Contemplation

Let me start by saying that there are so many Great food blogs out there and i am so inspired by them all, my two favorites i would have to say are www.annies-eats.com and www.thepioneerwoman.com/cooking Love Love Love the pictures and the recipes are delicious!!

now... the contemplation part, should i start a food blog? i don't have any illusions of grandeur but would love to be able to have a place to keep track of my adventures in the kitchen and practice my writing skills (however meager they may be). however my photography skills are non existent, as is my very fancy camera..Just a point and shoot here!

and..what about a name? any thoughts? so far all i've been able to come up with is something along the lines " the kitchen chronicles of ... a house wife, or a sweet enthusiast and her taste tester hubby!"

will update soon once i decide what and where to do it, please let me know if you have any name suggestions.

The past year in pics! and a few updates.

Hello! well, it's been a while. Things have been quite busy here at the Gregersen residence the past few months. Alex is working (on and off) and i have started babysitting 2-3 days a week. In our spare time Alex and I have been making frequent visits to Roseville and doing other fun things including golf, video games and frozen yogurt, yum! that's about it for now, here are some pics that i have yet to post..sorry it's taken me this long. that's it for the pics for now, our internet is acting up so I'll post more later.

Back in business!!

Yay! my computer is fixed, thanks to a thoughtful husband and a very nice friend! so excited to be able to load photos again, perhaps now i will start my food blog?!
well, it's been a busy week and a half so far; last wed Alex and i went to the zoo with our Niece, Maya, that weekend we had a tapas party with friends and their kids... so much fun!! Saturday was the Edington's baby shower and mom's birth day dinner, and Sunday as usual was the best day of all, a great sermon, lunch with friends and some catching up on our reading. Monday we left for the coast to spend some time with Cliff and Julie at there ever changing house; Cupboards are in and they look amazing!! we returned yesterday and enjoyed the company of Maya again for a walk around the lake. Tomorrow is a day full of projects, errands and packing and then it's off to Roseville to visit Joe and Jacky.

i will post some pics soon :)

the sweetness in the trials

Hello all,

these past couple of weeks have been pretty busy, mainly lots of the same stuff, work, housework and baking. Alex has been very busy at work and i at home. This Past week has been a bit trying in the little things; We brought both of our cars into the Autohaus for tune ups, and on the day i was to pick up the accord, i recieved a call that they needed to keep it for another five days, no biggie (saved us from finding a place to park it), so the following week (this past wednesday) i went to pick it up, parked it overnight and then on thursday went to Alameda to do some grocery shopping, where my car decided to quit working. Although a definite kink in the day, it was a reminder of God's involvement, even in the little things. For example, the car died as i was turning into a parking spot and just then two strong men pulled up and helped me push it the rest of the way; my mom came with AAA and we we're able to get it safely towed. Friday and Saturday we're a wonderful time with friends, first Shaun and Chelsea and then Marco's and Ashley, we both had a great time and enjoyed some much needed fun time (that didn't cost a fortune, lol!) Then on Sunday we had a rude awakening that we live in oakland, my car had been broken into, but with no broken window's and upon closer inspection we found that nothing had been stolen; relieved we got in and went to church, where we heard a great sermon on Esther 4. We we're able to spend the rest of the day enjoying each other's company and looking back on all that we have to be thankful for.

Today starts a new week and something to look forward to, a New mattress (cal king) that fits us both and will allow alex to keep his feet on the bed, and didn't drain the bank. Thank's to Cliff and Julie for the heads up on the good deal!!!

Past few months

So, it's been a while since i've blogged, the reason being that my computer crashed and i am unable to load photos. Still can't load them yet, but in the meantime i have decided to just update with our happenings.

The past couple months have been a bit crazy, but wonderful at the same time. Starting with Thanksgiving, this year we went up to Oregon to visit with my family, we had a great time visiting, baking, shopping and of course eating. The time between Thanksgiving and Christmas brought a lot of work for alex and lots and lots of baking and shopping for me.

Alex and i spent our first Christmas morning just the two of us, at my mom's in Castro valley, where we were cat sitting. it was very nice, we had a tree, stockings and a few presents, but most of all it was great to just relax and enjoy each others company. That evening we had dinner with Alex's family at his parents house and exchanged presents.

the next few days were kind of quiet, we were still at my mom's and i was planning a new years eve get together, Alex was back at work for 3 days.

New years was great, good times with friends, a visit to Roseville to see JoJo, Jacky and Noah . So far 2010 has brought work, work and more work, a blessing in these times, Alex is back working at the local JATC (training Center) as a teachers aide, I'm back at home, just trying to get back into some sort of routine and working on Knitting projects, baking doggie treats (a new passion), yummy cookies, pies, etc.. and discovering the world of food blogs; my favorite so far is goodthingscatered.blogspot.com

so..that's about all so far. I'll update again soon.

Favorite Holiday Recipe

As someone new to the world of baking, my personal experience in making the holiday recipes has been limited to the past two years. So when thinking about what recipe to put forward as my favorite, i had to think back to what foods reminded me of Christmas; was it, my moms peanut brittle recipe, my dad's yorkshire pudding, my sisters deviled eggs, or the many yummy treats that are common during the holidays.

however as i feel that this recipe should reflect my own experience in holiday baking i have decided to share with you all my favorite recipe for pie crust. Pies have always been my favorite dessert and is now one of my favorite things to bake, whether it be apple, pumpkin, or any variety of fruit, Martha Stewart's french recipe called Pate Brisee is a recipe that is very versatile and one that has brought much deliciousness to our christmas dinners.

follow the link below for an easy step by step instruction of how to make this delicious pie crust:

http://www.marthastewart.com/how-to/making-pate-brisee

Hope you enjoy this recipe as much as i have. Happy Baking!!

A Day in San Francisco!!

This past sunday we spent the day together in San Francisco. we took bart out and walked to peir 39 to check out the shops, got a smoothie and then walked over to the ship tours to check out some old ships. it was a blast!

a little bird house in one of S.F's random Gardens

a garden of a mansion! so beautiful!

The Ships!

we both had a great time and ended the day by eating leftovers and watching the bucket list.

the past few months...

these past couple months have been busy, making plans for summer, weddings, fun at home (me) and our anual mexico trip with the rock.

there have been a couple of girl weekends, when alex has been gone.. one of those was the wedding of our friends Ariel and Ilya Petushkov, it was beautiful!

in March i had my first Cardiologist apointment at stanford medical center, with the head of the marfan clinic, my mom has been diagnosed with barlows syndrome which is a milder version of marfan.. it's doesn't change much but it does affect your heart and so with this in mind (it's genetic) and the fact that i was diagnosed with mitral valve prolapse, one of the symptoms, i went to get an echo and a check up with the clinic. The results of the tests were that i didn't have mitral valve prolapse anymore, and i didn't have marfans! a huge praise! it removed any concern alex and i had about having a large family. Praise God!

the past month has been the daily grind of work and activities that come up, i have started making fresh bread instead of buying it and i have to say.. i love it! the whole process is fun, especially watching it rise.. or not! haha..so far i've tried 4 recipe's and my favorite is the Amish bread recipe i found on All recipes, http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Amish-White-Bread/Detail.aspx it is somewhat sweet, but very tasty!

then on april 10th we left for Mexico for 8 days.. it was Amazing!! the way that God worked through every person and every situation and how He unified our group was just fantastic to see and such a blessing to be a part of. The students were great! and made every part of that trip a joy. The ways in which God worked in the lives of the students was, of course, perfect! it was a time of healing and restoration and just a reaffirmation if His Love and Faithfulness! it would take too long to go through everything.. so i will leave it there, but i am so excited to see where God takes the students in the weeks to follow and how he continues to grow them through what they learned in mexico, i just pray that as always we would not fall into complacency. i don't have the pictures yet, but i will post some soon!

this weekend is another girl weekend for me, so i will be spending it shopping and Fro yo (frozen yogurt) with mis chicas.. Tanya and Vanessa!! i can't wait, i love those girls!

so that is our life these past few months.. sorry it's taken so long to post!

Adventures in housework

so far the house hold chore that i think i dread the most is cleaning the bath tub, partly because of the akward bending it requires, but mostly because there are so many nooks and crannies that i can't reach with a sponge and the glass door is impossible to get clean! so this past week i have discovered two new wonderful cleaning tools that have made this task somewhat enjoyable, and definitely Satisfying! a toothbrush for those nooks and cranies, and a hospital sock (one with grip material on the bottom) to get the soap scum off my shower door! awesome!!

Christmas 2008

as promised, some photo's from christmas! ufortunately i failed as a photographer and didn't take a picture outside, but it was georgous, snow everywhere!!

i could not get a pic. without him turing his head at the last minute!

"Uncle Alex!"

Cousins!

He's my Favorite!

updates

okay, so i was waiting to post pictures before adding to the blog, but i finally realized that probably wasn't going to happen soon, so i will post those later.
Alex's shoulder is healing nicely and he will be returning to work on monday. we went up to
Oregon for christmas to spend time with my family and had a wonderful time. the nephews and neices are getting so big and the brood of dogs has increased since our last visit as well as a new kitten. so cute! we returned on the 27th to a short week and a happy new years eve with friends. January has been filled with birthdays. My sister and neice share the 18th, so my mom and i went over to my sisters house for a birthday lunch. Alex's was on the 21st and we had dinner with his mom and my parents and are having a party tomorrow with friends. Sunday is my brother stephen's who now lives in Reseda, Ca (LA), and then on sunday we will be having alex's mom over for dinner to celebrate her birthday which is on the 26th. so aside from the daily chores and events that happen, we have been visiting and celebrating. i'll post christmas pics. soon.

Maya's 1st Birthday!!

October 21st, my niece Maya turned 1 year old. Man time sure flies! anyway... here are some pictures from her birthday party.

Playing with Abba

I Love this.. it looks like she's telling it off!

This is my favorite! She was trying to get at my camera!

Prayer Request

This weekend Alex left for a dirtbike riding trip. i don't have the details but the result was a broken collar bone. please keep us in your prayers as we look into medical options. we will be needing to go to a physician for a conceltation and possibly surgery and will be needing to figure some things out. Thank you everyone!

Random thoughts and interesting facts

a while ago i went for a walk with my sister and neice around Lake merrit, on this walk i noticed that there was a pelican. Later i walked with alex and noticed the same pelican in a similar area. After seeing this bird i then decided to go back and take a few pictures of it, so today on my walk around the lake i found it and took this picture.

this bird was for some reason, fascinating to me. the way it dived for fish and the size of it's wingspan. turns out it is the brown pelican, the only one of it's species that dives for fish and the most common pelican in north america. Watching this bird as i walked around a lake that was filled with many different people, from the business man to the homeless man who is talking to "himself" and seeing the beautiful scenery that i call home it made me realize that even though things might not be "perfect" according to my standards, and right now there's things i don't understand, that we are blessed to live in a place so filled with evidence of God's grace and that i have so much to be thankful for. thankful that i don't have to find a warm place to sleep, or that i don't have to fish for my food in a limited supply. if God takes care of the sparrow (or in this case, the pelican), how much more will he care for me.

Fleet Week...our day on the bay!

as promised... i have photo's. On Saturday, Oct. 11th we took bart over to the city with Alex's parents, Grandma and family friends, Bill and Kim Bussell's. we walked from embarcadero to peir 45 where we boarded the Jeremiah O' Brien, an old Liberty ship that was used during world war II to take supplies over to our boys. The O' Brien then sailed us out past the golden gate bridge and then back to a spot between treasure island and the shoreline, where we could watch the air shows. on board we got to see many cool things, the engine room (where they filmed a part of the titanic), lots of wild life and a jazz band called Natural Gas that was made up of old navy men. they also served us delicious food. The first show up was at noon and was the canadian snow goose air team, representing the canadian forces. then at 2 we watched the Blue Angels. the show was amazing and we were fortunate to have them fly right over the ship several times, giving us a clear shot of the planes from underneath. It took us both several tries but we got some good photo's and video of them flying over the plane and some of the canadian goose team. here's some pictures from the trip:

Alex got a pretty clear video of the Angels flying over the ship and also of the Engine room of the O'Brien. The Pistons moving is pretty cool to watch! it's one of the only ships remaining that uses these huge pistons to move the ship.

Mid week Vacation!

Hi Everyone!
So unfrortunately we forgot our camera... so sadly, no pics., but tuesday this week Alex somehow got the day off and upon the suggestion of his uncle we went down to the Monterey bay aquarium. It was awesome! there were lots of cool exhibits including hamerhead sharks and these weird looking birds that dig in the sand for bugs. there was also a really cool touch pool section where we got to touch a bat ray. it was soo weird, "kind of velvety, and slimy in a way." after spending four hours in the aquarium we walked along cannary row a little and then had dinner at a seafood/steakhouse called the hopper, it was really good food and great service! i think that had to be the fastest we've ever recieved our food and check, and every now and then someone would stop by to see if we needed anything or refill our water. I was very impressed!
it was definitely a blessing, just to have time together. This weekend we'll be going on the Jeremiah O'brien an old naval ship, and cruise the bay to see the blue angels, So excited! hopefully we won't forget the camera this time so i can post new pictures!

back to the grind

just an update,
not much has happened these past few weeks, no exciting trips or events yet, were kind of in a lull as far as that goes (which in a way is nice). Alex started classes at DVC, he's taking plumbing code and building code so he can get his certifications to be an inspector. Alex is busy with work, as ususal, and i've been trying to figure out how this "being at home" without kids thing works.. not making much success yet, but working on it. We're looking forward to fall, but missing the freedom of summer.

Weekend in Oklahoma

Our latest adventure was our trip to Oklahoma to visit Mark and Rachel DeMann. we flew out on friday the 31st of August and arrived in the early afternoon. Rachel picked us up, because Mark didn't know we were coming (we decided to keep it a surprise). The weekend was really fun, we spent one night in Enid, Oklahoma at their house, and then decided to spend the rest of the weekend in Oklahoma city, which was about 2 hours south. Saturday, Mark gave us a tour of the Air force base where he is stationed,

These are the planes Mark is flying. The rest of the weekend was filled with fun times exploring the city, shopping, swimming, and eating out at different "local" spots. It was a much needed time of relaxation and time with dear friends. Here are some more pics of our trip.

There were tons of crickets and the clouds there were amazing. while we were there, there were at least two thunderstorms, God's creation is nothing short of Amazing!!