Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, Happy February and all that Jazz. I want to start out by saying that I have so dearly missed you and I so sincerely hope you had a FABULOUS holiday season! I also want to say that I apologize for the past few months and the lack of newsletters, I have a great excuse for each month I missed, I promise! 😉 Some of you may know that I moved over Christmas. Stayed in the same town just moved into a new home. We found our new house the second week in November and had an accepted offer and our house on the market by Thanksgiving! Phew it was a whirlwind, let me tell you! Everything closed and we moved into our new house 2 days after Christmas. To say this was the busiest and most stressful 2 months of my life probably wouldn’t be too far from the truth. So I appreciate your patience as I get my life back in order and finally get around to another newsletter!
I wanted to take some time this month to share the testimony or what I’m calling my “pillars” for Gods provision in my life in the last 2 months. Through this whole moving process God has really shown me that He is there for me. That He is in control and that He will accomplish His will in His timing. I’m gonna keep this short and just hit the highlights but know that through all this God was working.
My husband lost his job in August 2019, we knew it was coming, his company was moving across the country and he was given a large severance package, so all was good in that regard. We had been talking about expanding our family in the next year or so but I felt like our current home was just too small for another child. I was so attached to my old house that I just couldn’t stomach the thought of selling it to anyone, so I was looking into ways to add on to it to make it what we needed. We had some plans drawn up and talked to some contractors and it turned out to be WAY more than we expected. The California Wildfires had driven up the prices of labor and materials significantly. I still hated the thought of moving but knew I should at least consider it. We looked around here and there but nothing felt “worth it” or right. I was feeling discouraged. As we were looking online we came across one that looked interesting, I wasn’t a huge fan of parts of it, but it was priced well so I figured it couldn’t hurt but look.
Turns out I LOVED it! It needed a lot of work, but for the price it was fabulous! I loved so many features of the house, the layout, the number of bedrooms, the neighborhood, the large yard, the bathrooms, the price! The downside was….my husband was still unemployed, so even if we wanted to, we couldn’t get a loan. I watched that house online for weeks and when it went pending, I cried. That house felt so right, and I couldn’t imagine anything else ever comparing.
I got discouraged again and stopped looking, it was too hard. Then one day I was at Bunco with some girls from church. The home it was at this month was the same floor plan as the one I fell in love with. I was talking with the gal who lived there telling her all about the reasons I love it when lo and behold another friend overhears us. She says “hey, there’s a client in my office (she’s a realtor) who’s getting ready to list this exact floor plan, want more info on it?” I was feeling a bit like “oh but we can’t get a loan, I don’t want to get my hopes up again, blah blah blah” but I said ok. A few days later we were looking at the house, it was at the TOP of our budget and would be quite a stretch for us. But there was no harm in looking.
THIS HOUSE WAS PERFECT! It was the same floor plan that I loved, but it was fully updated, had a pool, had solar, had new windows, new roof, new paint, in a court, new HVAC, whole house fan, EVERYTHING we wanted and more. God was at work here. There was a lot of indecision because of the price but God orchestrated everything. And I mean EVERYTHING. It felt right from the moment I walked through the doors the first time. They offered it to us for just what we could afford before it even hit the market, they even agreed to give us time to get a loan and to get our house on the market. They could have gotten more for the house but agreed to honor the price they offered it to us for. God provided a quick buyer for our old house and it sold in just 9 days. There were so many INCREDIBLE big AND small ways that God said, “this is where I want you”.
I PROMISE you, we shouldn’t be in this house. But God made the way, He provided every step and He put us here anyway. I so deeply feel that God used the previous owners to truly prepare this place for us. I still wake up every day in awe at the work God did and the fact that we get to live there. I pray every day that we can honor Him in this house, for whatever purpose God has in store for us in this house, that we can be open to it, that we can responsive to it and that we can bring him joy and glory.
“Therefore, as it is written: ‘Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.’” 1 Corinthians 1:31
Friends, God is at work! He guides, he provides, he prepares a place for us! I hope my story can encourage you, and remind you of those truths, because He is amazing and He deserves all the glory!
• • •
I’m happy to say that all our guild events have been rolling along nicely in the last two months. We still have 2 weekly raid groups that run, that, while full, can occasionally use a back up here or there. So if you have any interest in raiding let us know in discord and we can see if we can get you on the back up team.
While our “official” Fractal night has kind of fizzled out a bit we do have people running T3 and T4s almost every day, generally EST evening. Find the Fractal Team discord channel for more info and to get hooked up with our amazing Fractal addicts!
WvW continues on SoR two times and week and I have to say the group amazes me! They continue to grow and terrorize the Borderlands! They are growing in skill and coordination and are becoming quite the group to reckon with. If you have any interest in joining Salt in WvW let any officer know, we can even discuss transfer assistance should you need it!
Womens bible study took a couple months off, due to busyness as well as just forgetfulness on my part, sorry ladies! But we did get back together for January and it was an amazing time. It was wonderful to see and talk to you ladies again and I loved digging into the word with you! We will meet on February 17th at 4:15pm EST!
The Co-ed bible study has continued to meet through the holidays on the 3rd Thursday of the month at 8pm EST. They are open to any and all who want to join so message them in discord if you are at all interested!
I think that is all from me for now! I hope you all have an amazing and blessed February!
God bless you all. Goodbye for now!
-Jess
(Vasshti)
“To Him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.” 1 Peter 4:11
New Saltines •
Nerol; Lastlook; jsc; khun; Eleazar; MoonFlower; pegasus; Birdtree.
Be sure to give a warm Salty welcome if you see these new Saltines in-game!
• February Verse of the Month •
Psalm 119: 121-128
NIV
“I have done what is righteous and just;
do not leave me to my oppressors.
Ensure your servant’s well-being;
let not the arrogant oppress me.
My eyes fail, looking for you salvation,
looking for your righteous promise.
Deal with your servant according to your love
and teach me your decrees.
I am your servant; give me discernment
that I may understand your statutes.
It is time for you to act, O Lord;
your law is being broken.
Because I love your commands
more than gold, more than pure gold,
and because I consider all your precepts right,
I hate every wrong path.”
• February Song of the Month •
• February Recipe of the Month •
Pavlova
BadFeungShui
Software:
-4 egg whites at about room temperature
-4 oz turbinado sugar (or any granulated sugar)
-1 tsp lemon juice
-1 tsp cassava starch (or corn starch)
-1 pinch of salt
-1/2 tbsp filtered water
– An unspecified amount of whipped cream
– About 1 cup of passion fruit puree, or 1 cup of assorted blueberry, raspberry, and blackberry
Hardware:
– A sheet of parchment paper, a non-stick baking mat, or a non-stick grill mat (I use a Yoshi Grill Mat and it works pretty good)
– A sheet pan of any kind
– Stand mixer with the whisk attached
Or
– A large whisk, a mixing bowl, and massive forearm muscles
The process begins by moving the egg whites into your mixing vessel and whisking until bubbles begin to form on the surface, at fairly low speed. Add the lemon juice, salt, and starch at this point, and continue to whisk until the egg liquid begins to thicken and turn slightly opaque before adding the sugar a little at a time, increasing the speed of the whisk while you work the sugar in.
After the sugar has been worked in entirely, add the water and continue whisking until “stiff peaks” are achieved – this means that you can dunk the whisk into the raw meringue and pull it out, and the resulting foam stuck to the whisk is sturdy enough that it’ll stay pretty much in place.
Preheat the oven to 250 degrees and get the sheet pan prepped with the non-stick mat or parchment in place, then transfer the foam onto the pan and kind of “sculpt” it into a circular shape between 7 and 8 inches across. The edges will be uneven, that’s fine, we don’t want it perfectly smooth.
Now we play the waiting game, which comes in three phases. Bake at 250 degrees for 45 minutes with the oven light off. When the 45 minutes are up, turn off the oven but leave the door closed and continue to let it rest in the warm oven for another 3 hours. At this point the oven is off, you don’t really even need to monitor this part.
Finally, crack the door to the oven open and allow the air inside to come all the way down to room temperature if it hasn’t already, then remove the now cooked meringue.
Before serving, you can either stick the puree or fruit on top and cover it with whipped cream, or fold the whipped cream and fruit together and kind of add them as a single entity.
• February Tip of the Month •
WvW Skirmish Chests
Skirmish chests in WvW can be used to obtain a number of items. People often ask what they should get out of them, so here is a brief answer to that.
Chests can be used to get random Superior Siege Blueprints, Improvements and Tactics, and Tricks and Traps. Most of those are an “as needed” item, Siege is dropped, tricks and traps aren’t used that much, but the guild can benefit from the improvements and tactics. Upon use those are deposited to the guild you are repping. Again, that’s only as needed.
You can get food, but these days the food that offers is pretty outdated; siege decorations for the guild hall, which are pretty unnecessary; or unidentified Dye, which is fun and can be profitable, but not the most profitable option. You can get transmutation charges as needed as well as Badges of Honor and Testimonies of Heroics. Testimonies of Heroics can be used to get Hero Points and the Hero Points are used to get Elite Specs.
If you don’t have all the Elite Specs unlocked for all your characters that would be my first suggestion. If you do my suggestion is to stockpile until you need something. If you need siege or improvements, etc.
My second suggestion is to use them to unlock the Testimonies of Heroics, but instead of using them to unlock elite specs, use them to buy items (namely the Runes) from the merchant in WvW, you can sell those on the TP for a pretty profit. But be sure to price them out individually before selecting to make sure you’re getting the biggest bang for your buck!
Happy Looting!
“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men. You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”
Matt. 5:13-16
Salt of the Earth 