Worry

The past week or so, the Lord has been dealing with me about sin in my own heart. I have made a habit of worrying about everything, big and small. So much so that it has become a way of life for me and I didn't even notice it. Until last week. I've been going through some personal health issues. Nothing too big...but I made it big in my own head. This afternoon, I have an appointment with a specialist and I have allowed myself to worry and be paralyzed with fear.

When I think of sin, I think of lying, stealing, coveting, etc. For some reason, worry just doesn't come to mind. In reality, the definition of sin is: Deliberate disobedience to the known will of God; To violate a religious or moral law. Furthermore, sin separates us from God. In Matthew 6, the Lord commands us not to worry. God, in His own gracious and merciful way keeps gently reminding me that worry is a sin. Period. When I worry, I show God that I don't trust Him. Nothing good can come out of it. It hinders my walk with the Lord. It affects the relationship I have with my husband. If I allow it, it might even affect our children.

Starting this week, I am making a conscious effort not to worry. I've recruited my husband to help me with it. Each time I worry, I stop myself and confess 2 Timothy 1:7: For God has not given us a spirit of fear but of power, of love and of a sound mind. I am also learning to pray more and just give each situation over to the Lord. He is the only one with the power to change any and all situations. I will confess...it hasn't been easy to let go and do this. However, it feels so great to just cast all my burdens on my Heavenly Father.

This morning, I was reading a great article about worry by Jill Briscoe. If you'd like, you can read the article by clicking on the following link: http://www.tellingthetruth.org/common/productbrochurehandler.ashx?id=7e462745-d34a-427b-bbf9-79ae59b76df6.

Thank you Lord for loving me as much as you do. No matter how many times I fall, you pick me back up and keep on loving me.

Off to Virginia!

Tomorrow, I will be going to Reston, VA to visit my sweet Uma Chitthi, my darling cousin Abisha and my dear Raj Anna. It's been over 5 years since I've seen all of them! I can't wait!! On Friday, I will be going to Virginia Beach to see my best buddy, Grace. She's almost done with Law School and I've been promising her a visit for 3 years now. Finally, the time has come! Gracie, we're going to have a blast!
So long Texas and bye sweetheart.....I'll really miss you.

Raise your hand if you think my husband lives like a king

I love the days when my husband works from home. It's not like we get to hang out together or anything. We both sit in the same room and do our own work. However, just knowing that he is near me makes my day. Also, we get to have lunch together...it feels like a date. :)

On the menu today: Parotta with Chicken Salna/Chalna. Parottas are buttery, pillowy, flaky morsels of bread. Chicken Salna is a curry made with chicken, onions, tomatoes, coconut and lots of spices. In Tamilnadu, these dishes are often served together. We brought the Parottas from India. They were made by Amuda Akka, a wonderful woman who works in my in-laws' home. I made the Chicken Salna using a recipe I found online.

Here is a picture of this lovely lunch. Hope you enjoy! Happy Friday. :)



Parotta with Chicken Salna....yum!

Our trip to Jaipur

Finally, the long awaited post about our recent trip to India (particularly Jaipur). :) We had a fun time in India with our families. We celebrated our 3rd anniversary (on February 8th) in Jaipur. My sweetheart planned the entire trip. He is such a great planner! Also, our uncles and aunts wanted to bless us by sending us on this trip. We are incredibly grateful to them!

We stayed at The Sheraton Rajputana. It was one of the best hotels we've stayed in. The customer service was amazing. Our room was gorgeous and not to mention so comfortable! The pillows on the bed were so soft that I wanted to steal them! Don't worry though...I didn't. Our favorite part of the hotel was the breakfast buffet. It was unbelievable! They had everything you can possibly imagine! After eating Indian food for 3 weeks straight, I was more than ready to have an American breakfast. My stomach just doesn't handle spicy food very well. They also had plenty of Indian food on hand, which made my husband very happy. :)

My uncle and aunt arranged for a tour guide to take us around Jaipur. The first night we were there, we went to a place called Chokhi Dhani. Chokhi Dhani is set up like a typical Rajasthani Village. We watched a puppet shows, a couple of Rajasthani dances and went on a manually run ferris wheel (my personal favorite). A man jumped on the ferris wheel and start spinning it around by jumping from one end to the other. It was crazy! We also had a traditional Rajasthani meal. We were shocked at the amount of ghee (clarified butter) they used but the food was good.

The following day, our tour guide took us to the City Palace. Along the way, we stopped at Hawa Mahal, which forms part of the City Palace. Hawa Mahal is a palace in Jaipur which was built in 1799. It was built so that royal ladies could observe everyday life in the streets without being seen in public. Once inside the City Palace, we went on a fun, elephant ride. Our rider was trying to overtake the other elephants! Some things in India never change! ;) The City Palace includes the Chandra Mahal and many other palaces and buildings. The architecture of all the palaces were striking. The rich, colorful tones of the palaces were breathtaking.

I could go over all the different palaces but I don't think I can do it justice. If you'd like to know more information, please check out this link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_Palace,_Jaipur. We also did quite a bit of shopping. Jaipur is known for it's gems, silk paintings, rugs and block printing on bed linens and clothes, among other things. We didn't get any gems (sigh) but we did get some bed linens. We also bought puppets, clothes, costume jewelry and shawls.

Below are some pictures of our trip. If you want to know more about this beautiful city, feel free to e-mail me. Enjoy the pictures!

Our beautiful hotel, Sheraton Rajputana


Rajasthani dance at Chokhi Dhani





Manual Ferris Wheel



Enjoying a traditional Rajasthani Meal. (Doesn't my sweetheart look cute??)



Elephant ride at Amber Fort



Hawa Mahal



The City Palace

I've been a very bad girl

This is my apology post. I haven't blogged in quite some time. No excuses....just didn't blog. The good news is though, I have SO much to blog about! We just got back from our trip to India and I can't wait to tell you all about it. Particularly our trip to Jaipur. I have lots of beautiful pictures to show you. Pictures which were taken with the Canon Rebel T1i that my sweet honey got for my birthday. :) Is he the greatest or what? I've been using this camera for 3 months and LOVE it!! Anyways, stay tuned for an update. Happy Saturday!

Happy Birthday Cat!

Happy birthday Cat! I pray that you have a super duper day and an even more super fabulous year! You are such a thoughtful, kind, caring, generous, loyal and dependable friend. I am so grateful to God for our friendship. Even though we live hundreds of miles apart, you are still close to my heart (ooh, that rhymed!). I adore you to pieces!

I'm sorry I can't be with you today but I'll see you real soon next week! I love you with all my heart! Muah!

Stuffed Chilli Bhajjis

I can't believe it has been 3 weeks since I last posted! I am so sorry. November rolls around and we get crazy busy every year. So much has happened these past 3 weeks. We celebrated 2 birthdays (my mom's and mine), while I finished physical therapy (yay!), and today, my sweet sister-in-law Deepa, is coming for a visit. I am so excited!

I have so much to tell you I can't contain it! Wait until you hear about the lovely present I got for my birthday from my sweet husband! I can't stop looking at it, talking about it, talking to it and using it. First things first though.

A few weeks ago, I promised to post about the banana peppers from the Farmer's Market. Please forgive me for the delay. Here's what I made....Stuffed Bhajjis! Bhajjis are Indian snacks. They're basically vegetables which are deep fried in a spicy batter. I deseeded the peppers and stuffed them with a spicy potato and onion mixture. I completely underestimated the spiciness of these suckers! I couldn't get to the seeds with a knife so I used my hands...and my hands were on fire for a whole stinkin' day!

They were definitely worth it though. One of my Indian friends (ah-hem, Joseph), had one bite and couldn't handle it. He kept saying that his tongue was on fire. I admit, these things had a ton of heat! The funny thing is though, our dear Minnesotan friend Jake, whose idea of spicy is garlic powder, ate a whole pepper! Without flinching!

Anyways, here are some pictures of these wonderful peppers.

Cleaned Peppers


Potato Stuffing


Ay Caramba! These look hot!


They WERE hot!!


Oh, but they were so good!


Pepto, anyone?