9.12.08 x 2

a reason i've been too busy to blog lately..lil' kitty keeps me entertained. she's super sweet and loves to take naps with me. of course when she wakes up, she runs around like a crazy kitty for about 30 minutes. i have a feeling i'm going to have a hard time giving her back to my mom when she gets home from vacation.

seems like a lot of our friends are going green lately. i love it. i just bought a bunch of cloth napkins on clearance at wal-mart. yea, they're not made from any organic recycled material..but hey, not using paper napkins is awesome. i decided to make the switch earlier this year. it's so easy people. next thing to get rid of..paper towels. of course we bought a pack of them at costco a few months back..so we'll have to wait until those run out..but then, it's microfiber towels. they're great. i've got a few that i use for cleaning, love them. we waste so much paper these days its ridiculous. so there's my encouragement to keep up the green-ness. oh yes, our other next green step is to by some SiGG water bottles. it's so easy to buy cases upon cases of water bottles...but why do we have a filtration system hooked up to our water faucet if we don't utilize it. seriously.

i've been happy to be cooking again. the summer is always hard b/c it get's so stinking hot. we bbq'd alot..lots of kabobs, i think the fave of the summer was the bacon-wrapped chicken kabobs. delish. everything is better wrapped in bacon. potato slabs became a staple just like corn on the cob. now that it's cooled off a bit, i'm happy to be using the old stove again. a couple things this week.... spicy white chili.... not giving you the recipe though... getting ready for a potential chili-cook off next month, can't give you my secrets. A sliced sirloin with steak frites in a shallot pan reduction (wow, that sounded quite culinary of me, eh?) was served the other night when the Harrisons joined us for dinner. a yummy cut of affordable meat served with a sauce made of shallots, brandy, and some other tasty ingredients..and homemade french fries baked in the oven. yummers. it's way cheaper to make your own than to buy the bag of frozen ones. this has been something else i'm trying to do lately-make everything I can.... it's amazing the stuff we have in our cupboards that can make the most delicious stuff. my latest creation was a yummy herb vinaigrette for a fresh green salad..
tasty tasty....
1/3 cup evoo (extra virgin olive oil for those of you that don't speak rachael ray)
1/3 cup white wine vinegar (cider, rice or white can be used too-whatever you got on hand)
1 tsp sugar (add more if you like it sweeter..just not too much:)
1 tbs snipped fresh basil, oregano, and thyme (or if you don't have these fresh, use dried but just 1/2 tsp each, and make sure you crush the herbs in between your fingers to release the flava)
1/4 tsp dry mustard (or if use 1 tsp Dijon-style mustard if you don't have the dry stuff)
1 clove garlic (or 2 if you like it real garlicky..i used a HUGE clove that probably would be considered 3 small cloves...gotta keep those vampires away after all..)
and a few grinds of fresh black pepper... to taste

so easy, combine all the ingredients in a screw top jar and shake shake shake. put outkast on and shake it like a Polaroid picture. i used to love that song.
anyways, if you use fresh herbs, this will be good for 3 days (keep in fridge) or if you use dry it'll last up to 1 week in the fridge. good stuff. think next time I'll use balsamic vinegar to mix it up a bit.
aaahh, i love writing about cooking. maybe i should become a food editor. oohh, better yet, i could be a judge on Iron Chef. I love that show. even better-Gordon Ramsey's Kitchen nightmares just started up. sweet. it's on Thursday nights, so any of you that join us thursday night for our life group are more than welcome to stick around and watch it with us :) we're kind of addicted....
okay. 2 blogs in one day. 2 long blogs. I could probably go for 3; but I'll wait... are you even still reading? goodness. what dedication. loves you all-a.

09.12.08

yesterday was 9/11. I heard people talking about it all day at work yesterday. that's what happens when you work at a grocery store. people either talk about the weather, the economy, or politics. my day started with this real nice old man asking me if I remembered where I was....
I was working at Java Detour down in Chico, i'd opened that morning..at 4.45. I was going about my business when my every morning cab driving customer pulled up and told us to turn our stereo to the news. I couldn't believe it. I didn't really know what to think. Al was the last customer that showed up that morning. My boss let us go home early since there was nobody coming through. Driving home, I just felt scared.... unsafe. Of course I called my parents, they didn't really know what to say either; but not to worry-I should be safe down in Chico. I had to work at my other coffee shop later that morning...so as I walked the 8 blocks there I thought alot about America... and then I thought alot about the other countries that hated us so much they'd attack us. I felt sorry for them because I know that their actions had to have had a cause of some sort. I thought of the wives of the men who flew the planes, I thought of the people on the planes, I thought of the firefighters that died saving others. Too much to process. I walked into Moxie's and my boss and some regular every day customers were sitting around the television that Matthew had brought it.... drinking beer.. just sitting quietly. I "worked" 6 hours there. Then walked home. Jill and I were living on West Sac. in Chico in some real ghetto apartments. we were the only whiteys in the complex. it was so quiet on the walk home. nobody was out. for chico, that's weird. . . . strange that it's been 7 years. I remember the first year after 9/11 and everyone thought there would be another attack on the same day. people are funny like that..
anyway, this old man yesterday morning after listening to me tell my story told me where he was. He said he was driving downtown and an Iranian woman was crossing the street in front of him and he wanted to get out of his truck and yell at her to go home...go back to HER country. My heart dropped when I heard this.... this is why America is the way it is people. We treat other countries like crap. We have made America look so glorious and extravagant that yea, of course everyone wants to come live here. Don't get me wrong-I'm glad I live here but sometimes I wish I didn't. . . .
we as Christians especially have a higher reason to love these people of other countries...and I know it's easy to get all political and all patriotic..but I'm sorry-we're supposed to love those people to-even the ones that have been responsible for terrorist attacks. Jesus didn't refuse His love to ANYone..so why should we? we're so comfortable as Americans.... that when something like this happens, love goes out the window. it's stupid. we get so caught up in what people are doing or have done that we forget to love the people. remember that old saying "hate the sin, love the sinner".. yea-that's what we're supposed to do. We have to walk so people know that we're different. We have to talk so that people will hear nothing but love. We have to act like we actually care about everyone. We have to live so that Jesus shines through. We have to love.
simple as that.

we have to love.



We love. from the Stirring on Vimeo.

9.2.08

some things i've been looking forward to....
1) kitty sitting my mom's new kitty for 2 weeks...she's unnamed but I call her 'Lil.
2) starting a life group on September 18th (which just so happens to be Jeremy's birthday too!)
3) organizing a soup club.
4) starting up a community garden with the stirring.
5) maybe a chili cook-off? first annual stirring cook off.. yes, has a nice ring to it.

it's incredible to feel God giving me ideas again.

some other stuff going on...
1) Jeremy and I started a 2 week diet yesterday. he's already hating it. I think I'm more stubborn than he is though..but trust me ice cream sounds SO good right now!
2) we're thinking about going to Disneyland after Thanksgiving...
3) fall seems like its just about to bless us with her wonderful weather..
4) school..still going. only 1 year and 3 months till I have my bachelors!

anyway.. hope everyone is well. loves-a.

peace. i'm outta here.

in case you're missing me....
i'm heading out of town this weekend
sister's "bachelorette" party.
a girl's weekend.
jill, my mom, and me.
will be SO much fun.
pedicures
sisterhood of the traveling pants 2. (yes i know.)
bonfires
sangria
the Morning Thunder in Quincy
German apple pancakes
laughter-and lots of it.tri-tip and grilled salmon
vino
tears
some old bar in Susanville
a new kitty to play with
a new mix cd to listen to on the 2 hour drive
good times with my best friend, my sister
spent with my other best friend, my mom.
4 days away from work.
*sigh of relief*

my best best friend, my dear husband will most likely be bored and have no idea what to do without me :)... and probably won't know what to eat for dinner-so call him, i'm sure he'd love the company :)
ok... must go shower and finish packing.. girls weekend in t-minus 57 minutes. sweet.
loves you all.

8.14.08

6pm...
it's 109 out.
gross.
i swear squeaker's water dish was boiling over earlier.
why do people live here?
could be worse.... could have no air conditioner.
or swamp cooler in our case (which does not really compete with anything over 105)...

90210 is coming back.
seriously?
the O.C. was totally the 90210 of the 21st century.
I'd rather watch Seth Cohen and Ryan Atwood.......
since it's so hot out.. i'm thinking it's time for one of those marathons.
the O.C. anyone?
c'mon we can eat ice cream, lay in front of fans, and watch some serious drama....

:)

8.11.08

1 sound I'm hearing right now:
1) squeakers, the grey kitty that decided we're bffs, meowing outside my door.

2 reasons I don't hate wal-mart as much as I used to:
1) free schick quattro razor (i've been using the cheapy bic dipsosables..ick)
2) horchata popsicles. (serioulsy? these are the next best thing to well, horchata)

3 things I'm thinking about right now.
1) my back and neck are killing me
2) these grapes are delicious (farmer's market...best grapes ever)
3) do people really watch High School Musical? b/c I don't get it.....

4 thoughts I've had lately:
1) I want to be known as faithful, not successful
2) I wouldn't mind sharing housing-hippy commune style
3) I need to live in the now, not in the future
4) I'm so blessed....

5 bands I've been listening to lately
1) Coldplay
2) Spoon
3) Cold War Kids
4) Jack Johnson
5) Augustana

it was a list making night tonight. I've been doing statistics homework for the last 3 1/2 hours. ugh......

this song has been killing me lately....."tonight the stars speak" by the Glorious Unseen give it a listen... or two. it's so simple. .

Tonight the stars speak of your infinite love. And it serves to remind me that what I have means nothing at all compared to your glory, oh Lord. How long ‘till your voice speaks clearly? How long ‘till your arms envelope me? I cry – be my strength when I am weak. Oh Lord, have mercy on me please. My spirit is willing but my flesh is so weak. I cry in your arms now. God, grant me the strength to rest in you. I lift my hands and cry.

whew. that second line.... what I have means nothing at all, compared to your glory...... I can't even begin to explain...

I know I haven't blogged in a while... just haven't felt.. inspired I guess you could say. lots on my mind just not able to get them down on paper.

good stuff though. just lots of stuff floating around in this little brain. Portland is looking more and more like a probably versus a possibly....
anyway.. . go listen to that song. you might recognize a certain guy in the band.. he's good in the Glorious Unseen..but don't you think he'd do better leading at the Stirring? :) on that note... God was all over Jenna tonight. . . my friend Jonesy and I were just amazed at her voice-the soft, power.... *whew*
I've been focusing on alot of other things more than my relationship with God. it's stupid. plain stupid. it's time to change that. my dear friend Rosetta and I had a great convo the other day and we're talking about hard it is to not put your husband first..ya know? but i realized (thanks to Rosetta:) that's why I get upset with Jeremy sometimes.... because I'm expecting him to fulfill all the needs that God is supposed to fill....it just makes so much sense when you look at it that way...well friends.... i'll leave you with a picture...been a while since one of these...:) loves you all.