Some love for my fellow blogger friends

I have been blogging on and off for about 5 years now, and I've had about three blogs. My first blog was co-written with my best friend, Pauli Dillard during the summer before our junior years in high school. I spent the summer with her and her family in Nashville,Tennessee,easily one of the best summers of my ENTIRE life. We wrote about our adventures of the summer, and some of it is pretty darn hilarious! I highly suggest you check it out here. I had another blog that I recently deleted due to inactivity, it was my wonderful photography blog! I did a lot of very random photography in high school, but unfortunately I never had a professional camera and that really held me back...or well, it really discouraged me from pursuing it, but I have a dream of starting up again one day ! And as you know, I have this blog! This blog is my Internet based baby, I nourish it as much as time will allow, and I really put a lot of thought,effort and inspiration into this blog! But enough about me! I want to use this blog to link you to some of my favorite blogger friends! I consider these people my blogger mentors,and I am encouraged by their blogs.Therefore I will post a little bio about them and a link to their blogs,and I really encourage you to read and to follow...who knows what you could learn!

A City Shining-This blog is by my friend Rachel Titiriga, she is a fantastic photographer and a former missionary in Romania. She now lives in the states, and her blog is just encouraging. Her posts aren't that long, but her she uses her words wisely! A lot of encouraging words from this wonderful gal!

Dirt&Twirls- LOVE this woman!! This blog is by Kimberly Beller, a wife and a mom to four sweet kids. I met them when they were in Hungary as missionaries at my college, after my first semester they moved back to the states due to some pregnancy complications with their youngest, Cruz. This lady can really write, and she writes to strike the heart ( unbeknown st to herself). She writes about her life as a mother and being truly satisfied in the life that our Lord has given her. She is incredibly talented and a role model for any woman in any stage of life.

Higher Than Dreams - This blog is written by my wonderful bible college friend,Callie. Callie is basically fantastic, and she's funny,and she tells really good stories. But besides that, she really loves Jesus and her heart for missions is inspiring! This girl is sold out for Christ. She currently raising money to go to Africa for two weeks in September...so check her blog out and keep her in her prayers.( by the way...she's single ;) )

Image of the Invisible - This blog is written by Kirsten Spencer, Kirsten and her husband,Travis and their three kids are missionaries in Athens,Greece (how cool is that!?!?!?!). She writes about her life as a missionary wife/mommy, and encouraging words and promises from the Word. She also has another blog Sprouts En Route, this is a travel blog that she writes aiming towards people with small children. She has a whole lot of experience going for her as she has three kids under the of 6! HIGHLY suggested for families that do any amount of traveling, oh and she also reviews products for traveling.

Live A Life Worthy- This blog is written by my friend,Colleen. She once lived and worked with us in the Middle East. She writes beautifully, and like a true lady. I don't really have the proper words to describe her blog because it really is unique and special. But I can tell you that you know that this lady is a lover of Jesus.

Oh My Foodness - This blog is written by my Nashvillian friend, Hope! Her blog is about eating frugally and yummily, her recipes are really fantastic! She a true resourceful woman and has the Proverbs 31 stamp of approval!

Beauty from Pane - Last but very not least, this blog is by my wonderful,amazing,creative sister!!! I am constantly amazed by the things that she can create and make! She turns something simple and makes it into something jaw droppingly awesome!! She has always been able to just figure things out and as she's gotten older, she's been able to just make stuff up on her own! She hopes to open up an Esty and earn some money for college! She makes beautiful things, and I am not just saying that because she's my sister,but she is truly wonderful!


I hope you've gathered some new reading material and can meet some of my talented friends!

Much love,

Autumn Wallace

Ps- if you have a blog, let me know, I'd love to read and follow it!!

A Dream

I am not sure when I started to love blogging, but I do remember that magic happened when I discovered there was a page  on the web where I could freely write and people could read about my musings.. I have always,always,ALWAYS wanted to write a book. I would probably write it on my life as a missionary kid because oddly enough, there are very few books out there on MKs. And as a former MK, I can honestly say that we think that no one has any idea what we go through, and it would have been good to read about people that grew up just like me. I wouldn't really know how to start it, I don't even know how I would title it, or if I would have enough material to write a full book, and would people even read it? Probably Not, but then that's the thing about writing, it takes courage and trust to write properly. Because as soon as your put your heart into words that end up on a piece of paper or on a web page, you are fully subject to what anyone thinks about you. Several weeks ago, I wrote about saving your first kiss until your wedding day, and saving every ounce of your being for your spouse. Let me just say that was incredibly personal, I would tell anyone on the street who asked about my first kiss. But when it goes into the written word, it's seems almost more permanent. And I've been subjected to ridicule and judgement for saving intimacy for marriage,but I've had to learn not to care. It's the same with writing, once you've written something that is pure and true, you must back your words up with strong actions, that is something else that is a learned talent.
But back to my book, when you go home on furlough to the states as a young kid or a teenager, you're popular...to all the adults. You're asked the same questions hundreds( yes,I said hundreds) of times; "Do you like living there??""What's your favorite food?""Tell me something in (insert second language here),please!!!""Do you live in a hut? (yes,I've gotten that one)""Is everyone poor there" and you're there for three months,and still you're asked the same questions.Your head spins,you learn to smile through it and answer and re answer the questions. By the time you get home on Sunday you're spent and you're ready to nap. And most of the time, these questions are asked with pure heart, everyone is just curious about your life across the ocean, it's mysterious. Though you kind of like having attention, there is a part of you that desperately wishes to blend into the background a little bit. You wonder what it would be like to live "a normal,American life", you wonder what it would be like just to have that set group of friends, you dream about going to youth camps or getting an annual pass to Disneyland.
But as soon as you take a step back and see their cravings to travel and see the world,to experience something new, you realize that you so privileged and bless,and kick yourself for ever desiring that normal,American life that looked so tantalizing.
This is just a very small part of being a missionary kid , and as I write this my fingers want to type more. I wish I would explain to you all in one blog post about my entire life,the good,the bad,and the sometimes pretty dang ugly. But hopefully,one day, I will have enough writer's courage to sit down and  write it all down. I hope that these words(if they are supposed to be written) would be blessed and ready for the taking in.
So please pray for me as I consider writing a book...even if it's ten years from now, those words and my heart still need to be ready to share them all with you.

-Autumn

{Roasted Vegetable Pizza Sauce}

Today, I had an amazing burst of energy!! I was able to wake up on my own, which is something my preggo body LOVES right now, and I have felt all day! I was able to get a time amount of school done and do a little cleaning, it felt good to feel like a useful housewife again! So, because of my recent burst of energy, I was going to do some cooking therapy.  In the recent months, I have come to love cooking more than baking (shock-horror!) I think it is because there is more freedom, you can be a little rebellious and usually nothing goes wrong and no one gets hurt, but I think that's the inner rebellious child that never came out( thank goodness). Anyways, I noticed that some of our veggies were on the verge of being useless, and I knew that pizza would be a great use for everything. The only thing we had to buy was cheese, and Travis got a nice block, so it'll last a while! Someone had left us a jar of spaghetti sauce, and though I am not a huge fan of ready-made food, I felt that I could dress it up and put it to good use.
I started with my pizza dough, which doesn't take very long and it's an excellent recipe,but it didn't cooperate with me on it's duty to rise. I blame it on the humid but not-so-hot day that we had, but it turned out very nicely and it was pliable and wonderful,just as pizza dough should be! I started to roast some peppers,mushrooms,garlic and tomatoes. Everything was smelling lovely and the smell of the roasted peppers was overtaking my house...oh gosh was I getting so excited.
After roasting my peppers, I began to slice them and I realized they were mushier than I had expected. I then looked at these roasted peppers,and I looked back at my sizzling tomatoes,and my beautiful crispy garlic and my glorious mushroom..and I had a stoke of genius.

Roasted Pepper Sauce.

Bam.

I threw everything in the blender and added just a little bit of the jarred stuff because the veggies didn't want to blend. I threw in some salt and pepper and pulsed it a few times. It smelt lovely and tasted heavenly...this was going to be goooood!

And oh yes..it was good. It was very good.

Anyways, I thought I would share my delicious pizza sauce recipe with you and hopefully encourage you to find your inner culinary artist and make something yummy and homemade!

Much Love,

Autumn

Here's the recipe


3 to 4 bell peppers- They can be any color or variety
5 mushrooms, sliced
3 big cloves of garlic, cut into large chunks
1 small red onion ,sliced
1 large tomato,sliced medium thick!
Plain ol' tomato sauce, or the jarred stuff...whatever you have on hand is fine and you'll use a half a cup or so. Eyeball it
Salt and pepper

-Heat a large skillet or griddle for about three minutes
-Place peppers on skillet and allow to burn and soften, turn so all sides are well burnt
-Remove and set aside
- Add some olive oil and wait about 30 seconds and add your garlic and mushrooms. You want your garlic to be browned, but not black and your mushrooms should not shrivel up to nothing. Remove from pan and set aside
-Place your slice tomatoes in your pan and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Let them get a little black on both sides. Turn off stove and remove from heat
- Roughly chop your peppers and place them along with everything else in your blender, including some salt & pepper and tomato sauce.
-Pulse it up a few times and check the texture, it can be however you like it, I like mine a  o the smoother side with a feel chunks.
- Lay it on thick with on your dough, and add any toppings or cheese that suits your fancy, we used pepperoni, but chicken would be an awesome choice because it wouldn't interfere with the aroma of sauce.
-Cook for about 15-20 minutes in a very hot oven, using a spatuala you can see how brown the bottom is,it should be patchy brown.
-Share with your family and friends and you will find that they will love you forever!

Let me know how it turns out!

On Being An Expectant Mother

As many of you know, Travis and I are expecting mini Wallace in March! We cannot begin to tell you how excited we are to have this blessing in our lives! I want to you open and honest with you my readers because I expect the same from others, and I don't share anything on my blog that I wouldn't tell you in person ( obviously). It was the day of our friend's Illes & Evi wedding, Travis had made her dress so of course my genius husband of a designer had to be there! Anyways, through the course of the day, we were talking how I hadn't felt good lately. But I blamed it on the heat and blah blah blah. Then Travis looked at me " Maybe you're pregnant"... I said " Heck to no, impossible!!"...we dropped it for a bit,and I really tried hard to ignore the fact...but I couldn't, I felt worse and worse every day. So I took a pregnancy test,and to my relief it was negative,but in the back of my mind I knew it could have been to early to take one.  For the next few weeks, I was upset, I was annoyed and just frustrated! I didn't want a baby yet! I wasn't ready! I wasn't ready to feel tired,sick, or disgusting 24/7. I wasn't ready to lose my newlywed body to the  inevitable pregnancy weight gain.  And I was most certianly not ready to be a mom, because I knew that would change a lot of things.  It would not longer just be Travis and I, there would be a +1 involved. I was a newlywed, and I just wanted to be a newlywed! I cried about it ,(another obvious sign of pregnancy, hysterical emotions) and I was upset with God. I told Him "this was NOT in our plan,Lord! What are you thinking!?!" I think I thought that everyday for nearly two weeks. As you can see I really struggled with this, my sweet husband, not so much, he was excited about being the prospect of being dad, and he was rightfully sad that I was not. But he was patient with me day after day, reminding me that God had it own agenda for us.  I knew that I had to let it all go because what's done is done,but I really didn't want to . That very day we had a staff meeting, and I had been throwing a fit about this whole deal just moments earlier, but I put on a face and calmed myself  and acted like an adult. And then suddenly, quite randomly someone said to another staff member " You know, sometime God's plan for us is not what we want but He knows it's what we need". This struck my heart, and I began to cry, Travis was looking at me and I just nodded at him. At that moment, I had peace with the Lord, and I decided that whatever came, I would trust that He knew.

The end of the month came and went, and I knew it was time for the ultimate test! Travis went out to get some flour, I well.. peed on the stick, stuck on the cap and flipped it upside down. I started to make brownies, I giggled to myself and thought "You might be a mother, and here you are casually making brownies!".  I looked at my iPod, it had been nearly ten minutes since I took the test... I took it deep breath,closed my eyes and turned it over...and there it was...a very prominent dark line! In that moment, I felt so much joy and happiness I couldn't even take it all in. I relished those few moments where the news of this miracle that was going inside of me was all my own. Any previous thoughts of being upset or angry that I was potentially a mom had completely gone away. I was going to be a mom! A few tears came to my eyes...

Travis came home...asked me how I was ... I said " Oh, you know, just a little pregnant!" That was a happy moment for us, and I think the peace and joy that was in my eyes was a relief for him. We were going to be parents... which is really the most exhilarating yet terrifying thought in the entire world.

As of today, I am exactly ten weeks pregnant, my blueberry is now the size of a kumquat. There are faint hairs growing on his tender and translucent skin, his little limbs can bend! Wow! That's just purely amazing!

Now, as wonderful pregnancy can be and the thought of bringing life into this world is, there are days where it basically,well,sucks. Since becoming pregnant, I have become a picky eater. Eating is usually a chore, and having almost zero energy really gets on my vibrant 20 year old body! But God gives me grace for that, and He gives my husband an extra special dose of patience to deal with it all!

Thank you again for reading... you have NO idea what it means to me when I see how many times people read my blog... it encourages and inspires me to share more!

Much Love,

Autumn Wallace