Sister Sister Crab Day

Sunday, March 29, 2009

Oh my, what a day it's been! Every so often Jess & I get together with our sisters Bekah & Shannon for a Sister Sister Day. This time we decided to stay in and enjoy some food and a few episodes of Scrubs. Wowsers, did we enjoy some food. It started with my special grilled cheese sandwiches, graduated to Bekah's Clove Bean Burritos, then our feast of crab cooked by Jess, and ended with Shannon's Cheese Danish. It was an amazing day spent with amazing people with amazing food. In fact, we're still enjoying each other's company so I'm going to cut this short and just give you some pictures of our crab feast instead.

Pity Party Update

Thursday, March 19, 2009

I just need to quickly update you all that I'm fine, I'm over the pity party, and I'm going strong. After a rather alarmed email from my mom this morning, I realized I maybe should let you all know I'm doing just fine.

I'm not dying, I'm not crying, but I am sighing. The mass of work is flowing quickly towards me. Off to stick my finger in the dike. (Read more children's literature if you don't get that reference)

Really God? Really?

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed at the moment. Ever get to the point where you have so much to do that you don't even know where to start? I passed that 10 miles back and haven't quite circled back to pick up the dropped pieces. To top it off, I just got some news today at work that makes all of this seem like a walk in the park. Instead of just walking, I'm now required to chew gum at the same time. Metaphorically speaking, not an easy task.

A few days ago, I felt like God was telling me that I needed to give him permission to do whatever he wanted in my life. I just needed to trust him. Ok God, I'm yours.

He's giggling right now up in heaven because as soon as he got permission, he threw a wrench that landed with the utmost precision just where I didn't want it. I am generally a very strong person and can handle most any situation that comes my way. God knows my tendencies to not ask for help, even when I desperately need someone to lean on, and decided to cripple me just enough that I'll be soon crying out for help. Or just plain crying.

I'll get to the other side of this just fine. It's going to be a big learning process and one that will make me better both personally and professionally. Only God is going to be able to get me through this one because there is no way that I can do this by my own power. And I know that's why he's doing what he's doing.

But can I mourn these changes just a little bit? Please? I think tonight's just a bit of a pity party in my head. Those of you who know me, know that I will be over it by the morning and ready to tackle this head on. For the moment though, I'm going to dwell in a bit of sorrow. And a bit of fear of the unknown.

It's such an odd thing for me to be consumed with work. I'm used to plenty of extra time to give of myself and have friends over. I've been so busy I don't even know the last time I cooked a meal for someone other than my roommate. That makes me sad. I know it's just this brief period of time, but I hate not being able to gift people like that. I hate that I can't share my home readily with others.

So for those of you who pray, I need some. Badly. I'm ready and willing to do what's being asked of me, but I need strength. God's at work here and there's no way I can do it without relying on him.

Soli Deo Gloria!

Life Update

Saturday, February 28, 2009

I know I've been a bad blogger (do my 3 posts today make up for it?). I'm so very terribly sorry about that. I didn't mean to be, it just kinda happened. Unfortunately, working long hours tends to cut back on the time I can devote to giving you all scintillating or ridiculous stories. Per several people's requests, I am giving you an update about life as I now know it.

I have a policy of not talking much about work on here, but I'll give you a brief rundown. Basically I quit my last job to go work with my boss who had moved to another company to be the General Manager. I am now working for another heating & cooling company, but this time as an Office Manager/Assistant to the General Manager/Trainer. I love my job and never would have guessed that I would continue a career in this field, but I have to say that I am absolutely enamored with HVAC. I know, weird coming from the girl with a Special Education degree and a background in caregiving. My boss and I work extremely well together because he's the big picture person and I'm the detail person. And he gives me a lot of freedom to do my job without watching over my shoulder. I hate being micromanaged.

I am working really long hours and there is just a lot to get done. The bulk of the hard work is now over and I think I have the major stuff done. Next comes the monitoring and tweaking, which is going to be probably the hardest part. I am hopefully going to not have to work as much though, which will be nice for me. And for you, because I will be out and about having more time to be stupid and give you some good stories.

I do apologize for the silence, but hopefully will be able to start posting a little bit more in the next month or so. Thanks for sticking with me friends!

Photo Tag

Ok, so Jami tagged me like, oh, 3 WEEKS ago and I never got around to doing this. It's just been sitting in my Google Reader as a reminder for me to actually pull out a photo and throw it up here. Sorry James, I didn't mean to make you wait this long!

Anyway, I had to go to the 4th folder where I keep my pictures and post the 4th photo. That didn't work so much for me because I have all my photos organized a little bit more detailed than that... so it was the 4th picture of the 4th folder of the 4th folder of the 4th folder and I eventually got to this picture:



Regardless of the randomly erroneous info about this photo on my Flickr page, it was actually taken August 10, 2006 at Hovander Park in Ferndale, WA. Which means that this was my very last week up north before moving to Puyallup. I had already made the move on Aug 1, but was back for one final week before officially committing. I went to this park after taking Donkey Lady, one of my old caregiving clients, out for ice cream. She had been moved to an assisted living facility in Ferndale and I broke her out for a treat. And well, now that I'm talking about Donkey Lady, I might as well post a picture of her.



And yes, that's a donkey. That's why I called her Donkey Lady. Not to her face, of course. Just to make sure that people could keep my stories straight. And boy, did she give me some good stories to tell.

Changes

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

There have been some big changes recently in my life, mainly having to do with work. I am done working at my old company and am moving on to a new one. I'll update you more in the future, but know that for now I'm super excited about this change! You probably won't be hearing a ton from me over the next month or so while I adjust to the new job (except for the inauguration hoopla of course) but don't worry, I'll be back.

Snowflake Saturdays

Saturday, December 20, 2008

I have been thoroughly chastised for not updating my blog in a while. I do apologize to those of you who are upset with me. I haven't done anything stupid or funny or ridiculous for the past few weeks and didn't want to make something up for the sake of my readers. So instead, today I bring you pictures of my all day project-- paper snowflakes! Jess and I started making them this morning and somehow just kept on going. We did 55 in all, and have them covering every window in our place. Um yeah, so maybe we did go a bit overboard. But what else is a person to do when they are snowed in?!

Here's some of our handiwork. You can click on any of the pictures to see more.

A-Z Thankful List

Friday, November 28, 2008

So my friend Vicky did this on her blog (which was inspired by one of her friends) and I liked the idea so much that I had to copy it. It's a little late, but I didn't see the post until yesterday. Here goes...

Art supplies

I love creating. Painting, sketching, crafting. I love visual representation of people's ideas. That's why it would be very hard for me to live without my art supplies.

Books

I read all the time. The perfect day for me would be hours upon hours of reading. I couldn't live without books in my life. During one particular 6 month period in 2005, I read 170 books. I was in a job that basically gave me a ton of down time to do what I wanted and the best way to occupy myself was to bring along a book. I read almost one a day during that period

Camera

I think it's pretty obvious by now that I like to take pictures. It would be impossible to overstate the joy it gives me to see God's world through the lens of a camera.

Drama-free living

Drama sucks. I will not get pulled into it and consciously live my life in a way that has no room for it. I surround myself with people who act the same way and have very much purposefully removed sources of drama from my life. There is no need for it and I will not allow myself to participate in it.

Etsy

I love checking out what people are making these days by logging onto etsy.com. I get inspired by their creativity and enjoy the eye candy.

Family

They're great. 'nuff said.

Google

I've been known to say that if I could marry Google, I would. I love their search capabilities, maps, documents, notebooks, and most of all Gmail! I ADORE all things Google!

Honeycrisp apples

Ever since March, I have been eating an apple a day. I used to hate apples but forced myself to eat them since they kept coming to us in our box of produce from the farm. I quickly learned to love them and when the honeycrisps came into season late August, I have been eating them solely. I refuse to compromise and will pay the extra amount of money for the bestest apple in the world! Jess and I have actually gone through an entire box of "seconds" from an apple farm and are starting on the second box. I don't know how I'll survive when they are gone!

Inauguration

I think I've mentioned this here and here.

Jess

The best roommie a girl could ask for. We're on our 7th year together and have our routines down perfectly. I don't know how we'll survive when we surely move apart some day.

Kitchen

I think I have made it abundantly clear that I love to cook. LOVE to cook. I would be super sad if I didn't have a kitchen to make everything in.

Laptop

It's where the magic happens. Emailing, editing photos, researching recipes, blogging. My little lappy and I are great friends.

Mochas

I love coffee. Mochas or a caramel latte are my usuals. I always have to do decaf though because my body doesn't handle caffeine well. And I always get an 8 oz, which is so small that most places (including Starbucks) don't even have it as an option on their menu. Those of us in the know however, order these little cups of heaven that are just the perfect size. Strong, bold flavor.

Nissan Sentra

My car, Arnold. He is currently in the shop (bad fuel pump) and I have been driving my dad's car for a week now. I really truly miss Arnie. He's the cutest and most reliable man I've got in my life right now. We'll be reunited on Sunday and I'm counting down the days!

Obama

Is it ok that I used him earlier for Inauguration? Because I really am that excited about him. I'm sorry if I keep talking about him, but he's totally my President crush.

Photoshop

I have basically taught myself Photoshop. I edit photos with it and have recently experimented with designing various print forms. I made my Christmas cards with it and will be sharing those with you soon.

Quips

I like to be funny. I like people who are funny too.

Red

A wonderful color. Maybe my favorite right now? I can't be sure. But it makes me happy to have red around me.

Singledom

It really is a blessing to be able to do what I want when I want. I am loving this stage of my life and the abundant blessings there are associated with it. Don't get me wrong, I want the marriage and kids too, but I am reveling in the great place God has me at the moment.

Take Root Farm

I think I talk about "The Farm" way more than a person should. But I love it. Our weekly box of produce is such a treat.

Ugly Betty

This tv show is quirky, fun, and makes me sigh inside. I have recently stayed up late the past few nights catching up on it and adore the way Daniel and Betty interact. Seriously, I just sighed. Out loud.

Vocal cords

I don't know how many of you know this, but I love to sing. I did various choirs throughout high school and also helped lead worship at my church. I haven't really done anything with singing since then, but am thankful that my church has a long worship time so that I can sing to my heart's content. It does my soul good.

Work

I am blessed to have work. And moreso, a job that I like in a company that I like. Many people aren't so fortunate.

XML

This was a total stretch, but my blog uses XML for the template. So I guess I have to be thankful for it.

Youth Group

I help lead an awesome group of high school girls! My GO Girls Only Group is seriously some of the most fun I have every week. I love listening to them and hearing what's going on in their worlds. I love my girls!

Zany antics

I am all about spontaneity and doing stupidly dorky things. I will freely admit that I am a dork, but will maintain that I have more fun than someone who is on the more proper end of things. Really, why would someone want to behave all the time?

The Best Present Ever

Thursday, October 23, 2008

For my birthday, I asked my Dad to build me a huge custom cutting board. I have been wanting a board big enough to hold everything I'm chopping so I gave him the measurements and he outdid any expectation that I ever had! He made not one, but two boards, as well as crafting the most beautiful kitchen tools I have ever seen. Oh my word, I love them! Thanks Dad!



Look at how huge this is! It is so completely perfect and is absolutely the best thing ever when I am cooking. Seriously, the best present ever!

Busy Bee

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Friends, I really do like calling you by that name. No, not Busy Bee, I mean Friends. I like that I can sit down and share how I'm doing with you. I kinda wish you could all crawl through your computer and sit down here on my couch with me. I could really use a good snuggle or two. I have even had dreams about spooning with a boy on the pavement of a mall parking lot. Yeah, that one was weird. But if all of you could come and squish with me in real life, I would really appreciate it.

All of that to say that you're going to have to wait just a wee bit longer for my next update. I've been out of town and have plenty of stories and pictures to share, but have to wait a while before my time will be free enough to share fun things. Like I last mentioned, work has been phenomenally hard and stressful. Our youth group stuff is also starting up, so I am having to do a lot of work for that as well. So much so that I made myself work for a few hours on it while on vacation. That kinda sucked. But this all will pass and life will get less hectic. When that happens, I will pull you round my dinner table and show you pictures and make you laugh. In the meantime, here's a random shot I pulled from my vacation stack to whet your appetite.


P.S. If you click on the picture, you can better see my look of concentration and effort.

Picking

Monday, September 1, 2008

Yesterday Jess and I went picking blackberries. She had asked if I wanted to do blueberries, but since I have a traumatic childhood memory of blueberry farm u-picks, I soundly rejected that idea. However, I was keen to go hunting for blackberries instead. We suspected we would find a large amount on the trail behind our apartments, and we were certainly right. We picked for an hour or so, managing to take home about 16 cups worth. I did bequeath Jess the title of "Superior Blackberry Picker" due to her picking a large amount fairly early on, but had to rescind the title when she made a novice move. My jeans happened to be stuck to a large blackberry vine so I went to gingerly pluck the thorns from my pants. However, Jess decided to come to my rescue and stepped on the vine so that I would be free. What she did not take into account is that vines of that size can do some damage, and she ended up putting a hole in my jeans. Seriously an amateur picker move. I was forced to tell her that she no longer held the crown for the day because of that little feat. I trust she has learned her lesson.

Since we have absolutely no immediate use for 16 cups of berries, we are laying them on plastic lined cookie sheets and freezing them. Once they are frozen, we put them into bags and stack them in the freezer. I have realized that I really can't do this with any more fruit this year. I have included a picture for you to see what the current state of our little freezer is. Behind what you see are even more bags of fruit. I kid you not.

Woohoo!

Sunday, August 24, 2008

Read for 8 hours today.

Been a while since I had time to do that.

Loved every minute of it.

Sad it's time for bed.

Whidbey Island

Saturday, August 16, 2008

I'm on a roll here with posting, so I promise that this is the 4th and last entry for today. A couple weekends ago I went with the fam to Whidbey Island. We had a nice time just hanging out and relaxing. These are some of the pictures that I just never got around to showing you yet. I really have to keep up with all these bits of news I have to share.

Condom Mission #1 Completed

Jess found the hidden condom. In public. I hid it in her folded up dollar bills so that when she pulled them out to pay for something, it would go flying. And it certainly did. She was paying for a gatorade during a pit stop on a bike ride this morning.

She called and left me a message after the event. I called her back and left a message of me just laughing. Tee hee. I do so like pulling little pranks.

Hmmm... what to do next....

The Light of Friends

Friday, August 15, 2008

Last night I sat in our living room with friends, talking with pina coladas in our hands. We talked and talked about everything. A lot about boys. A little bit about our town and church. But mainly about a project we are going to be working on together for fun. A completely silly idea that has me so excited I could pee my pants. We talked and planned until long after the sun had gone down. There was something magical talking with friends in the dark. Something relaxing and fun. Something comfortable. I like these friends.

Before we settled in, I took some headshots of Katie for auditions she is going to be participating in. I did get some normal ones, but had to share these bloopers because they were too funny. I didn't ask permission, but I hope Katie doesn't mind. I'm sure she will just laugh.

Present

Friday, August 8, 2008

This is what Jess got me on her trip:




Yes, she did.

You are wondering why, right? Me too.

Obviously it won't be put to it's traditional use (the whole good-girl-Christian-no-sex-til-marriage thing), but you can bet it will make appearances where she really wouldn't want it to be found. Oh, I have some good spots that I used when we were in college. Let's just say that you can readily get free ones in multiples places at WWU. Not that we did that or anything for supplies for pranks. Because obviously "It" was never talked about. Jess definitely didn't have roommates freshman year that had a poster displaying 100 different types. And we most certainly didn't have to sit through a class in our teaching program where a fellow student's first lesson was demonstrating proper useage. If we had sat through such a class, we would have had a hard time not giggling. So it's a good thing that totally didn't happen.

Hmmm... where to hide this first...

Homecoming

Thursday, August 7, 2008

Jess is back. I would like to add "...with a vengance", but it doesn't seem quite right. She's back, but more like "...and we quickly settled into our old routines". It strikes me as funny that even with her being gone for so long, not much changed other than we hugged when we first saw each other. We aren't huggers, so this was our once-a-year-hug that was about due. Now that we have lived together for so long (7 years!) we just don't see any reason to hug. What's the point when your roommate doesn't much like touching? She's weird that way. And the more I say "hug" in my head, the funnier the word becomes to me, so I will tell you that I LOVE hugs, but only if I know you well. I don't want any inappropriate hugging like I get from some of my male coworkers. And if you're not my boyfriend I certainly don't want you to yet again mimic a coworker and kiss me on the top of my head while giving me a shoulder massage and then running your hands down my arms. True story. Still gives me the heebie jeebies just thinking about it. But how the hell did this post about Jess coming home turn into a "Good Idea, Bad Idea" segment?

Anyway, all that to say that after a month apart it seems like something should have changed. But it didn't. And that makes me glad. Glad that we have a routine we can fall into. Glad that we're still the same people. Glad that we like each other enough to have lived together this long. Glad that our place, both where we live and in life, is comfortable and cozy. Glad that we understand each other. Glad that we are are ok. With everything.

I'm just glad. She's back. Life's good. God's great.

Organized!

Tuesday, August 5, 2008

I am sitting here waiting and waiting and waiting for my roommie to finally get home. I've been living alone for over a month now while she's been in the Ukraine on a mission trip and I am about ready to burst with excitement over her imminent arrival. However, it is to be a bit delayed because her family FORGOT that she was flying in this evening. Yes, FORGOT. This is very like them. I even called her parents' house yesterday to make sure that their plans were in place to pick her up but when no one answered I didn't leave a message. I figured they were going to be all organized so I didn't need to worry. And all day today I kept fighting the urge to call them just to check in, but didn't want to be the pesky roommate who was super anxious for her friend to get home. Kinda like a kid on Christmas morning asking his parents if he can open his gifts now. How 'bout now? Please? Now? Pleeeeeeeeaaaaaaase?

So as I'm waiting, I am going to occupy my time with showing you how productive I was over the weekend. I managed to sort and re-organize my spices & baking/cooking staples. I buy pretty much everything in bulk thanks to my friend Freddy's fantastic assortment of bulk goods. And by Freddy, I do mean Mr. Meyer. I maybe was a little too subtle with the name. Oh, and he's not a personal friend. I just like saying he is. In case you were wondering.

All of these spices I had hanging out in plastic bags in a big bin and it was just too annoying to try to go through all of them looking for what I wanted. A few months ago I found an old spice rack with these bottles and bought it so that I could repurpose them for my spices. I think I threw the rack away. Or maybe Jess took it to Goodwill for me. She likes taking things there.





I was also tired of having my staples just mumbo-jumboed on my shelf. It was time for some containers, so I picked up these fine ones at World Market. The best part of these is that I get to write in chalk. I hate writing on chalkboards, but having just a small square to write on evokes early 1900's schoolhouses. I don't know why. It just does, ok. And I love everything prarie/schoolhouse/old-timey. However, each of these containers came with two whole pieces of chalk, so I now have enough to keep one of those teachers in writing form for a year. What I am to do with that much chalk is beyond me, but I have them wrapped in a brown wax paper bag, which is another item that I could wax on in fake nostalgia ad nauseum. I'll refrain. For the moment.







P.S. Aren't I so lucky to live in a place where the evening sun does marvelous things like this:



P.P.S. Jess just called from her parents' house and she's too tired and sick to her stomach to drive home so she is staying there tonight. Sigh. Tomorrow then.

Art Fair Treasures

Sunday, July 27, 2008

My brain is tired right now so pardon the lack of funnyness or pep in my writing. Every year I work at the Bellevue Festival of the Arts. In fact, this was my 10th year. I like to use the money I make to buy items from the fair. This year I went with the idea that I was going to get a print for my living room, but nothing really stuck out to me. I didn't just fall in love with anything. However, I was able to feed a disease my mom and I have-- a love for serving dishes. I got this serving bowl from Akiko's Pottery, and also got a matching serving platter and sake cup that I'm going to use as a salt cellar. I know these pictures don't show scale at all, but trust me on this, it is a large bowl. That I am absolutely in love with.

English Peas

Friday, July 25, 2008

I just remembered that I had these pictures that I was going to share with you... um... months ago. I know, shame on me. I sometimes plain forget that I have something to share. I ran into Janis at the Farmer's Market a while back (ok, really months ago) and she told me that I absolutely had to have these English Peas. I was wary about them because while I do love sugar snaps and snow peas, any pea I have to cook makes me want to gag. It's a texture thing. The older I get, the more textures bother me. She reassured me that I could eat these straight from the pod like candy. I figured it was worth a try and OH. MY. WORD. these puppies are good! I ate 3/4 of the 4 lb bag in one sitting and stopped only because I had to go somewhere. I shared the last little bit with Jess and we just couldn't get enough of them.



This is going to sound silly, but my favorite way to eat them was to strip a few pods and move the peas around in my mouth so that they sounded like lotto balls bouncing around in their cage. The sound was oddly satisfying to me. I made Jess do it too, but she couldn't understand the attraction. However, I am sure that you, dear reader, would get it because you're smart like that. Not that she isn't, of course, but sometimes she doesn't like to play along with me. Sadly, these peas are long gone from the market and I have to wait a whole 'nother year before getting more. A WHOLE YEAR! Sigh. I'll just sit here and twiddle my thumbs until then. Or maybe console myself with other recipes. Yeah, that sounds about right.