Alas! New apartment is wired!

So, there was a bit of a hiatus from the blog entries… easily explained with the fact that I was offered a job and moved.  I now have internet in my humble abode, but my phone died and so I lost any phone numbers obtained in the last 14 months.  I shall pick up, however, with the blogging again.  With the move, I have felt more inspired to continue this blog in one primary direction: food.  I’m not much of a culinary expert, actually I am far from that.  However, I enjoy cooking and baking things, I often screw up—but that’s half the fun—and love to capture such things in photographs.

My first cooking venture in the new place started with ground turkey, green pepper, and onion.  I started sautéing the onion and pepper, then added turkey chunks.  I threw in a little oil, remembered I had corn in the freezer and dropped some of that in, then seasoned with a some garlic pepper (I had no idea such a thing existed, but was really excited and had to buy it).  It was lacking something at this point, so I opened my cupboard… and what jumped out at me?  Ramen.  So I microwaved the noodles, then threw them into the skillet, and added just a little of the chicken seasoning packet (and threw the rest away).

As if this wasn’t enough, I had my heart set on some sort of garlic bread, so I wiped the skillet out, then put butter on some wheat bread, added garlic pepper, and some shredded cheese, and toasted that up.

It was delicious!  The noodle-y concoction was actually very good, probably could have easily omitted the oil (if I had any idea what else would have made it into the skillet at that point I would have).  The garlic toast was delicious, as I absolutely LOVE garlic.  And cheese.  All in all, a complete success.  Cheers to having a gas stove!

To do:

Bake corn muffins from scratch?  Check!
Arrange to visit housing options?  Check!
Put in my last day with Walmart?  Check!
Watch "Happy Endings"?  Check!
Relax a little bit?  Check!

Uffda.

In the last week, I have had to resign from more jobs than I have in my entire life.  I was sad to see one go, excited to let the other go, and the third I would have loved to have put more time into.  However, this means I will have one (and only one!) job for the foreseeable future.  This has not been the case in... ever.

September flew by, and now October is so demanding that it's slipping through the cracks too.  In the next two weeks, I'm supposed to find someplace to live, move in, and start a brand new job.  I am way excited about all of that for many reasons, but every once in a while I panic about the fact that I haven't found a place yet, about how to make my preferences and my budget cooperate, and about how I will have no friends in this new town.

How often do I feel overwhelmed with anxiety for this or that?  I let it get to me, I really do.  Until I take a few minutes (or more) and actually clear my mind--I mean get to a point where my mind and body are still.  Sometimes it takes minutes, other times it takes days, but I always make it back.  And when I do, when I feel alive, when I open myself up to the Lord and allow myself to hear him respond, I find a peace in the midst of the commotion.  (That's right, the hecticness is not gone, but I am at peace with it.)  It is then that I reexamine what I am doing, how I'm doing it, and I press on with my whole self realigned, and with my heart, mind, and ears wide open.

I am, right now, in the process of clearing my mind.  It always baffles me how far I can trudge in my own direction, before realizing there is a better way.

Embrace it,... reach out and give it a big hug.

I have been cashiering at Walmart for a while now, and I tend to be scheduled to work in the Lawn and Garden department quite frequently.  What this means is simply that I often am working alone, and it is slow.  I have found this to be some of the best time I've had to reflect on my life, and to actually slow myself down.  (And I get paid for it!)  I never would have expected this to be a relaxing job, and often times it's quite the opposite, but nights like tonight offer a unique opportunity to thoroughly think my way through things that I otherwise continue to push back for lack of time.  In many ways, this job has been quite a blessing to me.

Tonight I was reading "Contemplative Youth Ministry," by Mark Yaconelli.  Such a great book so far that has caused deep introspection into my feelings and expectations as a person working in youth ministry.  So often we get caught up in the programming, and marketing, (even in the church) so much so that we forget the incredible value of relationships, and being vulnerable with each other, and the impact that can have on peoples lives.  I know that I have and will again get caught up in the planning and marketing side of ministry, and frankly those things are good in moderation, but I will then come back to the whole reason we are here, and the whole reason I want to even be involved in the lives of youth.

I want to give youth the opportunity to feel like an equal, safe to ask any and all questions, and to know that they are loved without condition.

This is not about the religion, it is not about agreeing with me or anyone else, and it is not about having good attendance or long attention spans.  It is about being open to God, and about embracing the truth that you are loved--without exception, without question.

Blueberry-Shmooberry

Well, the baking commenced this fine fall day.  I tried two new recipes: the blueberry muffins listed in the America's Test Kitchen cookbook, and the one posted on Vanilla and Lace.  Both were good, but honestly the cinnamon streusel topping on the latter really put it over the top.  However, the former did look more beautiful, raised higher, and the lemon zest and sugar topping gives it a good flavor.

From the book, with lemon and sugar topping:

Ignore the top right muffin,... that was the runt from the end of the batter!

From the blog, with cinnamon streusel topping:

Walking is good, muffins are better.

Today was long.  I got to visit with a friend that is moving back to another country, which was lovely.  It was just hard to muster up the energy to drive all the way there.  Of course, as expected, once I was with her the time flew, and I loved every second of it.  I shall miss her when she goes back to Brazil, but I know that she will be home then.  We walked into town and ate at a lovely cafe/bakery place--much like the Common Cup.  We ate the soup and bread, split a danish, and drank fluffy coffee shop type beverages.  Note: I don't know exactly what makes up an "Italian smoothie," (and it does not include fruit), but it is delicious.  (And, upon further review, I think it's the same as the Bunnies at Kodiak Coffee.)

So, my endeavor tomorrow is to bake muffins!  Last weekend, I had the most amazing (cinnamon swirl cheesecake) muffin, and now I have the desire to make good muffins.  Better than any out of the box kind.  So, I have a recipe picked out from the America's Test Kitchen cookbook, and I am going to give it a go.  I enjoy my cooking sprees, because it usually turns out quite well.  (Other possible muffin recipes: Raspberry Cheesecake Muffins, Blueberry Muffins.)

Too much.

There is no such thing as too much of a good thing, but often times the things I think are good (or want to believe are good), really aren't.