I Hope You Dance

On one of our first walks we discovered the pools at the back of the ship. There were several decks of pools there, joined by steps. I loved the view from the top railing, looking down on the pools and then the ocean.
This area was sheltered and the best part was that it was quiet . . . no live band, just a nice blend of old classics and soft rock/pop/country music played over the PA. I was lying in the sun, on my chair when I Hope You Dance, recorded by country singer Lee Ann Womack, came on . . . the words just so right for the moment . . . and for some reason the sentiment of what they said stayed with me as I surveyed life around me.

I hope you never lose your sense of wonder
You get your fill to eat
But always keep that hunger
May you never take one single breath for granted
God forbid love ever leave you empty handed

I hope you still feel small
When you stand beside the ocean
Whenever one door closes, I hope one more opens
Promise me that you'll give faith a fighting chance
And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance

I hope you dance
I hope you dance

I hope you never fear those mountains in the distance
Never settle for the path of least resistance
Living might mean taking chances
But they're worth taking
Lovin' might be a mistake but it's worth making

Don't let some hell bent heart leave you bitter
When you come close to selling out, reconsider
Give the heavens above
More than just a passing glance
And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance

I hope you dance
(Time is a wheel in constant motion always)
I hope you dance
(Rolling us along)
I hope you dance
(Tell me who)
I hope you dance
(Wants to look back on their years and wonder
Where those years have gone)
written by Mark Sanders and Tia Sillers

So much of what I saw and experienced on the ship was new and exciting. I was taking pictures of things I probably won’t next time, but traveling with people who have cruised a lot before, gave me a perspective I don’t want to lose in general.

One morning we shared our breakfast table with a woman from Akron, Ohio. She had been in the lineup ahead of us and was not happy that she could not get a window table, so we tried starting some friendly conversation with her even though her discontentment about most things came through loud and clear. When we told her that we were very happy with the food, she slowly and maturely said something like, “Well, ya see honay, ya don’t have notin’ to compare it to … but . . . in actuality … it really ain’t good.”

In retrospect, her words haunted me with a certain sadness, because they are so true to life. We can get so accustomed to good things, we begin to take them for granted. I’m not saying that this lady didn’t give thanks, but I know that we can so easily forget and, when we do, it can be a downward spiral.

A very long time ago, the apostle Paul wrote a letter to the Christians in Rome, explaining why God’s wrath was being revealed against the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth. He goes on to say, “For although they knew God, they neither glorified Him, nor gave thanks to Him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.”
(Romans 1: 21) It basically began with not giving thanks.

Maybe this was my Thanksgiving Lesson . . . on the Sapphire Princess.

Mazatlan

On our second stop we walked off and thought we’d just take a walk and see the town. Little souvenir shops are strategically placed in such a way that you couldn’t miss them. Once we made our way through the shops, we were immediately bombarded with taxi drivers calling out to us as we walked in the scorching sun. One driver, in a pulmenia, caught our attention as he spoke perfect English and offered us a one hour tour for fifteen dollars. It sounded like an offer too good to pass up, so we hopped on.

Freddie is from San Diego and is married to a girl from Mexico.

Our first photo op was with El Faro in the background. We were told it is the tallest and only natural lighthouse in the world.

He proceeded to take us up the hill, stopping at several spots, to take in views of the ocean, Mexico’s longest boardwalk (beach front), cliff diving and a nice view of our ship from afar.

We came back down the hill and drove through the city, capturing some of the bright homes, tree lined streets and a courtyard park where Freddie and his wife like to hang out on weekends.

We had seen a church from the ship and asked if he could take us there. He stopped just outside this church, the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, which became the port’s second Catholic Church. It’s construction began in May 1875 and was finished in May 1899. The detail that these master bricklayers, ironworkers, carpenters and artists put into their work is astounding.

And one more . . . just outside the church (I couldn’t resist)

With a stop for ice cream, our tour ended up being almost two hours and I think we were the happiest tourists coming back on board.

Vacation on a Ship

cruise
(krooz)
v. cruised, cruis·ing, cruis·es
v.intr.
1.
a. To sail or travel about, as for pleasure or reconnaissance.
b. To go or move along, especially in an unhurried or unconcerned fashion:

For the life of me, I can’t understand what took us this long to take our first cruise! Did you catch the definition? . . . sail, travel, pleasure, unhurried, unconcerned . . .
I do not even know how to begin to really tell you about this without making this one super long post . . . a shortened version would be to quote a comment that a friend left on my “Travel Thoughts” post…
"You do not have to look for a hotel, because it is already waiting for you. You do not have to unpack every time you are in a new country or city…You do not have to find a restaurant for any of your meals, because that too is waiting for you. Unless of course you choose to go and do some exploring on land…You have everything, and then some, on board. Wonderful entertainment, movie theaters, pools, spas, libraries, some shopping, etc, etc, It is the only way to go! ! !"

At this time of year you can get in on some nice last minute specials and we decided that it would be a good time to check it out. Kristal, our now favorite travel consultant, did an excellent job of making all the arrangements for us. (It is a bonus to have a cruise agent in the family.)
Our ship was scheduled to set sail out of Los Angeles, CA on October 10th. We flew down, spending one day with Shaun and Kristal and our precious little grands (which I will post about on another day) and the next morning we headed to the port. It was all very different from what I had imagined. You may laugh, but I had this vision of walking up a ramp then registering at a table on the deck or maybe on the gangplank. (Too many old movies?)
In actuality, we entered a terminal much like an airport. We dropped off our luggage, checked in at one of the stations and went through security, before getting to the actual dock where the ship sat.

We boarded and found our way up to Deck 12 where our room was waiting for us and soon found our way to the buffet to get some lunch. After that there was much to explore! It took me all week to kind of figure out if I should go up or down when going someplace . . . but then, that’s just me.
For two days the Sapphire Princess steamed south, paralleling the coastline of the Baja California and continuing south to Puerto Vallerta. I loved the days at sea and the changing views of the ocean.

And inside . . . I had to shake off the feeling like I was possibly in a movie scene here . . .

. . . the grand atrium lobby where we hung out before our formal dinners, being serenaded by a continuous flow of live music entertainment.

I loved the many circular marble stairways with glossy banisters.

After relaxing days at sea or touring a Mexican port, it was a lot of fun to meet up with our friends for dinner . . .

. . . and a late night musical or comedy show in the theatre.

I have always heard about the endless serving of food and the beautiful presentations, but what surprised me was how relaxing it was to never have a care about the next meal and the joy of choosing from such a vast array – whether it be on a buffet line or from a fancy menu. What we ate, did not affect our cost . . . our waistline maybe, but no bill, since the menu did not even have prices! There was something to this whole idea that made it easy to become friends with our servers!

One morning, as we sat by the pool, a table was set up in one corner and soon I was a like a little girl, entertained by a fruit and vegetable carving show. Another show, hosted by the Princess’ Executive Chef and Maitre D’ Hotel, was presented more like a TV show in the theatre one morning. Like the cooks didn’t have enough to do with feeding three thousand passengers . . . they also took time out to show us some of their tricks.

After (or before) eating there was always the workout room, the spa or the track to burn off some calories. I opted for the complete “three times around the ship” walk (to get in a mile) and avoiding the elevator to hike up to our room every day.

After just one day in Puerto Vallerta, we headed in a north westerly direction for a short visit to Mazatlan the next day, followed by a third stop in Cabo San Lucas. We did not purchase any land tours ahead of time, so we had total freedom to just stay on the ship, walk the beach or hire a taxi to take us around town. I will tell you about one such excursion later.

Special Day

Dear Kristal,

I guess a Mom just never forgets

the feelings she experienced on the day

each of her children were born . . .

and yours is no exception . . .

especially considering that you came nine days early

and on the most special day of the year . . .

the day we also celebrate our Wedding Anniversary!

I remember holding you in my arms

and being overwhelmed with joy

at having a baby daughter again

and just beholding

how perfect you looked with your tiny nose.

Over the years we have teased you lots

about the strong will that came with your cuteness,

a strong will that you have used for good

in so many ways.

We have been so blessed to see how you have allowed

God to work in and through you . . .

being patient in afflictions, joyful in hope,

faithful in prayer, practicing hospitality

and never lacking in zeal.

You are beautiful!

We love you and are so proud of you!

Wishing you a blessed year ahead.

Love, Mom and Dad

And . . . remembering this day . . .

I did . . . I do . . . and I will

Our Favorite Bread

In thinking about this post, I did a bit of research, because it seems to me that bread has really gotten a bad rap lately. It was confirmed to me that bread, or some form of grain, has been a staple all over the world, literally since time began. Virtually every people group seems to grow and use a basic grain that’s used in one form or another, be it a flatbread or yeast bread.
Spiritually it symbolizes life. Jesus described Himself as being the bread of life. In the Old Testament the prophet Isaiah asked, “Why do people spend money on that which is not bread?” (Isaiah 55:1,2)

I may be wrong, but I think that our concerns about too many carbs can be the result of having so many varieties and choices that we lose track of how much we have. Plain and simple bread is still nutritious, inexpensive and a good choice to include in our daily diet.

About sixteen months ago I received an email from Lovella. Although we were friends when we were younger, we had just recently re-connected via her personal blog. She asked me if I'd be willing to submit some of my recipes to a new blog (which soon became known as mennonitegirlscancook). I really had no idea what this would mean, but to make a long story short, I never would have thought I could have so much fun with photography and cooking! Doing this with others of like mind, has given me inspiration, encouragement and new friendships, not to mention so many new recipes to enjoy!

The recipes on my sidebar are recipes I have submitted so far. What I would like to do is to add some of my new favorites from the cooking blog, to my own list. So this first recipe, which I would normally call Lovella’s Bread, is one that she posted about a year ago. You can find her recipe here. I have adapted it somewhat and found that it is quite a workable and forgiving recipe. It may help to know that.

Lovella's Multigrain No Knead Bread

Ingredients:

1 ½ cups multigrain flour or whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups unbleached or regular white flour

1 ½ tsp vital wheat gluten
¼ tsp instant yeast
2 tsp salt
1 ½ cups room temp water

Method:

1. You will need a heavy pot with a lid. If you don't have that , the next best thing is to use a large corningware or good clay pot with a lid. Line it with parchment paper.
2. Stir the flours, gluten, yeast and salt together in a large mixing bowl.
3. Add water and stir with wooden spoon. The dough will be shaggy – not the usual “baby bum” feeling.
4. Cover the bowl with a dinner plate and let rise for 12 – 15 hours. You read correctly and this is why it took me a while before I actually tried it. You have to figure out when is the best time to mix it. It takes about 2 minutes, so I do it when I’m making supper or just before going to bed.
   The next morning or noon:
5. Take off the dinner plate and sprinkle it with some porridge oats. Dump the dough onto the plate and sprinkle it lightly with flour and oatmeal, just so you can manage to shape it into a ball.
6. Carefully place it into your baking pot. Cover with lid and rise for another 2 hours.
7. Bake at 475F for 30 minutes with the lid on and then turn down the oven to 350F and continue baking for 10 minutes with the lid off.
   
   This bread has no fat or sugar, but it is very moist and even family members who didn’t care for whole wheat or grainy breads before, love it!

Give us this day our daily bread. Luke 11:3

As Kids see it

In the early 1980's, when Julene was small, my Dad had his accounting practice in the basement of their home. When we went to visit, Julene loved going down to his office and visiting with him, getting her hands photocopied, drawing on his special papers etc. My dad had recently purchased a computer, which was definitely not the norm to have in a home at that time.

One day, when she came back upstairs from one of her visits, Oma asked her, "Is Opa working hard in his office?" To which she replied, "No, he's just colorin and watchin TV."

One generation later . . .

We went to visit Julene and family in Indonesia. One day, wondering where they pick up their parcels that I send them, I asked Tehya, "Where do you get your mail?" To which she simply replied, "On the computer."