Last night was the last meeting of our Monday Night Bible Study. This is the Bible study where Nick and I were officially introduced. This is the study where we got to know one another and began to flirt. Where we dated. Where attended through our engagement, first months of marriage, and both of our pregnancies to date. It was observed last night that we were not only the longest attending members but also that the study had seen us through several stages of life, and that is very true. I'm going to miss it more than I can say.
To celebrate our last night together and to enjoy one another's company, we all brought food. Of course! Christians really can't meet together without food, right? Wrong, but it is a fun way to celebrate. One brought cake, another chips and salsa. And I made dessert.
This is what I've discovered. It would have been easy for me to just pick up a carton of ice cream and call it good. Everyone would have been happy to enjoy it and it is certainly less work with small children and dinner to get on the table. But it wasn't enough for me. Instead, I made a Russian cream dessert and a salted caramel sauce to put over it (and anything else anyone might fancy). Was it a little stressful trying to get it done after a long day of laundry, workers banging on our roof and a late trip to the grocery store for a few necessary items? A little. Was it fulfilling? Definitely.
There are lots of blogs and articles waxing eloquent about what it is about food that feeds our souls as well as stomachs. I don't know that I have anything new to say about that. But I can say this: that making something special for people I care about feeds my heart. It is an outpouring of love. To know that I made something delicious and maybe even delightful for others to enjoy brings me satisfaction. It isn't that I want praise or recognition (though I admit I like to know it's good so I know people enjoyed it). I like to give people the pleasure of good food, and hopefully good company. This is the reason that I and an enlisted friend made almost all the food for a dear friend's wedding shower, much of it rather fancy or special. This is the reason I busted my chops last night to make a rather uncomplicated dessert that required more time than I maybe had. This is why I invite my parents over for soup and wish I had a slightly bigger kitchen (I'm a messy cook) and a much bigger dining room in order to entertain more people. There's a guy at church I've owed a dinner to for too long, and I may never pay it to him (though I think his girlfriend can make pretty good meals, so he's not hurting). Still, I want to show him my far overdue appreciation sometime. This might be why, when we moved into this apartment and I had grander hopes for entertaining, I made a list of menus to serve, which have all now gone missing.
It is also why I would love to start a dinner club or cookbook society or something of the sort. There is a great deal of satisfaction and joy to be gained by sharing good food with good friends, and even more in the conversations that take place around the table.
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Saturday, September 17, 2011
100 Days to Christmas
Ok, so actually, it's more like 99 days. What I'm referring to in 100 Days to Christmas is a great website hosted by ListPlanit.com featuring a daily countdown until Christmas Day with tips for organization and activities to enjoy the holiday season. At the moment, they're doing a giveaway for their ebook with all the info up front as well as a membership to ListPlantit. So if you're interested, you should head on over! I'm just excited as I have hopes of doing a lot of handmade/homemade things this year, and this countdown will help me stay organized and on the ball for it. Check it out!
Friday, September 16, 2011
Friday Quick 5
It's chilly here in my room and my husband is chatting with me as I try to write this in a lull with the kids. Things never stop around here! So, a few things on my mind:
1. Blogging: Blogger has changed its interface. I'm not sure how I feel about it. It's definitely a little more spare-looking, which seems to be a trend these days. Minimalism. Like I said, I don't know how I feel about it. As in all changes, it will take time to adjust. As long as it's useable, I guess there's really not much to complain about.
2. Projects: My big writing project is done. Woohoo! It feels good. And now I have a handful of other projects to take up. I'm seriously considering a handmade Christmas. We'll see if I can come up with enough handmade gift ideas to do it. It may not be possible, as I don't know if I have the skill. It may be something I need to work on over the years. For now, though, I definitely have a few family stockings to make. On my side of the family, everyone has matching stockings. The tradition was started when my grandmother made a stocking to match the ones she'd made for my mom and her brother when my parents got married: it made Dad a part of the family to have a matching stocking. Now, we've made them for all of the spouses of my siblings and I as well as our kids. This year, Simon needs one as well as my nephew Tommy, and now my brothers' fiancee. I don't know when they'll be getting married, but she needs one, STAT!
3. Mornings: I signed up for a Maximize Your Mornings challenge through Inspired to Action. It's group accountability to get up and get your quiet time with God done in the mornings. It's only the second day of it, but I'm already feeling the challenge and the blessing of getting up early for that time. And I'm excited. Currently, my quiet time is going through the Gospels. I realized, I wanted to spend time with Jesus. I want to sit and His feet and listen to His teaching and just soak Him in. Granted, the entire Bible is His teaching; He's the divine Logos. But, still... There are days I wish I could have walked on earth with Him, but I also know that would have been a hard experience. Perhaps I wasn't born to that time for a reason (okay, not perhaps). I'm tired. Really tired. I'm not a morning person. But I hope to become one and to look forward to getting up for that precious time with my God. They say it takes 21 days to create a habit. The challenge is for three months. So... here's hoping I accomplish the goal.
4. Stuff: My house is driving me crazy. We've taken steps to correct it: rearranged furniture, taken out a side table in the living room, etc. It still remains that I suspect we have too much stuff for our apartment. Granted, someday we will have a three story house. Someday. And then we will have more room than stuff (or at least the stuff we currently have). I still wonder if we should purge. The question is, what to purge? Most of what overwhelms me is the kids' things. And I recognize, kids come with stuff. Or more accurately, stuff comes with kids. We don't have as much as many kids we know, as we recognize we just don't have room for it. So maybe this is just a phase. But I feel the need for a system to deal with it, rather than everything being everywhere.
5. Wedding: my friend Mel gets married in a week. I can't believe how close it is! Time has flown, for me at least. I don't know that it has for her. We go up to Lincoln next week for the wedding and will spend a day at the Omaha Zoo before we come home. I'm excited about this little mini-vacay. And I'm really excited about the friends I will see there. Can't wait!
1. Blogging: Blogger has changed its interface. I'm not sure how I feel about it. It's definitely a little more spare-looking, which seems to be a trend these days. Minimalism. Like I said, I don't know how I feel about it. As in all changes, it will take time to adjust. As long as it's useable, I guess there's really not much to complain about.
2. Projects: My big writing project is done. Woohoo! It feels good. And now I have a handful of other projects to take up. I'm seriously considering a handmade Christmas. We'll see if I can come up with enough handmade gift ideas to do it. It may not be possible, as I don't know if I have the skill. It may be something I need to work on over the years. For now, though, I definitely have a few family stockings to make. On my side of the family, everyone has matching stockings. The tradition was started when my grandmother made a stocking to match the ones she'd made for my mom and her brother when my parents got married: it made Dad a part of the family to have a matching stocking. Now, we've made them for all of the spouses of my siblings and I as well as our kids. This year, Simon needs one as well as my nephew Tommy, and now my brothers' fiancee. I don't know when they'll be getting married, but she needs one, STAT!
3. Mornings: I signed up for a Maximize Your Mornings challenge through Inspired to Action. It's group accountability to get up and get your quiet time with God done in the mornings. It's only the second day of it, but I'm already feeling the challenge and the blessing of getting up early for that time. And I'm excited. Currently, my quiet time is going through the Gospels. I realized, I wanted to spend time with Jesus. I want to sit and His feet and listen to His teaching and just soak Him in. Granted, the entire Bible is His teaching; He's the divine Logos. But, still... There are days I wish I could have walked on earth with Him, but I also know that would have been a hard experience. Perhaps I wasn't born to that time for a reason (okay, not perhaps). I'm tired. Really tired. I'm not a morning person. But I hope to become one and to look forward to getting up for that precious time with my God. They say it takes 21 days to create a habit. The challenge is for three months. So... here's hoping I accomplish the goal.
4. Stuff: My house is driving me crazy. We've taken steps to correct it: rearranged furniture, taken out a side table in the living room, etc. It still remains that I suspect we have too much stuff for our apartment. Granted, someday we will have a three story house. Someday. And then we will have more room than stuff (or at least the stuff we currently have). I still wonder if we should purge. The question is, what to purge? Most of what overwhelms me is the kids' things. And I recognize, kids come with stuff. Or more accurately, stuff comes with kids. We don't have as much as many kids we know, as we recognize we just don't have room for it. So maybe this is just a phase. But I feel the need for a system to deal with it, rather than everything being everywhere.
5. Wedding: my friend Mel gets married in a week. I can't believe how close it is! Time has flown, for me at least. I don't know that it has for her. We go up to Lincoln next week for the wedding and will spend a day at the Omaha Zoo before we come home. I'm excited about this little mini-vacay. And I'm really excited about the friends I will see there. Can't wait!
Sunday, September 4, 2011
Beautiful Day
It's a beautiful day outside my window. Currently, it is a lovely 76-degrees, not a cloud in view of my window. I can hear birds singing, few cars passing, and inside, only the little pipe and trill of the lullabies on Simon's swing. My children are sleeping, my husband is out working in the yard, and I am enjoying a mug of cool lemonade pondering these last few days of summer. No matter what school calendars might say, no matter what clothes the stores are hawking, we still have a few last days of summer. No one is more eager than I for fall: chilly mornings, warm sweaters, hot drinks. At night when I wake, I look at the diamond-patterned window in my room and imagine soft, fat snowflakes lazily drifting by. Preferably close to Christmas. I think, though, that if the last days of summer could be like this one, perhaps with trips to the zoo and library, with a touch of real laziness (our summer has been anything but lazy), then I wouldn't mind at all. Maybe I could at last enjoy a little summer.
It's supposed to be quite mild this week. I don't want to look beyond Friday's forecast, as I'm afraid to find the temps creeping back up where I don't want them. Lows in the upper 40's? High's in the 70's? Yes, please! Give me summer like this any day!
It's supposed to be quite mild this week. I don't want to look beyond Friday's forecast, as I'm afraid to find the temps creeping back up where I don't want them. Lows in the upper 40's? High's in the 70's? Yes, please! Give me summer like this any day!
Friday, September 2, 2011
Friday Quick 5
I'm working on wrapping my writing project this morning (or trying to get there, anyway), but as a warm-up, I thought I'd do the Quick 5!
1. I've been trying to get up early in the mornings. I started this week. So far, I've done a half-and-half job. Monday through Wednesday, I did pretty good, getting out of bed no later than 6:00 (my goal actually be 5:30, however). Then Simon came down with a cold in the middle of the night Wednesday night. The past two days I haven't been able to make it out before 7:00... I really want to establish an early morning routine to better utilize my time. I found this week if I got up earlier I was more likely to get my devotional time done; I accomplished more housework; overall, I was excited that I was more productive. I was practically giddy Wednesday as I loaded the dishwasher, washed dishes that can't go in, and straightened the living room, all before the kids were up. Yesterday, by contrast, was abysmal. But I chalk that up to crabby kids. To encourage my efforts to get up early in the mornings, and especially to get my devotionals done, I signed up for this: Hello Mornings! Basically, it's an accountability thing through the web (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) to help you stay motivated to get up every morning and get your quiet time in. The sign-up ends today, but if you read this in time, you might like to hop on over. I'm intimidated by being paired with people I don't know; I'm extremely shy. But I decided this goal was far more important.
2. It's going to be 103 here today. Ridunkulous. Seriously. I think that puts Topeka around 30 days of 100-degrees or over. It hasn't been this bad since the Dust Bowl in the '30's, according to the news. Next week, highs in the seventies, lows in the fifties. If it all comes about as predicted, I'll be euphoric.
3. On the kid watch: Eliza has added several new words to her vocabulary, my favorite being "help." When she wants something she tends to just whine and yell, and I've been working on her to ask for help rather than do that. Now, Mommy just needs to be able to recognize it when she asks for it! I've never been good at toddler speak. I'd been told it would be easier with my kids, but it's not. I still don't get 50% of what Eliza says. But I can't tell her that; it literally breaks her heart. She starts crying when I have to just flat out tell her I don't understand. Simon, though, is starting to sit up on his own. It's pretty spotty right now, but I see the days coming. He loves to do it. We've had some bonks, especially on the face. But he amazed us the other night when he was sitting up next to his daddy. He leaned down to suck on his toes and then simply sat back up--no help, no pushing off the hands, just sat up! He's a strong boy!
4. I'm hoping to read "The Help" soon. I need to double check that the offer to borrow it is still there. I'm intrigued. I've been aware of the book for awhile, but never bothered to check into it. It's not the movie that has me convinced to check it out: it's all the people I know that have read it for book clubs or personal time and have loved it. "Loved" probably deserves italics, but I'm not feeling very Anne-ish this morning. (Book references when talking about books, it's all appropriate, right?) I need something entertaining to read these days; I've got plenty of heavy, educational material to read. It's good. But I could use something light. If I don't get to borrow "The Help" (which I'm like number 60 on the waiting list at our public library, moving up from #93), I'll need to find something to tied me over for the next two or so months before a copy at the Public comes available.
5. 16 weeks until Christmas. 'Nuff said.
1. I've been trying to get up early in the mornings. I started this week. So far, I've done a half-and-half job. Monday through Wednesday, I did pretty good, getting out of bed no later than 6:00 (my goal actually be 5:30, however). Then Simon came down with a cold in the middle of the night Wednesday night. The past two days I haven't been able to make it out before 7:00... I really want to establish an early morning routine to better utilize my time. I found this week if I got up earlier I was more likely to get my devotional time done; I accomplished more housework; overall, I was excited that I was more productive. I was practically giddy Wednesday as I loaded the dishwasher, washed dishes that can't go in, and straightened the living room, all before the kids were up. Yesterday, by contrast, was abysmal. But I chalk that up to crabby kids. To encourage my efforts to get up early in the mornings, and especially to get my devotionals done, I signed up for this: Hello Mornings! Basically, it's an accountability thing through the web (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) to help you stay motivated to get up every morning and get your quiet time in. The sign-up ends today, but if you read this in time, you might like to hop on over. I'm intimidated by being paired with people I don't know; I'm extremely shy. But I decided this goal was far more important.
2. It's going to be 103 here today. Ridunkulous. Seriously. I think that puts Topeka around 30 days of 100-degrees or over. It hasn't been this bad since the Dust Bowl in the '30's, according to the news. Next week, highs in the seventies, lows in the fifties. If it all comes about as predicted, I'll be euphoric.
3. On the kid watch: Eliza has added several new words to her vocabulary, my favorite being "help." When she wants something she tends to just whine and yell, and I've been working on her to ask for help rather than do that. Now, Mommy just needs to be able to recognize it when she asks for it! I've never been good at toddler speak. I'd been told it would be easier with my kids, but it's not. I still don't get 50% of what Eliza says. But I can't tell her that; it literally breaks her heart. She starts crying when I have to just flat out tell her I don't understand. Simon, though, is starting to sit up on his own. It's pretty spotty right now, but I see the days coming. He loves to do it. We've had some bonks, especially on the face. But he amazed us the other night when he was sitting up next to his daddy. He leaned down to suck on his toes and then simply sat back up--no help, no pushing off the hands, just sat up! He's a strong boy!
4. I'm hoping to read "The Help" soon. I need to double check that the offer to borrow it is still there. I'm intrigued. I've been aware of the book for awhile, but never bothered to check into it. It's not the movie that has me convinced to check it out: it's all the people I know that have read it for book clubs or personal time and have loved it. "Loved" probably deserves italics, but I'm not feeling very Anne-ish this morning. (Book references when talking about books, it's all appropriate, right?) I need something entertaining to read these days; I've got plenty of heavy, educational material to read. It's good. But I could use something light. If I don't get to borrow "The Help" (which I'm like number 60 on the waiting list at our public library, moving up from #93), I'll need to find something to tied me over for the next two or so months before a copy at the Public comes available.
5. 16 weeks until Christmas. 'Nuff said.
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