how we did it

Since I've received so many comments and questions about the nativity set (doesn't Lucas' sheep rock!), I thought I'd let you in on the fun so you too can create one with your family/friends. First I must give all the credit to my mother who's brilliant and would always succeed in making each Christmas full of special surprises. My brother, sister and I created our first nativity set at her direction. And she would always make the most amazing wise men! They usually had awesome turbans and caftans on while holding an ornate treasure box.

1. Use Sculpey clay (you can buy it at Michaels, JoAnnes or craft store.  Buy a variety of colors and with a knife cut each block into 4-6 smaller pieces so that no one has to fight for colors. Each kid/adult can have a little bit of each color. If there's still the chance for fighting then put a bit of each color in a zip lock bag and each kid has their color palette ready to go (you can tell how I was when it came to sharing clay!). For more info on this amazing clay, check out sculpey.com

2. Begin with Alumnium foil and scrunch it together into the shape you're creating. Form a head, neck, shoulders... and basic body. Then you can smooth out thin flat pieces of clay and attach it over the aluminum foil. This helps it bake quicker in the end and also saves clay. 

3. Let creativity reign! You're nativity set can be set in your family's cultural/racial context or in the context of the Bible. Have fun! Let each person really do what they want. As you can see our nativity was very different... Joseph is mexican and Mary is a gypsy, one of the wise men is a woman, on and on. Also, feel free to put out toothpicks and things to poke and add details with. 

4. When you're done, pop the pieces in the oven on a cookie sheet for 15-20 minutes at 275 degrees F or 130 degrees C. Let them cool for a few minutes and ta da.. you have your hand made one of a kind nativity set!

Enjoy! We had a great time sitting around and talking/laughing making a lovely mess together.

p.s. my beautiful book is up and running (things I happen upon in daily life/art/creativity)... feel free to stop over and check out the beauty!

bcbeautifulbook.blogspot.com

re-creating a holiday in holland

We went all out for out first Thanksgiving in Holland. In a few years we'll probably be eating chicken and cold potatoes but this year we did out grandmas and mothers and cousins and aunt Annes proud! I made pumpkin pie (I'm very proud of the one above), apple pie and of course my Nana's rolls. Amanda and John conquered the turkey, freshest one I've ever had. We think it was probably still alive a couple hours before they picked it up from the butcher. Allie made an awesome salad, Julia made cranberry sauce, casseroles, Rachel made the best mashed potatoes I've ever eaten and Eric bought a slab of butter. What a fun day. We started in the morning with breakfast at Allie and my house. We also had art class! Since advent begins on Sunday and we don't have a nativity set brought from home, we made one! Everyone made a piece. Isn't it amazing! It was created out of sculptey clay and then baked in the oven. I love baby Jesus created by Rachel (Grayson little pointy hat was the inspiration!)

good job

Last night on the way back from Utrecht Vineyard (about an 1 hr or so trip) it started to snow! It had been spitting all day but it really committed right about 5pm (when we were on the train). It was so beautiful to watch the landscape fly by and think about winter, which always takes my mind to Christmas, traditions, childhood, fun, family, baking, snow angels... and on and on. It's fun to think about starting new traditions this year and keeping some old ones as well. I'm going to make sure to keep one very important one: making my mom's famous (to me!) cream cheese Christmas cookies. They're so addictive and because there is no sugar in the dough you get to pile on the sprinkles and candy for a wonderful sweet/slightly sour taste that wakes up your mouth! So good, I'm drooling just thinking about them! 

Today in class............(I definitely flaked out and took public transport... which really Brooke, if being tough means riding a bike in the freaking icy cold and being a baby means riding the tram... then what was I when I would jump in my warm dry car? Ha, the funny rules I make up for myself! Well at least no biking in the ice for me until I get my front wheel fixed. It's going to happen dad I promise. Soon. Really).........

 

So, anyway in class.. HURRAY!! Huge day. I got a writing assignment back and on the top in green writing it said "Goed teksten!"... which in effect means, good work! A compliment, wow! I was slightly skeptical since my page also had corrections all over it as well... but I was thrilled non the less! They're intense and very good at the poker face but today they slipped. Ha! I just had to share!

beauty

Saturday. Lovely day. Woke up late (after a movie with some friends last night from class) It was good to connect with them outside of class. I attempted to make gluten free (no wheat flour) pancakes this am. They were okay. One of my many dreams in life is to someday make GF food that tastes as good or better than the reg. thing. I have a long way to go. Everything looked beautiful on the table though. 

 I have a journal which I call my "beautiful book" and I paste things in there that inspire me/grab my attention (here's a picture of it). Since I'm becoming more digital and blog more than I journal on paper anymore.. I too will move my beautiful book to a blog. For now I'll post a couple things here. 

Mobile: Found it at a little fair trade shop. Gorgeous made out of recycled paper. It will probably be a gift for someone(act surprised if it's you!)

Clutter on a table: I love arial pictures of food/plates/action. So here's a picture of Allie preparing her pancake .

On a totally different not I'm off to a osu/michigan (our big rival) game (American football). It should be lots of fun. Even a few of our dutch friends who like A. football are coming! Go Buckeyes! (I don't think I've ever said that before... living in another country sure does strange things to you... making you connect back to your roots in unexpected ways. Hmm.

Oh and p.s. we had our first snow/hail/ slush/rain  here. Winter is really coming. Lovely. My favorite time of the year. I'm counting down the days till spring already. It's going to be a long winter on a bike covered in my poncho. Good thing I got rain boots when I was home. Now I just need water proof gloves. 

back

Last week I took a quick little pop back to Columbus, Ohio for one of my dear friend's wedding. Shelley married Jonathan (a wonderful guy) on Saturday November 8th. It was such a treat to be there for their wedding and it was totally God that I got to be back for it. I arrived in on Wednesday November 5th. I got to spend some time with Shelley, my family, and some friends before the wedding. Throughout the ceremony, standing there in my purple dress that fit (thanks to Katie Hertert who was my fit model in Ohio when I was in Amsterdam!) I kept saying to myself, "I can't believe I'm here, I can't believe it, I can't believe I'm here!"

A gift! I've been using that word a lot these days as I journal and talk and think... it's a gift, a gift. Gift. Being home was a gift, my parent's, my sister flying in for the weekend from Chicago, my brother and my gorgeous sister-in-law, my friends who are so sweet and dear to me, even when we're not living in the same city. It's amazing how I fit in Columbus and I fit in Amsterdam. What a wonderful feeling! Vineyard Columbus is a gift, Rich's messages, seeing Roxi & Bernie, my team members who move here in less than 2 months!, Tara loaning me her car... and making me Anathallo & Rosie Thomas music for the ride!, Starbucks with Kelly, Northstar breakfast with dad & bumping in to people there, errands with mom, cheap theatre movie, morning chapel with mom and dad, getting awesome prayer, Mandy's hugs,  seeing Brent, Christian, and Ashley during VLI break, Staying up late with Chris & Nikki laughing and talking, Bernie's popcorn, Laura's welcome back sign in Dutch, dancing with Jim, missing Amsterdam, missing my new friends here, laughing, flying back in class!, finding out that I got the dutch teacher I was praying for! Class starts back on Monday. Yay. Julia and John are also starting class on Monday... two spots opened up at the last minute! So many gifts!

It was a short week and I was nervous about how it would feel to come back to Amsterdam after such a short time. It helped a lot walking out of baggage claim and seeing my whole team waving signs and flowers there to greet me! Allie, Julia and Gigi, Amanda and John, Rachel, Rachel, and Grayson!! It was so special.. here's a picture of the welcoming crew in the airport enjoying Starbucks before we trained back to the city. It's now Friday and I got some great sleep last night and I'm just catching up with life here now. I'm going to run to the market and get some food and say hi to my neighbors. Tomorrow we're having Chipotle and game night. Ta ta for now!

poetry

When I was home this week (I'll tell you about that in the next post) I rediscovered poetry and how much God speaks to me through it. Especially poems by Wendell Berry. They are like a small surprise gift. Here's a lovely little one for you to nibble on:

Dust

The dust motes float

and swerve in the sunbeam,

as lively as worlds,

and I remember my brother

when we were boys:

"We may be living on an atom 

in somebody's wallpaper."

a breath

It's Monday. And one of the first Mondays in a while that I haven't woken up at the crack of dawn. It feels kind of nice. But also strange. I have a 2 weeks holiday from dutch class and then I'll head back in to the fray on the 17th of November! Here's a picture of my dutch class. We went out to lunch to celebrate the end of level 1. What a hilarious group! We've laughed a lot the past 9 weeks and also groaned in pain during difficult times, when our brains were bursting.

I was craving something new today and little bit of quiet so I found Begijnhof. It's only a few streets from me and really beautiful. It used to be a community of women who were devoted to service and prayer (kind of like nuns). The houses are in a circle all facing eachother and create a beautiful courtyard where there's a little church and chapel. I just sat there for a while. I've been craving silence and quiet... and I got it. I really felt God's presence too. It was very sweet. 

Saturday I went with Allie and a some really great people from her program to Museum Nacht. 41 museums were open from 7pm-2am. Each one had a special event, performence, or project you could be a part of. All the public transportation was free with your ticket as well.. so we got to explore all over the city in the middle of the night! My favorite was the zoo. We went on a tour in the dark and saw all the animals you usually miss during the day. The owls were super sweet! I felt like an intruder. It was kind of a rush. We also went to the Portuguese Synagogue. It doensn't have electricity so the place was full of candles. Amazing! At midnight they had a quartet perform. It was really lovely! 

Sunday we headed down to Utrecht Vineyard to see friends there and connect a bit. It's so sweet how Vineyards feel a bit like home no matter where you are. We're trying to make it to Utrecht at least once a month. Here's a few pictures. As you can see we enjoyed hearing the message translated and as a result we all decided Amanda should be a head phone model! Well my friends, that's about all I can muster up tonight. Hope you're all doing well. 

Tot ziens!