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Today I want to share a fav. Straight from the heart of the Texan who didn’t know the gold she had in front of her until it was gone. Obviously I am meaning my queso recipe. From tried and true measures to failures, and only having certain kinds of cheeses in the UK (cough – not American which is what it’s actually made from in most Tex Men restaurants) here it is:

• 1-2 blocks of cheddar cheese
• 1 smaller block of Mexican or spicy cheese
• 1-2 cups of milk (or more for liquid purposes)
• 1/2 sour cream (optional
• 1/4 cup of cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder 
• 1 teaspoon of paprika
• 1 teaspoon of cumin
• A generous splash of beer (optional – but actually makes a difference…)
• Garnish with diced tomatoes and cilantro or Rotel if you have it (all optional)

Mix all together and slowly cook down. Add more milk if needed. Once it’s the consistency you want it, blend with a hand blender until smooth and creamy. Serve until you are satisfied.

This next recipe is from my Aunt Angie. I ate way to much of this stuff when I lived with her before getting married.

• Salsa recipe:
• 1 can of tomatoes
• 1 can Rotel
• 1 big piece of garlic
• A small chunk of yellow onion
• Sprinkle cilantro in it
• Pinch of salt
• A little lemon juice (or lime)

Now we can’t normally get Rotel over here unless you want to pay top quid for it, but I’ve been known to ask a family member to bring it over when they visit. Otherwise, you can make your own here. Sometimes I just diced tomatoes and some jalapenos to make up for the lack.

We have all felt the overwhelming societal pressure to “stay busy”, whether it be during these times, or before. Many of us have been furloughed from work and now have less of a rigid agenda to akin to. This allows us to carve out space for a new daily routine, one that can hit pause on life and re-connect with our Lord. 

I know some of us have kids and that can definitely keep us pretty busy. Or some of us are keyworkers and now have even less time to relax. But I invite you to form new habits; ones of rest, reading the word, meditation on it, and quieter walks along your road (challenge: a prayer walk!).

Personally, I don’t think I’ve ever had such a singular stretch of time with no timetable that I have to keep up with, probably since I was a child. Even on holiday there is always somewhere to go, something to do, or a new city to discover.

I now get to wake up when I want, sleep when I want, eat and drink… when I want. It’s freeing and a blessing. In fact, my head has never been so clear or at peace, even with traumatic circumstances. I’ve had time to catch up with life and breathe. I’ve been able to slow down with each turn and bend that needs to happen along the road we travel. It’s healthy, not only mentally but spiritually. 

Friendships I’ve neglected due to “not enough time in the day?” I’m now able to spend time re-connecting with them again. All of those emotions and feelings I’ve pushed to the side or have pushed down into the crevices of my mind? I’ve been able to think about them and embrace them. And I’ve been able to let them go as needed, too. 

I’ve never had so much time to sit, and to think, and also get bored. I have no pull to “do” anything, and this has faced me with the ability to thrive. It has stretched me, rested me, and even allowed me to grow and develop with a healthy and full-minded state of being.

I believe the Lord is calling us to this; our whole sense of being committed to Him, committed to His causes, and His times of peace. We are called to more intimacy and companionship with our precious Saviour. We are called to choose faith over our own fears and the fear that the world is throwing our way at every turn – if even for five more minutes than normal.

We can now find sheer moments of each day we are given to truly delve into our thoughts and feelings, and focus on them with the presence of the Lord surrounding us. It’s refreshing and life giving, and a necessity to our walk with Him. We no longer have to rush around and get somewhere, sacrificing ourselves for the sake of a job, or school, or dare I say it, people who might be toxic. We have time to soul search and see what’s really underneath the surface of our skin. 

This is our time of self-reflection; to turn inward instead of outward. How’s our relationship with God really doing? Now that we have time to spend with Him, are we doing so?

He is drawing us near with the intention of self-discovery, without the chaos of life tugging and pulling us every which way. He is inviting us to form a deeper partnership with Him with a stable foundation of time, peace, rest, and contentment. It’s something we can carry forward into whatever the world may look like after this virus has left us. In its wake, we will awaken.

Isaiah 32:17-18 says, “and the effect of righteousness will be peace, and the result of righteousness, quietness and trust forever. My people will abide in a peaceful habitation, in secure dwellings, and in quiet resting places.”

When has this ever been truer than now? We are in a true quiet, a true peace. Our souls are cleansed of the daily chaos and bustle of a busy life. We are slowed to the pace of a Sovereignty who is not worried about where He has to go and is certainly not worried about keeping face like we as humans often do.

Isaiah 26:3 reminds us, “you keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.”

We can find true peace and now actually take the time to search for it; since let’s be real – what else do we have to do? Even as some of us head back to work or have had to continue working during these crazy times, let us embrace the slower crawl of the world as it is right now, and match our pace again to Christ’s who will never fail us. 

We didn’t get married… yet! As I talked about on an earlier post, these are the photos from the photoshoot! Gotta top this with our own wedding photos, but how!?

Blog up on Engage Weddings. Thanks Lee Rushby and other involved in this shoot for all of your hard work! Flawless!

This shoot was beyond fun and prepared us for the big day, mentally, spiritually, everything. We almost wanted to call a few of our friends and fam and just get it all over and done with! I also honestly would have never done red and navy but the outcome made me want to change my whole wedding scheme.

You can view the rest here!

So for 10 days Josh and I are doing this new detox, where all you drink is spinach plus fruit in a smoothie with flax seed, and have nuts and dried fruit throughout the day. You’re allowed one meal a deal but it has to be clean eating should you choose to accept it. Today and tomorrow I don’t have a choice as I already agreed to meet with some friends so it’s ON for those two meals. Talk about wedding ready, though! Technically only doing this for Josh for moral support but it will be nice to flush out all of the GMO laden American food. I also found this incredible place to run called Houghton Hall. It’s a dog park, and if I run around the woodsy areas (it looks like Narnia on forest crack) like three times it’s about 7k. So no complaining.

Wedding update! We found a photographer named Joy Jobi (She’s gonna be a joy to have around!!! Okay I cringed too on that one…) and her photos are ridiculous and beautiful! And let me tell you, I DO NOT like wedding photo sessions where everyone has to stand around for hours snapping pics and not eating the food. And we’re having fajitas so I will be in there like first in line, lemme tell ya. So 30 minutes tops of some posed photos and then queso. Which I will have to either import because they don’t really have it here, make it myself, or find it in a speciality shop. Oh my. Other news is, we started to buy some decor for the tables and have decided on a flower girl dress. We’re just waiting for one of our flower girls to get over the chicken pox. My next saga here has been avoiding the pox since I have never had it, nor had the vaccine. And they don’t do vaccines here for it, so every year little kids are getting it. AHHH. Do I just get it so it’s not ever a problem, or just pray extra hard every year? Prayers ya’ll.

In other news, I am just hoping that my caffeine free next 10 days doesn’t get to me. I haven’t stopped drinking coffee since I started it like probably 15 years ago? Definitely due for this detox. Already popped an aspirin.

Cheers xx