yummy sweet, moist cornbread

Today, I was organizing some jars filled with pasta, couscous, sugar, etc...

Next thing you know, I'm making cornbread muffins.

I always get side tracked when I clean or tidy-up the house.

I don't mind these kind of side tracks, and neither does my husband...

Here's the super easy recipe // recette (source):

Just realized I blogged this same recipe in April (post).
It must be good !!!

mix in this order // mélanger dans cet ordre 

beat // battre

1/2 cup melted butter        // 115g de beurre fondu

2/3 cup white sugar          // 135g de sucre blanc

2 eggs                                  // 2 oeufs

combine // mélanger

1 cup buttermilk*              // 240ml de lait avec une cuillère à soupe de vinegre blanc

1/2 teaspoon baking soda  // 1/2 cuillère à café de bicarbonate de soude

combine // mélanger

1 cup cornmeal                  // 200g de polenta sec

1 cup flour                         // 125g de farine

1/2 teaspoon salt              // 1/2 cuillère à café de sel

375F for 30 minutes          // 175C pour 30 minutes

[400F for 12-15 minutes   // 200C pour 12-15 minutes - muffins]

*I just make my own buttermilk by using 1 cup of milk, then adding 1 tablespoon of white vinegar or lemon juice, let sit for about 5 minutes until curdled... voilà !

Enjoy !  //  Bon Appétit !

Love Linz

lunch with aunt cricri

le déjeuner avec tante cricri

mardi, la tante de tonio est venue à Nice

on a mangé ensemble et après, on a fait du shopping

elle (et oncle rob) me gâtent... je suis bénie

merci cricri (et rob) - je vous aime !

tuesday, tonio's aunt came to Nice

we ate together and after, we went shopping

she (and uncle rob) spoil me... i'm blessed 

thanks cricri (and rob) - love you guys !

 Love Linz

day off

today, i truly experienced why God says we need a sabbath

unplugged. detoxed emotionally. refreshed. thankful.

i had a sabbath monday and went to one of 

my favorite places in Nice...

Parc Phoenix

{for 5 hours... ahhhh... sigh of relief}

 

i will never tire of the cool stuff God makes - wow


 
the sea otters are my favorite to watch swimming; today, they were enjoying dead fish

this little guy was chowin' down

  

 i forget exactly what they are called, but basically mini kangaroos

 

this is where i spent almost 3 hours eating lunch, resting, reading

thought he was a sculpture at first

tropical rainforest

right here, the "rainforest" rained on me =)

they look plastic, don't they?

love birds

 

these guys were talkative

 

i forget how big ostriches are

mermaid

bunny

back to the kangaroos

t-bird

why is so cute to watch this little guy eat?

and this photo pretty much sums me up today...


2 other happy things today:
1) i got 3 letters in the mail !!! 
{thank you Craaaaaaastal, Steph, and Cricri}
2) i danced tonight - ballet makes me happy

Love Linz
 ps - sorry about the funky spacing, silly blogger must have been taking a sabbath day too ;)

first student

première étudiante

Tonio, Me, Hayley (our first student), Shawn
 

La Pépinière Discipleship school is scheduled to start in a week.

Please pray for us !

Love Linz

getting ready for a student

La préparation pour une étudiante 

La [R]entrée pour la Pépinière

[Back]-to-School for the Pépinière

The [R] and [Back] are in brackets because it's actually the first year of La Pépinière,

so NEXT YEAR we can say BACK to school or RE-entry, as the French say.

 Tonio et Shawn travaillent bien ensemble chez Marie-Christine 

pour préparer une chambre pour une de nos étudiants.

Tonio and Shawn work well together at Marie-Christine's place 

to prepare a room for one of our students.

Presque fini !

Almost done !

Love Linz

samedi et dimanche

saturday and sunday

*match de foot - samedi*

soccer game - saturday

Je suis le plus grand fan de Tonio !

I'm Tonio's biggest fan !

 Il a fait un coup de tête qui était incroyable...

He made a header that was incredible...

...dans le cage !

...right into the goal !

 Son équipe me connaît comme Madame Tonio [vous vous rappelez?].

His team knows me as Madame Tonio [remember this from a year ago?].

 J'aime cet homme.

I love this man.

 Je m'amuse avec l'ombre.

I'm having fun with my shadow.

*l'église - dimanche*

church - sunday

Tonio a traduit pour Shawn ce matin.

Tonio translated for Shawn this morning.

Je suis aussi son plus grand fan à l'église:

Il peut jouer de la guitare, jouer le cajon, chanter, traduire, gérer le café, encourager les autres... et il peut aussi former les autres pour lui remplacer, le plus important !

Je suis vraiment fière de lui - ça se voit?

I am also his biggest fan at church:

He can play guitar, play the cajon, sing, translate, direct the café, encourage others... 

and he can also raise up others to replace himself, the most importan thing !

I'm really proud of him - can you tell?

Love Linz

Celebrating Anne

Joyeux Anniversaire Anne !!!

et

Bon Départ !!!

Anne, Marie-Pierre, Nathalie, me, Carole, Adriana

Mercredi, on a fêté l'anniversaire d'Anne avant qu'elle parte.

Wednesday, we celebrated Anne's birthday before she leaves.

Je suis contente pour elle et cette nouvelle aventure.

I'm happy for her and this new adventure.

Elle va servir avec le ministère l'Arche à Grasse pour 6 mois.

She is going to serve with the ministry l'Arche in Grasse for 6 months.

Que Dieu te bénisse mon amie !

May God bless you my friend !

Love Linz

Cranberries

This has nothing to do with me and Tonio, 

except for the fact that we watched it together over dinner last night.

I was impressed.
{by both the cranberry harvesting AND the wake skaters}

*if in a reader, hop on over to the BLOG*

If you have time to not-be-productive for-8 minutes spare, check it out.

I especially like the cranberry wave around minute 4:50.

I've never wake skated, have you?

My last wake boarding experience was, let's just say, not epic.

Though, I do want to try again someday.

Love Linz

health insurance

Woo Hoo !!!

I'm finally insured.

Dang, that took a LOOOONG time.

I'm so thankful that there is no paperwork to get to Heaven.

We are citizens of Heaven as soon as we accept Jesus Christ into our hearts to be our Boss, our King, our Savior, our LORD... AND when we believe that God raised Jesus from the dead.

(Romans 10:8-9)

Here's a little timeline of how I finally got medical insurance in France:

10/2010 - Marry a Frenchman

11/2010 - Apply for recognition to be "married" in France

5/2011 - Finally considered "married" in France (remember this?)

7/2011 - Find out I'm ILLEGAL since March 2011...NO !!! Must return to states for a special Visa.

11/2011 - Return to states - get said Visa.

Jump through lots of French hoops.

11/2012 - A year later, I'm finally legit (remember this?)

Now that I have my Titre de Séjour, I can apply for the above card =).

1-6/2013 - Six months of birth certificate translation, application, denied application, going to the states to get an official birth certificate, another translation, another application...ACCEPTED !

9/2013 - I have medical insurance !!!

It has been a crazy roller coaster, but we thank the Lord for this provision.  As most of you know, the medical insurance here in France is pretty sweet.  I don't want to get sick to try it out, but when I do, I'm sure I'll be thankful.

Thank you Jesus for your provisions and for giving us all the opportunity to be citizens of Heaven !

My next prayers:  French Driver's License AND French Nationality.

Love Linz

un mariage à l'église

a wedding at church
8 Sept, 2013

Féliciations Mauro et Daniela !!!

 le gateau par Barbara - beau

the cake by Barbara - beautiful

Tonio et moi avec le couple italien.

Tonio and I with the Italian couple.

Nous avons fait la musique pour la cérémonie, et Tonio a chanté Hallelujah par Leonard Cohen (rendu célèbre par Jeff Buckley) pour eux, par leur demande.  Ils étaient touchés tout les deux, and pendant que Tonio a joué, Mauro est venu jouer le cajon {Il est batteur dans un groupe à Nice}.  C'était trop bien cette improvisation !!!

We did the music for the ceremony, and Tonio sang Hallelujah by Leonard Cohen (made famous by Jeff Buckley) for them, as requested.  They were both touched, and while Tonio was playing, Mauro came to play the cajon {He's a drummer for a band in Nice}.  This improv was so cool !!!

Ahhh !!!  Nous avons le vidéo !!!  Merci James.

Ahhh !!!  We have the video !!!  Thanks James.

Voilà.

Merci Seigneur pour ce mariage.  Bénis ce couple.
Thank you Lord for this marriage.  Bless this couple.

AMEN.

Love Linz

Canyoning

Hiking down a canyon, 
probably one of the cooler things I've done in my life !!!
Merci mon Dieu d'avoir crée une telle beauté.
Thank you God for creating such beauty.

Florent, me, Tonio, Sebastien

Nous sommes prêts pour une petite balade.

We're ready for a little walk.

Après 45 minutes, on est y arrivés.

After 45 minutes, we arrived.

Swimmers, take your mark... !

You gotta love a man in neoprene !
I love this one in particular.

les Crazy Quatre

(see that bridge back there?  ya, that one.  well, my fearless husband, his bro, the bro's friend, another guy, and that other guy's 10 year-old son jumped off of it to start... I wasn't into a jumping appetizer, so I waited a bit before really facing my fears... HAHA !!!) 

  Tonio !

Qui ne saute pas n'est pas niçois !

If you've been to a Nice football match, that's for you =).

Moi !

Dream. Come. True.
Goonies inspired me all these years ago.
{A REAL rock slide, and this was just one of many}

Dieu fait les meilleurs parcs aquatiques !!!
God makes the coolest water parks !!!

Unda' Da Sea !

Tellement reconnaissante que Seb a amené son GoPro.
So thankful Seb brought his GoPro.

Lui aussi.
He is too.

J'ai un beau-frère assez cool.
I have a pretty great brother-in-law.

Seriously, can it get any better than jumping off waterfalls?!!!

Regardez autour de nous.
Look around us.

Incroyable !
Incredible !

No photoshop. No effects.
We were canyoning through a postcard.
Le Créateur de l'Univers est magnifique !
The Creator of the Universe is amazing !

Franck et son fils Paco étaient aussi avec nous.
Franck and his son Paco were with us too.

Je t'entends pas.
I can't hear you.

Quoi?!
What?!

Seb a trouvé une micro grenouille.
Seb found a micro frog.

 Nous avec notre guide, Thierry.

Us with our guide, Thierry.

(he's the one in the white helmet below, telling me where to jump)

Weeeeeeeeeee !!!
This was one of our smaller jumps, about 7 meters (about 23 feet).  The highest one I did was about 11 meters (36ish feet).  Yowsers !  I like the sound of 11 much better than 36 - HA !!!

Google has a nice collection of Canyoning photos HERE.
If you ever have the chance, do it !

Thanks for enjoying God's beauty with us,
Love Linz