The Capitol

Today, Philip and I were invited to join Eli and his friend Daniel to tour the Capitol of Virginia! Eli is a Virginia Capitol Police Officer so he was able to give us the GRAND TOUR of the Capitol and the surrounding historical buildings. I had never visited the Capitol before (isn't that terrible? :), so I thoroughly enjoyed having a behind the scenes look!
Of course, before we left, the moms had to take a parting shot :) (from left to right: Eric, me, Philip, Eli, and Daniel).
Here we are walking downtown from the parking deck. I loved walking through downtown Richmond and seeing all of the old buildings and architecture. It was a perfect day for it too. :)
This was taken near the Capitol. The cathedrial-looking building in the distance is the Old City Hall.
From this spot, the distances from Richmond on the highways are measured. How neat is that?Here is a view of the Capitol from the street. Isn't it huge? We went in the underground passageway(the door to the right) that led to the Capitol itself. Philip was astonished when he saw the whole inside of the passageway was made of marble. :) There was a gift shop, cafeteria (where we ate lunch), and a gallery of various historical paintings.
Eli took us throughout the inside of the Capitol. This is a picture taken at the Capitol 's rotunda. A statue of George Washington stood right in the center and the busts of various presidents lined the walls.
This is a picture of the dome in the rotunda, although I have to say, this picture doesn't really do it justice. :) The archetecture was outstanding!
On the next floor, we saw paintings of all of Virginia's governors. Speaking of govenors, we caught a glimpse of our current governor, Governor Tim Kaine walking in the rotunda! I'm sorry to say, I didn't get my camera out in time. :)

Here is a picture of the Old Senate Chamber.

I thought this was the neatest part! Eli got us into the Senate of Virginia Chamber where we were able to sit in and listen to the senators of Virginia in session. How many times do you get to do that? It was neat to be able to actually see the senators that you hear about all of the time in action! I didn't take a picture while in session because I didn't want to get in trouble. :)
I was the annoying photographer on the tour. :) Thanks guys! Here, we are back outside in front of the Capitol building. We were able to go in the General Assembly Building where we saw the Senators' offices and the Old City Hall.

The Governor's Mansion

Here is another view of the Capitol building from the Governor's Mansion.

Our last stop: The Library of Virginia! Phil liked this place! This picture does not capture the millions of books that are all around! If you are looking for a book, this is the place to go! This library even has shelves of phone books from many years ago up until now. :)
And that was the end of our visit to the Capitol! Philip and I really enjoyed seeing the sights for the first time! I hope I got all of the facts right in my post, there was so much to take in! :) Thanks Eli for taking the time to show us around today, we had a great time! ~Alli

A Sprinkle of Time Saving Tips

• Chop a large amount of nuts and place them in the freezer for later use to save some chopping.
• To keep apple slices from browning on your fruit platter, dip them in orange juice.
• The sharper your knife is, the less accidents you will have because your knife will do what it's supposed to do, cut through.
• Zest your scrap lemons and place zest in freezer containers for later use.
• Use an ice cream scoop to form equal amounts of cookie dough or to fill muffin tins.
• Instead of sifting flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt together when baking, just simply whisk them together to remove any lumps.
• Tuck stray bread bags or Ziploc baggies into an empty paper towel roll. Tuck away in a drawer.
• Use clothespins instead of bread ties to easily close open bags.
• Instead of having to wash and dry your lettuce every time you need it, try this simple time saving tip: After you bring your lettuce home from the store and before you have to make a salad, wash your greens. Grab a laundry bag that's used for nylons or delicates and place your wet greens inside (use this bag strictly for lettuce alone). Place bag in your empty washing machine and run your greens through the last spin cycle. Voila! Dry lettuce to be stored in a bag in the fridge for your salads throughout the week.
• Store grains and beans in jars or containers on your counter for easy access.
• Do most of your dinner preparations earlier in the day to avoid stress at meal time.
• Freeze casseroles ahead of time.
• Purposely make extra of your meals or save leftovers in the freezer for future meals.
• Put spices on a turntable for easy access.
• Alphabetize your spices with stickers and number them. When looking for a particular spice, look for it alphabetically. When putting it away, put it in numerical order to keep organized.
• Soak your beans overnight in a crock pot on low for next day use.

(Taken from my Wholesome Food Preparation course by Sue Gregg) ~Alli

How To Become Wise

I found this video made by Jack McDonnell. He did an excellent job explaining what the Bible says about fools and how to become wise. I think you'll enjoy it!

We have all had the experience of being fools, however, Romans 3:23-24 says..."For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus." Through accepting what Christ did for us on the cross, we can be free to walk wisely before God.

Blessings to you and your family this Christmas. ~The Trent's

Roll Making Technique

Today I am making rolls! I love making rolls but whenever I do make them, they always turn out lumpy, uneven, and different sizes. :) That's why I was so excited when I learned about making yeast breads and rolls in my Wholesome Food Prep course because Sue Gregg taught a little trick you can use to get perfect even-sized rolls every time!

Step one: Take a little bit of dough and stretch it to make a mushroom cap (make sure your hands are greased well with oil so it isn't sticky!)

Step two: Shape your fingers in an "O" shape and push the dough up through it with your other fingers

Step three: Squeeeeeeze the dough to make a little puff like this (See my other fist? I must be squeezing this one really hard. :) It's a good way to take out all of your frustrations. ;) I have no idea what I was doing with that hand!)

After you've squeezed the dough, pinch the excess off of the bottom or tuck it under your roll. Isn't that neat? I love how this technique makes the tops of the rolls so smooth! Give it a try!

Ta da! And they actually rose this time...unlike my last attempt at making bread. :) I'm still blaming it on the yeast! ~Alli

Can You See It?

Look right in the middle of the picture...

It's a tiny lettuce sprout! I can't believe how fast they came up! I went out in the garden this morning to water my plants and looked really closely to find tons of small lettuce sprouts. I only saw one spinach sprout coming up but hopefully there will be more soon! I'm so excited!!! I hope they continue to grow and don't whither away.

As I am typing this, 1 Peter 1:24-25 comes to mind:

"For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: But the word of the Lord endureth forever..."

We are reminded to not place our trust and find comfort in our own abilities as sinners, but in our Almighty Father. Even though my little plants may wither away, I can be confident that the truthfulness and goodness of God and His Word will always last eternally! That is definitely something to trust in! ~Alli

Celebrate the Glory!

What a wonderful weekend we had! On Saturday, Dad, Mom, Eric and I travelled to Lynchburg, VA for a encouraging and uplifting conference that celebrated the glory of the Lord! We heard about it through the Alexanders, who also went.The topic of this particular conference was how to establish family worship in the home.
The first speaker and the man who ran the show, Marc Jantomaso, gave a wonderful session on the glory of God's Word.

Eric Wallace was there to speak about the beauty of family worship in the home and in the church.

We were also able to hear Scott Brown speak which was a real treat! We have only heard him on tapes and CDs, and we enjoyed being able to actually "see" him speak! He gave a session on family worship leadership.

Arnold Pent, the author of Ten P's In a Pod, was also there to speak on the fruit of family worship. He was hilarious!

All throughout the conference, we were blessed with beautiful music played by the Harrow family. It was neat to see them actually take Scripture and put it to music.
This is the view we had from the conference!

Sitting in the sun after lunch. It was so cold and windy there!

During the conference, we were challenged to memorize a passage from Psalm. Here, Dad is trying to rehearse it before sessions began again.

Afterward, Dad went to Scott Brown to get him to autograph a book that we had bought of his. He ended up staying and chatting with him and Mr. Pent for a good 15 minutes!

We joke Dad about him hanging around all of those "famous" people. :) We had so much fun at this conference and learned so much from it. It was a blessing to see Mom and Dad be encouraged. We also enjoyed being around so many like-minded families! ~Alli

"Praise the Lord!
Blessed is the man who fears the Lord,
Who delights greatly in His commandments.
His descendants will be mighty on the earth;
The generation of the upright will be blessed."
~Psalm 112:1-2

~To see some Harvest Party pictures from Sunday, please head on over to my blog!!