Christmas...

Did you know that Christmas is less than 3 months away?

Have you started your Christmas shopping/planning?

Consider yourself warned.

No Good Thing...

"For a day in your courts is better than a thousand.

I would rather be a door keeper in the house of my God

Than dwell in the tents of wickedness.

For the LORD God is a sun and shield;

The LORD will give grace and glory;

No good thing will he uphold

From those who walk uprightly.

O LORD of hosts,

Blessed is the man who trust in You!"

- Psalm 84:10-12

This passage was in our bulletin this week as a meditation. I was struck anew with just how amazing it is. I've been thinking about it daily. A while back, when I was having a bad day, Aaron reminded that a God, who willingly sent His own son to die for me, was not going to withhold any good thing from me. Just thinking about it blows my mind.

Healthy Me

I generally do not eat organic food and while I try to eat vegetables and such, I am definitely not a vegetarian. Over the past couple of days though, I've eaten so healthy it amazes even me. I've been eating tons of salad, celery, sweet peppers, hummus and my latest delight is a Naked Red Machine blended juice smoothie. They're kind of expensive so I never get them, but I felt like I was on the verge of getting sick so I got one and boy is it tasty. In one container of juice, there are supposedly 13 rasberries, 11 strawberries, 3 cranberries, 1 1/2 apples, 1/4 pomegranate, 1/3 orange, 1/2 banana, and 5 red grapes. Oh, and don't forget the flax seed. Amazing isn't it?

Now I just need to figure out a good recipes for some healthy snacks such as energy bars. Delish.

A snippet

Last night I finished two entire birthday presents! Yes! Afterwards, I celebrated by working on this beauty:

I can't tell you what it is because that would totally ruin the surprise. When I stop being so lazy, I will try and post a picture of Mercy's present and the sampler that I just finished.

Have an amazing Sabbath!

Oops

I just managed to spill an entire cup of water right down my front. Too funny. The only problem is that I still have another 2 1/2 hours before I can go home and change.

The Last Day of Summer

We're celebrating the last day of summer with 95 degree weather.

The good news is that I just looked at the 10 day forecast and all of next week looks like fall weather*.

* I define fall weather as the high for the day being below 80 degrees.

Enough whining

Ok, since I was such a whiner in the last post, I only think it fair that I share some of the delish food that I've gotten to enjoy since then.
On Friday, it was the tangy, fresh taste of hummus with salty pita chips (I get to re-live this one in just a couple of hours).
On Friday night, Aaron convinced Caleb and I (it didn't take much work) to drive an hour away in order to get a scrumptious Thai dinner. I had a curry complete with cashews served over rice. I was so stuffed that I only managed to eat two bites of dessert which consisted of a custard rice It was definitely unique.
For lunch on Saturday, we decided that after our "hike" we should have lunch for breakfast. I thought I was being all clever when I attempted to combine the words for "breakfast" and "lunch." Fail on my part. Anywho, we went home and cooked up fluffy scrambled eggs with onion and pepper, pancakes, and chicken apple honey sausage. Then I piled it all together on my plate and ate it as a pancake eggs sausage sandwich. True love.
The highlight of Sunday was gingerbread. I never make gingerbread and I never get to eat it so it was a real treat. The dark, musky flavor was both surprising and wonderful. I think I need the recipe.
Now you know, whether or not you wanted to, exactly what I've been eating the past few days. Oh, and I almost forgot, I've been having homemade bread toast slathered with butter for breakfast almost every day.

Another funny side note: On Sunday night, Aaron called me and said, "Guess what I'm eating for dinner right now." After I failed to guess, he told me that he had put sweet potatoes in his stir-fry. He said that after he tried it, he just had to call someone and I was the only person he could talk to about food. Now he has to make it for me.

What have you been eating? I always need inspiration.

Killing the flavor

Why does everybody in Kentucky insist on eating bland food all smothered in a bland sauce? Everybody makes casseroles and everybody knows that said casseroles must be covered in cream of mushroom soup or velveeta cheese. Food in Kentucky is generally unexciting. It all tastes the same. Mostly it fits the following categories:

• Greasy (French fries, hamburgers, fried chicken, etc)
• Creamy (whitish casseroles)
• Bland (smothered in ketchup, american cheese)
• Just plain boring (spaghetti with plain sauce from a can or jar)

Somedays I just want to eat flavorful food. Just give me one good slice of sharp smoked cheddar cheese, or grate fresh ginger, or the even the wonderful taste of basil all ground up in pesto. And if you want something creamy, please do me a favor and use real cream.

I think I need to do some cooking this weekend.

Cross stitch inspiration...

A week ago, I found an old cross stitch sampler that was half way completed. I remember working on it when I was about 13 or 14. Looking at it, I was inspired to complete it. As of right now, I am about 3/4ths of the way done. I hope to finish it this week. Now I've been brainstorming on a project to work on next. Here are some that I found online:



I like this one because it has the blue toile pattern. I definitely think it needs a darker shade of blue though...
This one is simple but kind of Swedish looking:

This one is just amazing. I love it.

Baby Shower #2

Mom and I are done with baby shower season. Today we hosted our second shower in just 3 weeks. Whew...They both turned out wonderful. Here are some pictures. These are the two moms. Their due dates are only about a week apart.

Tissue paper pom poms. True love.

The amazing fruit flowers my mom made:

Thankful Friday

Because it is only two more days until the Sabbath, now is the perfect opportunity to reflect on the good things of this past week.
A couple of weeks ago, I was stressed out. Not majorly, but stressed nonetheless. That little bit of stress that I did have made me realize one of the best things about my life right now. I was stressed for most of the past four years. Maybe I wasn't constantly freaking out, but there were tons of little stresses. I had deadlines out the wazoo, finals every 8 weeks, papers due, late nights, early mornings...you know the routine. As of right now, I have no deadlines, no papers due, I don't stay up late unless I want to (and I never do), I don't have a high pressure job, and I have look for work instead of hide from it. Sometimes it annoys me when I don't have enough work to do during the day, but, for right now, I'm just greatful that it is not at all stressful. I get to leave every day promptly at 5 pm and I never have to take work or work-related stress home with me. My evenings are mine, completely mine to do whatever I want. Work also never interferes with my weekends. And so I announce before the world (or at least before my small gathering of faithful readers) that I am not stressed and I am extremely grateful that my job is easy and sometimes boring. grateful

P.S. I surprised mei amici with a container of banana bars with cream cheese frosting over my lunch break. I know, I'm amazing.

Stocking up...

In preparation of the long winter, I have filled my work desk with cheetos and dark chocolate. 80% cocoa is the bomb diggity.
Hmmm...I think I should go running tomorroww

Directions On How To Get Directions...

My boss just called me and asked me to get directions to a certain parking lot because he is attending a certain sporting event. He suggested I call the campus police or security. So I did. After I explained the situation, they promptly transferred me to the Parking office. Again, I explained the situation and again they transferred me. This time I went to the Athletics department where I again explained the situation. Still, it wasn't right. And so I had a nice little chat with the Ticket office. If that wasn't enough, the first person at the ticket office couldn't help me so I had to wait on hold until another member of that office could help.

This made my slow Friday afternoon so much better.

Encouragement

Skip over to Jasmine's blog to read her latest post on single women preparing for marriage. It is definitely worth reading. Her wisdom is worth more than an entire hope chest filled with meaningless dishes. Be sure and check it out.