this.and.that.

Outside my window....autumncolored trees, fading grass, cool crisp delicious fall. we've not had rain for a month now and the ground looks hungry for it.

I am thinking...about possibilities and the future and all the happy crazy things in life.

I am thankful for…my wonderful husband, my wonderful friends and family, this season of rest&preparation for the ministry, my job that allows so much writing time, & the beautiful changing seasons. I'm especially thankful for all the good news and happy things that are happening in my friends and family's lives right now--for months it seemed that I heard so much sad news, and my heart was so broken...

From the kitchen...on the menu this week: herb & mozzarella salmon patties, crock-pot chili, lemon-pepper tilapia, chicken n dumplins...

I am wearing...gray slacks, silver flats, a yellow blouse, blue cardigan, a leopard print headband...

I am creating...new poems, a new chapbook, fabric jewelry for Missy & my booth at the Frankfort craft fair, flutter scarves, aprons...the project list is ever-growing

I am going...to aerobics after work, then home to relax with Bryan for the rest of the evening

I am reading...literary magazines I'm reviewing for newpages, Anne Bronte's The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, Elisabeth Elliot's Through Gates of Splendor, Cate Marvin's The World's Tallest Disaster, and the Psalms. I'm working on reading through the Bible again--so far I've finished Proverbs and I'm nearly finished with Psalms. I think I will read I & II Timothy next.


I am hoping...all things...for opportunities, changes, blessings..

I am hearing...students in the hall, the tapping of my fingers on the keyboard


Around the house...books, books, books, in piles on every available surface--mostly Bryan's, since he is in the middle of a mid-terms week--but some mine. sheet music here and there. Otherwise, a rather orderly little nest. 


A few plans for the rest of the week...Aerobics tonight and Thursday, running Wednesday, Friday & Saturday, Pilates on Sunday. The Highview marriage conference on Friday--the four year anniversary of Bryan asking me to marry him! Breakfast at Toast with Missy&Tom on Saturday, then the St. James art fair that afternoon, with Missy. Sunday: church&church, housecleaning, & (I'm hoping) my weekly afternoon nap

Monday Morning Thoughts

"We have been given a task. Faith is that task. Let us not deceive ourselves into thinking we are making any contribution to our eternal salvation, are doing God a favor, or that He owes us anything for work done.

'It is by His grace you are saved, through trusting Him; it is not your own doing. It is God's gift, not a reward for work done. There is nothing for anyone to boast of. For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to devote ourselves to the good deeds for which God has designed us.'

Designed for good deeds. It's as simple as that. It was God's idea. He did the designing. He expects us to work, just as the designer of a precision instrument, if he understand the principles involved and designs it accordingly, expects the thing to work. It is no great credit to the instrument if it does."
{Elisabeth Elliot}

Homemade Bread

Ingredients
* 4 cups Warm Water
* 8 Tablespoons Sugar
* 4 Tablespoons Yeast
* 4 Tablespoons Vegetable Oil
* 4 teaspoons Salt
* 7 cups Flour

Instructions
Add sugar to 1 cup of the warm water (I just use hot steamy water from the tap) and then dissolve yeast in the sugar water. Let sugar/yeast mixture rest until doubled in size.

Pour oil in bowl, add sugar/yeast mixture, rest of water, and salt.

Add flour 2-3 cups at a time. Knead (a gentle massage) to make a soft, not sticky dough. *Tip: You’re done kneading if when you touch it, the bread doesn’t stick to your finger. If it sticks to your finger, add more flour.

Sometimes you’ll use up to 9 cups of flour so don’t be nervous if you use more than 7. It just depends on the day, how much flour I use.

(If you’re making this is a Bosch or KitchenAide mix on level 2 speed with the bread hook for about 6 minutes).

Cut the dough into four equal pieces. Set on greased counter top, cover with towel, and let stand for 15 minutes.

Pound each piece with a wooden spoon for 1 minute (gets the air bubbles out). Massage each piece as you form into loaves and place in greased loaf pans.

Allow to raise until doubled in size. Bake at 350 for 30-45 minutes (19-20 minutes for mini loaves as seen in the picture) or until golden on top. Rub butter on top while it’s warm.

*** {recipe from the Tasty Kitchen website} ***

A few weeks ago I tried my hand at making homemade bread (without a bread machine--we don't have one, no room!). It was a lot easier than I expected it to be and it tasted great! Next time though, I'm only going to do half of this recipe, since it makes 4 HUGE loaves of bread, which wouldn't really fit in my little half-oven, so it made baking them all at once pretty much impossible. and Ithink it would've looked prettier if I'd had bread pans--I just used a round cakepan and cut it up. I've been eating it with honey and a little bit of butter for breakfast--got to get a healthy start to the day, right? ha!

Hebrews 13:5

Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, I will never leave you nor forsake you.

apron DIY

Last weekend I finished my apron project! I started with a skirt I got for free from the seminary thriftstore, then cut it in half at the seams, and added the ties, pocket, and little bird cut from a flowery button down I also got free from the seminary thriftstore (see a theme here?)

Its not perfect, but I think not too bad for a first try. after I finish the rug I'm making, I think I'm going to work on another one of these. having a cute apron is definitely inspiring me to get in our micro-kitchen and cook cook cook!

embellished cardigan DIY

Friday I found this plain cardigan set in the seminary thrift store (for free!). Its from The Limited, but was kind of boring, so I decided to DIY an embellished cardigan.

Before:

After:

I was going to add some more lace down the front, but it was starting to venture into grandma-land with that much lace. I think just this little bit added makes it more unique.

Homemade Mac and Cheese

Bryan Loves mac and cheese, but we're trying to eat more natural food (less microwaveable, "cheese substance" type food). I decided to try my hand at making mac and cheese a bit healthier way--sans velveeta--and it turned out great! Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:

• 8 oz uncooked maceroni (I used shells though)
•  2 c shredded cheese
•  1/2 c Parmesan cheese
•  3 c milk
•  1/4 c butter
•  2 1/2 tbs flour

Directions: 

1. Cook pasta and drain
2. Melt butter in a saucepan, stirring in a bit of flour to thicken it up. Add milk slowly, stirring the whole time. Stir in cheeses and cook until the cheese melts and the sauce thickens. 
3. Put macaroni in a large casserole dish, pour sauce over maceroni, and stir.
4. I added a bit of extra shredded cheese and a bit of feta cheese (because we had it) to the top
5. bake at 350 for 30 minutes
6. enjoy!

Psalm 68: 19

Blessed be the Lord
who daily bears us up
God is our salvation.

Labor Day Weekend

so, this is late! ha

This is the one picture I took. We were Crazy Busy all weekend--

1. Saturday we helped our friends Missy and Tom move
2. Sunday we drove to Lexington to see Bryan's parents and his brother and sister in law and nephew (I took this picture while we were waiting for them outside Crackerbarrel...we were bored)
3. Monday we went running, then Bryan did homework, then we hung out and had dinner with Stephanie and Daniel

I'm so glad that we (mostly) stayed home that weekend--I thought that we might get bored, since most people drive to their hometowns for Labor Day, but that definitely was Not the case!

fabric necklace attempt #2

I used a more delicate fabric this time (thanks to the free seminary thrift store i've become a fabric hoarder!) and a more dramatic color. I need to take a picture with it on...I think that it looks pretty with a simple black tank top.

DIY Anthropologie Inspired Necklace

Anthropologie's Akela Necklace, $38

my knock-off version

This is my first sewing project! It was pretty simple (and fun) to make. I made mine a lot shorter and less ruffly than the anthro version... a toned-down version for the office (ok, so i wear some bright colors in the office, haha)...though I'm debating on adding some more ruffle to it...hmm...

With all my upcoming sewing projects, I'm wondering if maybe I should start an etsy or something, where people can custom order things like this...choose their own color and rufflieness, I suppose. But, I'm not sure if anyone would buy anything like this...or how much I should even charge. Maybe I should just subject my family and friends to more homemade birthday / christmas presents? I'm going to do some more research and think it over!

I am the hollow circle closed by the ring.

A Bride's Hours
by Jean Valentine

1. Dawn

I try to hold your face in my mind's million eyes
But nothing hangs together. My spirit lies
around my will like an extra skin
I cannot fill or shake.

My eyes in Bachman's rectangle look in.
I, who was once at the core of the world,
whose childish outline held like a written word,
am frozen in blur: my body, waiting, pours
over its centaur dreams, and drowns, and wakes
to terror of man and horse.

2. The Bath

My sisters walk around touching things or loll
on the bed with last month's New Yorkers. My skin
beaded with bath-oil, gleams like a hot-house fake;
my body holds me like an empty bowl.

It is three, it is four, it is time to come in
from thinking about the cake to eat the cake.
My sister's voices whir like cardboard birds
on sticks: married, the flutter and wheel to find
in this misted looking-glass their own lost words
in the exhaled smoke.

                                    There isn't a sound,
even the shadows compose like waiting wings.
I am the hollow circle closed by the ring.

3. Night

I am thrown open like a child's damp hand
In sleep. You turn your back in sleep, unmanned.
How can I be so light, at the core of things?
My way was long and crooked to your hand!
What could your jeweled glove command
But flight of my stone wings?
Our honeymoon lake, ignoring the lit-up land
Shows blank Orion where to dip his hand.

Psalm 51:16-17

For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it;
you will not be pleased with a burnt offering.

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

3 weeks to a 30 minute run

It's just about at the end of week 2 of the 3 weeks to a 30 minute run program that I've been doing. For the program I run for about 30 minutes, 5 or 6 days a week. I was doing pilates for 2 hours every week for nearly half a year, but I didn't see ANY change, not a bit! Its too bad, because I like pilates much more than I like running--pilates is easier and less sweaty! But, since I want to see results, I think running is the way to go. I'm hoping to lose around 10 or 15lbs by Christmas, and I've lost 5 so far (yay!). Its not so much about the scale though, as much as it is about feeling healthier and taking care of my body, like I believe God calls us to do.  It has definitely been a challenge--I'm no athlete, and working out 6 days a week is more than I've ever done in my life--but  I feel a lot better. More energy, and a more positive attitude. Always a good thing!