A taste of freedom! Spain

Right now I am lying down in a van with my sister surrounded by the Picos de Eroupa. These are the highest snowy peaks that enclose the Northern region. The sun just made it's entrance through the dense clouds and I feel as though I should see Frodo and Gandalf hiking the ridge of the mountain. It’s that breathtaking.

Stepping off the plane in Madrid Spain was like stepping onto a new planet. Not one with smog and skyscrapers, but one with clarity and rolling green hills.  I have done lots of amazing traveling in my life, but this trip seems all together different. It wasn’t the familiar excitement that comes with getting to be a tourist in some fun place, but instead, a joy that comes with be able visiting the land that my sister and her husband hold so dear to their hearts.

This trip was about spontaneity, visiting loved ones, and getting to experience God without the agenda of my typical earthy duties; and Duruxa (pernounced  Durusha) was the perfect setting for this desire.  This little community they live in is tucked so perfectly into the back hills of Northern Estrellas; that it takes a car ride on very windy, narrow, paved road through villages and sheep covered hills tops to get there.

The moment my foot stepped out of the van, and my eyes gazed upon the surrounding mountains of this little place, I understood just a bit of why they found such delight here. The best way to describe this place to you is, Eden.

Huge meadows made of lush ankle high grass lead up to tree covered mountains on all sides. The community they live in consists of a main house with a kitchen and a dining room, that we gathering in for every meal; and surrounding there are little horreo’s (oreos) they live in; which are wooden structures held high on stone beams that people used to store grain in hundreds of years ago.

A ten minute walk in any direction leads you into the deserted green mossed forest. Which is covered in wild fruit and nut trees, with springs of fresh water rushing through. If you walk long enough, you see other abandoned stones homes and ruins. Purely magical.

On the land they have 3 horses (two about to give birth to colts), a herd of sheep, chickens that give them 6 eggs a day, a puppy named Sella (Seya) who will one day be a sheep herder and is in a puppy phase of biting everything, two Mama goats that give milk, and two baby goats named Spring and Miri. These baby goats have changed my life! They are like little playful jumping puppies with hooves. Every evening we bring them from the barn into the kitchen while we make dinner, and they either huddle around the stove for warmth, or cuddle in your arms until they fall asleep. It almost feels like you have a cat in your arms until you stroke their heads and feel their little growing horns, that brings your mind back to remembering their goats! The little sounds they make are the cutest sound I’ve ever heard come from an animal's lips. 

Here the days are beautifully simple, because the life-style is completely different. You rise with the sun, meet in the kitchen for a simple breakfast of fresh fried eggs or musili with fresh cows milk, and go work on the land. From planting new seeds in the garden, to shoveling piles of mud out of the road, or putting up new fences. Here everything they do is creating something, bringing new life to the earth.

I am convinced God created men for hard work. Not only making their bodies strong, but giving them a sense of accomplishment and providing that is an ingrained desire in their hearts. While us women do different type of work, like take care of the animals and cook meals. I just seems to right and beautiful in my mind.  

I've experienced different joy from Duxura that comes from simple things 

like:  breathing in fresh mountain air

exploring the forest and picking wild flowers

the sweet smell of the baby goats when you kiss their noses

drinking fresh spring water right from the ground

dancing in the kitchen with Jillie while making dinner for the boys

getting to wear big rainboots every day enabling you to trudge through the mud

not caring about how you look, or what clothes your wear

the constant sound of the rushing river down in the valley

being able to walk 20 feet from the property and be in complete silent solitude making a salad from greens picked from the ground

having everyone gather near the kitchen stove at night because it’s the only source of heat

having the sun go down at 10 pm

having no concern of time or anywhere to be

hiking up mountains in the rain

I apologize because my words just don't do enough. It's a beauty that must be experienced. This trip has been simply a taste of freedom of how it used to be :) 

My best moment so far has been sitting in tall green grass overlooking the valleys and mountains, feeling my Creator's presence so near, as if His breath was the force pushing the clouds across my vision. 

His heart is for me, His heart is for you.  

SPAINWARD BOUND

I would say I'm a pretty fun person... Pretty care free and wild? 
That's what I think. But ask some of my friends and they'd say not so much because I often go to bed before 10..
They call me Grandma and verbally abuse me when I leave a social gathering early. Haha....


So this was my shot. 
I'LL PICK UP AND GO TO SPAIN TO SHOW THEM ALLLLL. 
Kidding I didn't really think like that. But it did indeed shock some of them when I spontaneously booked a plane flight with my buddy Darryl to depart to Spain 2 weeks later. 


We are young. Plain and simple. We can't pull of this spontaneous, stupid stuff our whole lives, so we might as well live it up now!


But here's truly the exciting thing. My fun friend and I are actually going to visit my sister Jillie and her husband Dane at their home on the Northern hilltops of Spain. 
With only backpacks, airports,foreign spanish words, mountains, big laughs, unfamiliar faces, lots of over-due love to give, and hardly any money, we're in for a big adventure. 
No more looking at pictures and fantasizing over their dream Spaniard life, I get to breathe the green air and kiss the baby goats myself! 


Yes I will be taking 47289873879 pictures and yes I will be hopefully blogging my way through this trip. 


Here's a poem I wrote for J and D the night they left:
(Just to give you a taste of how wonderful they are)

Spain Bound

Boarding the ship and waving goodbye to loved ones, who’s tears and smiles combine.

This is the start to where Dane and your heartstring will unbelievably, further intertwine.

Fearlessly leaving the shore from where your lives and friendships have grown.

Onward from this rocky land comes a huge love adventure unknown.

Someone has to do it, jump off the cliff to show others we can all truly fly.

If you’re wondering why we all love you so much, this is a big reason why.

There are no chains from society, no hesitations of what others might think.

Because to you two, life is a rare treasure, that will be gone before you blink.

So here is the big shot, your chance to do it all!

Jesus is the air under your wings, who will never ever let you fall.

Brown eyes bright, hair blown by the wild wind, this freedom is where you belong.

Running through the wild oaks over the green moss, Jesus will joyfully sing you a new song.

He will be there in the peaceful times, when flowers and sunlight are all you can hear.

In the same way He will be listening to every word that comes forth from your lips. There through every laughter and every tear.   

He himself orchestrated this time. To pull you two away and further transform your souls by His love. To show you, and the rest of us, that you are only His, His pure, white, free dove.

So go make Spain your dwelling place, let your love run wild and blind

Try every wine that is offered, and taste every cheese of every kind. 

Let the sheep teach you lessons. Climb every mountain, share sweet kisses in every creek. May deeper depths of God beauty be the only thing you seek.

This goodbye is not for long. You will soon have many of us knocking on your cute Spaniard stone door.

But even if that day never comes, you two have forever inspired our hearts to love without ceasing and to explore.

It took me a while, but had to inform you about this very big, and exciting news in my life. 

We leave this next wednesday april 18 so pray your hearts out for safety and stay tuned! 

Coco nutty

Sugar. Sweets. Dessert. Treats. Magic. I just love all of it. Every category. From any culture. 

But that's old news. What's new, is the rebirthing of my love for coconut cake. 

I'm sure many of us have caught on (or at least heard of) the new fad of cooking with coconut oil because it's real good for you. To be honest I didn't board this train for a while because the jar of oil at Trader Joes was 5.50$$. But y'all I caved in, and I'M ON THE COCOA TRAIN driving straight into heaven. 

I just cant get enough of this stuff. I cook everything in it. and then it hit me....

If coconut oil tastes good on my broccoli and sweet potatoes... how much better will it be to bake with... 

to COCONUT CAKE with?!?!?

Here's the recipe I revised and created:

350 Oven

1 stick butter

1/2 cup coconut oil

1 3/4 cup sugar

1/2 tsp salt

4 eggs

1 cup butter milk (i use vanilla yogurt and milk)

1 cup canned coconut milk

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

2 3/4 cup flour 

Frosting:

about 1/4-1/2 cup coconut oil

about a half bag of powder sugar

some milk

(You know the drill, mix these ingredients until you have your desired frosting. Adding more sugar, and milk to find appropriate consistency.)

The use of the coconut oil and milk give this cake a nice natural coconut flavor. No need for artificial flavoring folks. 

So, with cakes we want what's called a good "crumb", meaning good cake consistency. 

How do we get a good crumb? 

1. Have a good recipe  
2. Create a nice batter  
3. Bake your cake properly 

creamed butter, sugar, salt 

Naturally, start with your fat (butter and coconut oil) cream that a bit, and then add in your sugar and salt in. Let this cream nicely

Secondly: add in your eggs (hopefully room temp) one at a time, to allow proper mixing. 

batter with eggs added

At this point I would add in the rest of my wet ingredients (butter milk and

    coconut milk).

Do I have buttermilk on hand? 

No ma'am I don't! 

Is my recipe ruined?! 

No ma'am it's not. Because I'm a resourceful baker and always have vanilla yogurt and milk, which create a perfect buttermilk. 

finished batter, yumms

After mixing your wet ingredients nicely, add the rest of the dry (soda, powder, flour) and finish mixing. 

Bingo bango! You should have a nice looking, and tasting batter on your hands. 

From here grease up whatever cake pan desired. I used two 8 inches and two 6 inches. And pop them into the oven. 

I'd let them go for about 10 minutes and check. 

CAUTION: these cakes don't brown up like normal cake. They may still look pretty white and undercooked, so jiggle them and       feel them for doneness. 

When in doubt, always under-bake my friends! If possible, I pull my cakes out a bit early (not gooey, but just beyond) because they have guaranteed moistness. 

After the cake layers are cooled, combine them with your frosting and add your coconut. Bring to an event or keep it all for yourself... Hope you enjoy this recipe coconut lovers.

intruders

My upstairs apartment is one of three units that create our cute building on the corner of cota street. 

To say I love my neighbors is an understatement. Down below to the left lives a sweet, quiet, older hispanic couple who have lived in their same unit for 15 years. They smile, water the outside plants, and continually warn me that my bike may get stolen. And down below to the right, we have Rosa the palm reader and her husband. 

This woman is a piece of work. She is round, loud, incredibly sweet, hispanic, has a different hair color every week, speaks with a hilarious accent, burns incense during all hours of the day, and is constantly telling me about her own daughter my age, and how she "completely understands me". She's always reminding me that she has my back,  and can always feel safe with her keeping guard of our apartment. After the first day of meeting her, she told me that she loved me, and I find myself yelling the "I LOVE YOU TOO ROSA" across the street back at her. She is a wonderful, crazy neighbor who I am happy to have. 

My cat on the other hand is so comfortable with her surroundings and her Queenly status now, that she crawls out the window to hang out on the roof (CRAZY), and has a new found love of playing on the stairs at night. It's like clock work. 

She lounges all day, soaking in the sunlight and every belly caress she can get, goes poop while I brush my teeth (gross) and then once I shut my door to sleep she meows about 6 times (knowing full well that I'm not letting her in) and then, becomes psycho. I hear her BOLTING, running as fast as she can around the house. Rolling, pouncing, maybe she invites all the neighborhood cats over and they dance on their hind legs to the bumping hip hop music that comes from the cars on the street? Who the frick knows. But it's just ironic to me that right when I lay my head down on my pillow to sleep after a long day, the apartment comes alive. 

So I'm in bed yesterday, dead asleep, until I jolt up to my blasting ring tone (lift off ft. beyonce). I'm half startled and look to see a random number from pasadena calling at 1 am. 

I personally am NOT a fan of picking up unknown numbers. Some people find it thrilling, but in my head I'm thinking, "If your not in my phone I probably don't want to talk to you, and if it's really important, you'll leave me a message."

So I naturally don't answer and see a voice mail pop up. Right when I'm going to listen to it, they call again.

This time I'm trying to think more logically, "Okay I don't want to answer right now! But since it's so late they probably have something important to say?"

-"Hello?"

--"Eh Jenna, Sweetie, it's Rosa. 

-Oh, Rosa, hi what's up? (half asleep)

--"Sweetie, I think someone is trying to break into your door. I hear some sounds and I'm pretty sure someone is trying to break in. I just want you to be aware. Okay?"

-"Oh wow. Okay thanks, bye."

My immediate thoughts: So thankful for the call. But just be AWARE????  I love you Rosa, but maybe you can send out your husband with a gun to check?

Then I go into terrified mode. 

You know that feeling where you are truly scared, your pounding heart takes over the room and feels like it might bust through your ears. And you become completely silent because if you make a sound then you can't hear their every move. 

Then the realistic thoughts come across your mind about what you would actually do if a man busted through your door. (even though 65% of you knows it's nothing)

"Okay so someone's trying to break in.  Jenna what's your move?

Call 911. scream? punch? I can't jump out the window! OH gosh I've never been put in this type of trauma. TURN THE LIGHT ON?. Yea yea then they'll get scared and bounce."

Let's just thank the Lord that nothing like this has happened to me, because I'd be a hott mess. I'd Probably offer him my ipad, a delicious cookie and ask him nicely to leave. 

So I muster up the courage, hop out of bed, slowly open the door, and thrust on the light. I see sofia playing around as usual and I KNOW it's just her making noise. So I am a bit more at ease, and climb back into bed exhausted. I am praying and listening to Sofia playing, paired with the exact sound of someone trying to open the door. And I know its just her! But my mind is playing tricks.

Enough about intruders and cats. I'm still alive and that's all that matters.