longer delude myself. I read The One Day Way by Chantel Hobbs, and I have to say, this was a great book to make me change my mindset for weight loss and healthy living. She really delves into the different way you have to think in order to accomplish your health goals and not give up by the end of January. It really has helped me to make better eating choices and to exercise every day. I really needed a book l...

I’m over at the Love Inspired Authors blog with a poll. Be sure to go weigh in!