no recipes allowed

This Friday turned into a cook-without-recipes date night. I'm sharing because it was a surprising success!

You can add grocery shopping to the "Every day things I love doing with the boyfriend" list.

D got the recipe idea ball rolling by saying, "Can I shoot something up?" Love it. Translated into Top Chef lingo, that means injecting the meat with marinade before you cook it. In this case, Tony's creole butter marinade. Yes, please!

From there, we mainly used what was already sitting on the pantry shelves, picked a favorite cheese and stuffed it all in a pie crust.

This creation is currently nameless and suggestions are being accepted. Think creole...spicy...cheesey.

Bake at 450 degrees for about 10-15 minutes. And if you are like me and feel as though every meal needs dessert, keep the oven at the same temp and try this awesomely easy thing. And fall-ish, too!

The "cream cheese mixture" is just cream cheese (a little bit softened), sugar (I prefer brown) and cinnamon. Just taste as you go. "You can't hurt it," as the women in my family would say. Enjoy!

BONUS:
If you are uber sensitive to onions and cry your eyes out at the thought of them, then these are your new best friend.

They work. Promise. Check them out here.

As D always says (and teaches me) when he prays, "Thank you, Lord, for this food and the means to buy it."

And thank you, Lord, for taste buds!

labor day surprise for an animal lover

On Labor Day, D picked me up early and we headed south to a previously undisclosed location [to me, at least]. We were driving through Small Town USA, passing your standard local grocery store and world-famous fried chicken hot spots, flying by several different camp grounds. All of a sudden, we were turning into Global Wildlife and quickly surrounded by lots-o-animals. And, of course, I was in heaveeen!

Be prepared for an above average amount of pictures. Mainly because I couldn't choose what animals to include and which animals to not. They might feel left out. Animals have feelings, right?

Creation is SO COOL, don't you think?

You are the Lord, you alone. You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them; and you preserve all of them; and the host of heaven worships you. Nehemiah 9:6

an earthy day

This year, the end of a crazy week and Earth Day coincided which called for some down time spent celebrating relationships and the world we live them in.


Traveled via motorcycle all afternoon and evening.

Embraced our inner 2nd grade art student at Whole Foods. I tried to be interpretive. Slight fail.

Perused World Market before buying a super cool Chinese soda.

Moved an outdoor picnic indoors due to unhappy weather.

 Watched Disney Oceans. So cool. God is so creative.

Seems like there were many more happenings including these. All surrounded by cruising and laughing.

How did you celebrate Earth Day?

study break

I have graduated from allowing myself a Facebook study break and moved on to catching up on my favorite blogs. Much more mature, don't you think?

 

Studying with good coffee, a stack of great literature, the best writing utensil on the planet and my favorite boy (who has three engineering tests this week [WHOA] and a positively contagious attitude regardless).

 
She is clothed in strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come. Proverbs 31:25

Fighting for joy and laughing at the days to come. I'm planning on laughing an extra amount tomorrow as I take my English midterm. Praying that the Lord empowers you to do the same!

Happy Midterms!

do you have the time?

Lately, I have noticed that my default answer for the "how's life?" question is..."Busy. But good. Just really busy!" It's true. I'm busy. I'm in college and heavily involved at my campus ministry, but there still has to be time for other aspects of life, right?

RIGHT.

I wish someone could make a bar graph out of the time I spend on various activities. I'm afraid looking at it would cause me to cringe. Some days, I expect my email/facebook time to be greater than what i spent praying or calling a camp friend (miss all of them...so much) or giving my grandparents a ring. I know so well what is most important but still spend some of my time on things that are so fleeting. If anyone knows why this happens, I'd appreciate any insight. Maybe its easier to sit and get lost in facebook world for a longer time than I'm willing to admit than to pick up the phone and call my best friends who live 8, 9 and 13 hours away. Though it may be easier, I'm committing to change in mindset. These new thoughts are to center around the idea of remembering what is important in life, that each day is a precious precious gift and that my life is a vapor (James 4:14). If a light mist is all I get, I want to make the most of it.

This is a friendly reminder that stares at me as I'm on my computer. I suggest it...its been pretty successful so far!


With the time that I am not wasting I have...

(Note: school work is still important, of course. It's assumed.)

Watched Miss America with great friends. Complete with crowns and red white and blue cake.

 Watched the snow fall in Baton Rouge (again).

Made cupcakes.

Celebrated birthdays.

Cooked a Valentine's meal with Dustin. That Sunday was a blessing - going to church together, lunch with friends, and getting to spend the rest of the day talking, laughing and cooking without feeling guilty about not studying.

Spent time with my beautiful niece (and wonderful sister and brother-in-law).

Last but not least - read for my literature class as Dustin worked on his car stereo. I'm thankful for a boyfriend who always wants to spend time together but is willing to get creative when there's lots to do and little time to do it in. He rewired something with lots of different colored wires and I read Invisible Cities aloud. This, by far, was one of my favorite nights of the semester.

Most importantly, I've been learning that every hour of my day is much less effective if I did not start it off with a heavy dose of the Word. I am learning to be desperate for it so that I can fight the daily battle for joy. I want to walk and be led by the Spirit so I don't gratify the flesh (Galatians 5).

Have a spring weather-filled Monday!

i want to be a part of it...

It looked just like it does in the movies, and I don't know if I ever want to go back to this city unless its during that magical time of year. Everywhere you glanced there were Christmas trees covered in lights and garland draped on anything that would stand still. I felt like I walked those streets with my head back and my jaw down. Being able to bundle up in scarves and gloves because it was actually below 60 degrees in December added to the picturesque experience. When I finally lowered my gaze to street-level, the splendor of Christmas in New York City was starkly contrasted with men and women slumped in the corners, hiding from the cold and sideway glances of those passing by. Suddenly, the low temperature and bright lights lost their charm because they stood in the way of a warm and peaceful night's sleep for those who inhabit the streets of the city. I would soon learn that these people are far from their cliche title of a "bum." Those a part of the homeless community who I was priviledge to get to meet loved deeper and spoke wiser than myself and many people a part of our cushioned community.

The Bowery made this encounter possible. The Bowery Mission has been a place of hope for homeless men since 1879. Its currently home to eighty men who have enlisted themselves in a program in order to "get off the streets," and it quickly became our home as well. Yes, its where we slept and ate most of our meals, but I believe that people are what makes a home, and the love these men showed us made the Bowery just that. Site-seeing is great and the city is beautiful, but the times that remain the most vivid in my mind are those spent in the mission.

There is always a job that needs doing at the Bowery. The best part is that you get to work along side of these men and hear their stories.  We led chapel services (which they allowed us to continue even after we bombed "O Holy Night"), organized the never-ending clothing closet and pantry, and proudly sported the red Bowery aprons and hair nets as we served meals. Oh, and several of the guys completely ripped out a walk in freezer and assisted in installing a new one. No big deal.

When you go on a mission trip, you want for leave feeling like your time was well used, right? A stomach bug (which we eventually refered to as "The Plague") soon hindered some of our abilities to effectively use our time at the Bowery. It was one of those moments where I didn't understand why God would allow this. Why during this short time we had to serve? As always, I was reminded why He is God and why I am not. His strength and role as our Rock was highlighted in our weakness and inability to serve (or keep solid food down). It's clear that He doesn't need us to do His work but lovingly allows us the priviledge to be a part of His perfect plan - even if for a shorter time than we planned. Yes, being sick away from home is difficult, but atleast we had places to sleep and medicine to suppress the symptoms. For that I should be more thankful.

Our last night in New York was also the Bowery residents' Christmas party. Even during our craziness of dealing with a spreading sickness, the residents expressed how they felt loved and served. The night was full of unexpected appreciation. Some boldly shared their heart-wrenching life stories with us. One man told us that he turned to another friend early that day as they were discussing our groups departure and said, "can we keep them?" Whatever was said that night made me feel more loved than I had in a long time. These men could be resentful and look at us as privileged kids coming to put some good marks on our slate. But they didn't. They expressed true appreciation. One resident said he couldn't imagine how we could love total strangers enough to want to work along side of them like we did. Funny - I wondered the exact the same thing about them.

For we are God's fellow workers. You are God's field, God's building. 1 Corinthians 3:9



For your viewing pleasure...
The Bowery's chapel

Home sweet home

Friends outside Wollman's ice rink in Central Park

Times Square

Kevin from Top Chef Las Vegas. I am his biggest fan!

The skyline from the Brooklyn Bridge

From the Empire State Building

Macy's on 34th. So charming!

Feeding the firemen of Ladder 20

THE Rockefeller tree