Swim Suits

Yes, okay...so I'm a head swim coach. 

And I haven't been in a swim suit for almost 2 years.

TWO YEARS. 

[let me take a moment and scream!]

I didn't even get to go to the beach last summer.  Huge fail. 



With that being said, I was told by a friend about this site: Lime Ricki, where they make and sell great modest swim suits.  These suits weren't made for swim practice, but I can definitely wear one to the beach if I get a chance to go this year!  I've scoured their website, and love the styles and longer-length options.  It's so great.  I wish I had known about this place sooner.  Because, really, if I'm honest, I'll never really be one of those bikini-clad beach goers, and I'm okay with that.  I'm just not sure that much skin should be exposed to the sun.  Skin cancer, people! 

So here's the kicker.  Go to this blog: Lime Ricki Give-Away and set yourself up to get one of these cuties!  You know you want to :)

Happy Thursday (it's my Friday)...And a Happy Birthday to my roommate and friend, Leslie J!!!  She turns 23 today - and is getting married in less than 2 months!  So great. 

Word of the Week: EXCITE!

After that last post...and the number of real-people comments I got on it, I'm finding it hard to figure out what to share now.  So, because this week holds several different exciting things, I thought sharing them might be fun.

1. As I was cleaning up and straightening the piles in my room on Saturday, I found an envelope from Christmas with a pretty substantial amount of cash in it - WOOHOO!
2. UPDATE: I got to hang out with Nikki Saturday for lunch and some sweet coffee shop action afterwards.
3. I got to take a really long nap on Sunday afternoon.  It was a great time to not have an agenda and really relax.
4. The Oscars were on Sunday night - and I've never watched the whole program before.  It was really enjoyable, (update!)especially because Sandra Bullock won best actress and Sandra and Nikki are twins.  Best parts of the weekend :) 
5. Monday morning, the morning that I dread the most out of the week, I got up early to take my car to get the oil changed.  See, the exciting part about this not-so-exciting task is that I might or might not have a tiny little crush on one of the guys who works there.  When I get my tires checked, he always does it.  I'm such a silly girl.  But, Josh worked on my car and then I got the oil change and tire rotation - almost a $50 value - for FREE.  The reasoning for that was a little less fortunate...I had to witness one of the associates having what he claims is a "rant".  It was pretty violent - throwing trashcans and the such ( he didn't know I was there).  But I didn't have to pay for anything!  I mean, I guess it might've been worth it.
6. I found the most hilarious blog.  It's definitely laughing-so-hard-you're-now-crying worthy.  You should visit Cake Wrecks.  It won't let you down.
7. I was asked to come interview for a head swim coaching position in Spring.  DID THIS JUST HAPPEN?  I'm way excited.
8. Tuesday, which happens to be today, is the day that I'm going to Houston to check out a graduate program to become an ultrasound technician.  This is also exciting.  I'm looking forward to it more than I thought I would.
9. Tomorrow, I get to meet with a pretty important man in my dad's life (his boss!) to discuss my resume and career goals.  It definitely sounds intimidating, and I might be nervous tomorrow morning when I actually get up to go meet with him.  But for now, I'm just truly grateful and excited that he is taking time out of his morning to meet with me.  I didn't ask - he offered.  And I'm (for lack of a better word) excited.
10. Tomorrow night, I am going to see Rascal Flatts at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo with Leslie.  This is also exciting.  I think the plan is to eat fried oreos (or whatever else they decide to stick in the hot oil this year). 
11. Thursday will probably be hard to transition back into work after not being there for a day and a half...so that leads us to Friday and our roomie night at Cracker Barrel!  This is so great - Cracker Barrel just opened in our small college town, so basically, we just don't know what to do with ourselves until we go there (which is so soon!).  Friday night = exciting.

There you have it.  10 things that are happening (or have happened) in my week.  And, next week is Spring Break - which is strange because I have to work for 3 days of it, but I'm thankful for a 4-day weekend.  Until next time, when I find a topic that is blog-worthy,

Thanks for reading my ramble.
ED

What Gives You Life?

In my shared mentoring relationship with Meghan, we are reading through, discussing and implementing the book The List by Marion Jordan.  Our first assignment for the process of implementing the concepts discussed in the book was to create "our list" of things that give us life.  You know, the things that get us excited and want to jump up and down.  They could be little, big, somewhere in between, and ultimately, they are different for each person. 

The exact assignment was this: make a list this week of your strengths…spiritual gifts, talents, things that come easily to you.  Easy enough, right? 

WRONG. 

For this girl, I had two whole weeks (remember that snow day?!) to think about, plan, and finally write down my list.  The problem was that I would think about it plenty, start to plan it, and then stop.  What was the matter?  This should be fun. 

I could not, for the life of me, come up with my strengths.  Things that come easily?  Beats me.  That's a good question. 

Sometimes, it's funny how things work out and God has a plan, even when we can't see it (my entire life, right now).  Tuesday night, Dayna (our mentor) had a 4H event for one of her daughters...and her expected arrival time was 8:30 pm.  Meghan and I show up at 8:30, and the house is dark.  So we start talking about different things.  I had been honest about my difficulty in creating "my list" from the beginning, so Meghan started asking some intentional questions.  Those thirty minutes while waiting for Dayna were just what I needed. 

So, now you're wondering...what's on my list?  This list is not completed.  It's a process to really figure out the different things that give life for me.  It's a challenge, mostly, because I've figured out in the recent years that I'm an external processor.  But, without any further hesitation, here is my list to date:

1. Lattes: the ones that aren't overly sweet.  I really want the espresso to shine through.  It's a must. 
2. Chocolate.  Some days, it just lifts me up a little.
3. Cooking. As I've gotten older, I have enjoyed this part of my life more and more.  I really like trying new things and learning in the process.  This one is multi-functional.  Not only just cooking for myself, but I really like cooking for other people.  If I had a larger budget, I would definitely try to do this more often.  So, that leads us to
4. Hospitality.  I really enjoy bringing people into my home and serving them...whether with food, or just inviting them into my community.  It is my desire that they would also receive life from being around my roommates.  Meghan and I definitely share this one. 

I would like to say that I have more things at this point, but really, I don't.  When Meghan and I were talking before Dayna arrived home, I realized a lot about my passion for missions.  Recently, I've felt that this passion has been removed from my life.  As Meghan put it, she sees these desires in my heart...and they are being suppressed by other things. 

The pressure.  The decisions.  The uncertainty. 

This realization made me quite sad.  My passion for missions should be on my list.  I was so ready to devote my life to serve for this end goal.  And yet, I can not add it to my list.  It has been suppressed.  I did that.  I decided that it would not be life-giving.  It wasn't a conscious decision...it just happened. 

Another thing about this list is how to implement these passions into my life.  It's one thing to simply say, "Man, I really like coffee and I really like to cook," but never share these things with others in my life.  If I enjoy cooking for others, I need to do so.  I need to reach out and share Jesus with those in my life.  Be missional.  Enjoy this other passion that has been suppressed in my life. 

Sharing my list is my new goal.  Not like telling people about it, but implemeting it into the core of who I am.  Making these things that are life-giving to me and putting them into practice, where they might also be life-giving to others because of Jesus within me.  That's my hope and prayer. 

Maybe you should also write a list.  I tell you - it's really a good process to think about and help give every day life some direction.  If you make a list and blog about it, leave me a link so I can also enjoy what God is showing you through the pasisons He instilled into your life. 

Happy Thursday, all!
ED

The rest of my weekend...

I've already talked about my Friday night as a single 23yo woman who works full time.  The rest of my weekend was a little bit more exciting.

On Saturday afternoon, I left CS to travel to Grand Prairie for a wedding shower in honor of one of my roommates:

This lovely lady is gettin' hitched in May to her high school sweetheart!  It's such a great story.  Anywho, I got to hang out with some fellow A&M grads...which helped me to see that I'm not the only one struggling to find my way.  

It became a joke of ours that when we accomplish things like folding a pair of pants that another employee is struggling to fold, we just acknowledge to ourselves "that's why we went to college".  I can't say how many times this statement has passed through my mind since actually graduating.  It's so true.  Little accomplishments...it's because I went to college.  It's a resume booster, right?

Okay, well, enough of that talk.  After the shower, we went to hang out with these cuties:

  

They're fun, Desmond and Jenny.  I enjoyed the time with both immensely.  We had quite the good time.  

Lindsey staring Desmond down.  She won.

Leslie and Meghan

Me, Lindsey, Jenny, Desmond, oh, and Leslie's toe...

After hanging out with them, we head back over to Leslie's parent's house...and play cards for a while.  Notice the ghost hands...

The next morning, after sleeping marvelously on Leslie's parent's leather couch, we went to church, got to eat a fabulous homemade meal and I got to take a nap!  Around 4, Meghan, Leslie and I packed up my small civic to head back to CS.  We were quite the loaded little car.  Along the way, we made a pit stop here:

If anyone was wondering, their kolaches are worth stopping for.  Just ask Meghan, who regretted her decision to only purchase one.  A little further down the road, we stopped at a historic site along the highway back to town.  Remember, this is a new concept for me...and my passengers got to participate this time!  Here are some pictures as the sun was setting on the Brazos Valley:

this building is as old as our house...

this little church is so great!

and my absolute favorite of the night:

For those of you who thought my Friday night was lame-sauce: maybe it was.  But it was in total preparation for the rest of my awesome weekend.  It's my hope that everyone enjoyed the warmer weather (finally!) and got to spend some time in the sun.  

Thanks for reading my ramble.

ED

What do you do on a Friday night?!

Personally, as a 23-year-old single woman who works 40 hours a week, I can't imagine anything better than a quiet Friday evening at home.

I left work around 4:30 this afternoon and stopped at the Home Depot, affectionately called the Orange Box in my family.  This activity was necessary in order to bless a sweet couple for their wedding shower tomorrow.  Walking in, I was greeted with that awesome hardware store smell. You know...the earthy, rusty, musty air. For some reason, it's comforting to me.  Maybe it reminds me of my childhood and the trips I would make with my dad.  Anyway, I know I have to get the registry printed...so I try to find an employee to ask where the best place to do that is.  She points me to the service desk, which is by the door where I walked into the store.  After the list is printed by the not-too-enthusiastic employees send me on my way, I proceed to walk around aimlessly for like 10 minutes.  I have no idea where to look for the item I've picked.  None.  Great.  Eventually, an employee comes to help me out.  I was grateful.  He definitely saved me from looking like more of an idiot.

I head home after paying for my purchase.  Once I got home, I really didn't have a game plan.  There were definitely some things I wanted to do: clean out the fridge, organize the Tupperware, and watch the Olympics.  So what did I do? I cleaned out the fridge for our house of 6 girls.  I wiped it out, and it looks and smells better!  I organized our tupperware

to look like this:

and this:

It's so much better.  After that, I washed dishes.  Or maybe I washed dishes before that.  I don't remember.

I then ordered my favorite pizza from Mr. G's and it was wonderful.  I got to sit down, eat, watch the Olympics...take a nap and then wake up in order to see my favorite Olypmian: Apolo Ohno.  Although I was completely shocked about how the race turned out, I've gotten to see all of his races in this Olympics, and that makes my Friday night complete.

For this 23yo, I'm fully satisfied with how my Friday night turned out.  Maybe this means I need a new life.

Thanks for reading my ramble.
ED

Snow, 'Sghetti a la Canon and chocolate cake

Today was unusual.  It snowed in SE Texas!  What?!  I know.  It was totally not expected.  Some pictures of the event:

Snow is fun!  Until your feet get cold and your pants are wet.

I left work early in order to run to the store before it got really bad tonight.  I decided upon 'Sghetti a la Canon...my paternal grandmother's recipe with my minor adjustments.  She likes to use mushrooms and I definitely like to use fresh onions and peppers.  The ingredients are as follows: 

'Sghetti a la Canon

1 medium onion 

1 medium green pepper

1 pound lean ground beef

1 jar spaghetti sauce (your favorite flavor)

1 can Italian style tomatoes

[sometimes I add a clove or too of garlic, but I definitely didn't have on hand today]

pasta (you choose your favorite kind, i just used regular noodles)

1.  Brown the meat with the onion and green pepper.  Your kitchen will smell wonderful :)

2.  Drain the grease.  Add the can of tomatoes and spaghetti sauce.

3.  Stir it together.  Let it simmer together while you cook the pasta.

4.  After the pasta is cooked to your likeness, stir it all together.

5.  Serve it in bowls or plates and top with cheese (if you want).

This is basically the only way that I'll ever make spaghetti.  Maybe one day I'll add mushrooms.  Maybe not.  I completely intended upon adding green beans to the meal and a piece of garlic toast, but I didn't get that far.  Maybe because I knew i had my chocolate cake waiting:

Chocolate Cake from Betty Crocker

1 chocolate cake box mix

3 eggs

1 1/3 cup water

1 stick butter, softened

1 container frosting (I chose rainbow chip...you choose your favorite)

The ingredients

A couple of quick notes:

I read on a blog that if you put the butter standing up in the microwave, it's more likely that it won't melt.  Mine fell over and melted anyway.

You have to use 2 white eggs and 1 brown egg.  It says so on the package.  I'm serious.  But not...it just happened that I needed another egg, and my roommate had some fancy organic brown eggs that I borrowed.

1.  Mix the cake mix, the water, the eggs, and butter into a bowl.  

2. Mix it per the directions on the box so it turns out like this:

3. Grease and flour a pan so it comes out easily after baking.  I chose a bundt pan to add a little extra flair to this exciting day of snow.  Pour the batter into the pan and make sure it's evenly distributed.

See that hole in the middle of the pan?  I had some difficulty getting ALL the batter into the pan:

This little glop pile made it's way through that center whole.  Oh, bundt pans.  And don't worry, I just licked up my little mess.

4.  Stick it in an oven at the temperature appropriate for your pan (Betty helps you out here)

5.  When it comes out, let it cool for about 10-15 minutes before attempting to take it out of the pan.  I was cooking spaghetti at this time, so I kind of maybe forgot about my cake.  Take a knife and run it around the rim of the pan to loosen the cake.  Get a roommate to flip it over onto a cooling rack because you are afraid that you are going to mess up the process.

6.  Tell your roommate how great of a job she did!  And then wait for the cake to cool completely.  In the meantime, place the frosting can next to the cooling cake to make sure they become best friends.

7.  After the cake is cooled, ice away!  Or, in my case, go find yet another roommate (the third one in this post) and declare you have forgotten how to ice a cake...and you need her help.

After your roommate helps you, let her lick the leftover icing out of the container as payment.  She will definitely want to help you again in the future.  

If you used a bundt pan, it will end up looking like the biggest doughnut you've ever seen.  Although, I definitely would not recommend eating this entire cake at one sitting.  It might just make you quite ill.  

8.  Slice yourself a piece, and become convinced that this is the best idea you've had all day.  Because after you taste the deliciousness that is this cake, your day will then be complete.

THANKS BETTY!

Lessons of the Day

Things I learned today:

1. Oliver whines quite frequently when you are not focused on him 100%.
2. Oliver only settles down and sits when you sit with him. 
3. It's hard to do laundry with Oliver when he steals your socks.
4. Oliver likes to curl up in blankets.
5. Oliver is spoiled by his mom, Jules.
6. Oliver gets tired really early when he's out of his crate all day.

This is an older picture of Oliver from the fall.  That purple toy is now missing a leg...

update!

Well, I know I'm not good at these things. I had one back in high school, and it seriously just fizzled out. I have a lot of thoughts...and I started this blog to share them; to get them off my chest. So, I'm starting again (even if I never really quit). Here it goes:

10 Current Happenings:

1. 
   
   I have become addicted to listening to Pandora at work.
   
   
   
2. 
   
   Oh yeah, I have a full-time job on campus. It's mostly boring, but I never have to limit my Facebook time. I guess that could be considered a plus...but there will be more to come with this topic later.
   
   
   
3. 
   
   I hate running, but I have started running (again!). Like I ran last night and I really want to do it again tonight. whoop for exercise!
   
   
   
4. 
   
   I have new tv shows that I've started watching (thanks to my roommate Meghan): House, So You Think You Can Dance, Glee, and I guess Gossip Girl because of Tahni...[yay for living with 7 other girls!]
   
   
   
5. 
   
   It's 90% certain I'll be moving to East Asia in June. JUNE. I still can't fathom actually having a date to pick up my life and move over 7000 miles away. dude.
   
   
   
6. 
   
   This "semester" of my life is not quite going the way that I imagined. There's a lot more to share there too, but that's the basis.
   
   
   
7. 
   
   My house (The Shalom Shack) is having the best Halloween party tomorrow night. It's gonna be awesome :)
   
   
   
8. 
   
   Am I really almost 23?
   
   
   
9. 
   
   My roommates think it's funny I'm obsessed with Celine Dion, Michael Jackson and Transformers.
   
   
   
10. 
    
    I can't wait until November 13th.
    
    
    

Well, that's a brief story of my life as it goes right now. As you can tell, work doesn't leave me with much "work". It's mostly just trying to fill in the almost-8-hours that I'm at the office. Someone please save me already?!?

Interestingly enough, however, I found out that two of my co-workers are Muslim today. I've been working here for 6 weeks now...and I had no idea. They goes to the mosque every day at lunch to pray. So, that little fact got me thinking...and then I did some research. I know that other religions (the ones who don't believe in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ) have strict rules to follow because there really is no real meaning of grace in their lives. GRACE: so powerful (and of which I am so undeserving).

Anyway, I looked up times when the 5 prayers are supposed to be prayed. On this same site, there was a list of things not to do while in prayer. [http://www.qibla.org/err.htm] I don't really have words that describe the depth of sorrow I feel for them! And these men are right here in my office. I've been able to share with a different co-worker my experience in East Asia because he is trying to move there once he retires. I am excited and so eager for my office posters (shown at end of post) to arrive in the mail so they can serve to open more conversations. Even though I might feel useless almost all of the time, I still know that I am here for a purpose, if not my own. Father has blessed me with this job - and I am grateful. The last few days have shown me I need to stop whining and just live each day that we are called to. If I'm not here to actually do work most days, maybe at least I can pour into the lives of those around me. How great? A job that lets me do what I love to do? Hmmm. And in the beginning, I doubted College Station was where I was supposed to be. Ha.

The Red Door

Reflections

Great Wall

Framed