Survey says …

This is in honor of one of the greatest games of all times: “Would you rather…” (it helped pass the time and created lots of laughter at my Orangevale Starbucks, yay!) It’s also just for kicks, because sometimes in life we are reminded of how insignificant we are … and we just have to take it with a laugh or two. So without further ado … would you rather …

1) Go back to your college and have people assume you are an incoming freshman … when you actually graduated over 2 years ago.

or …

2) Be asked by a key, elderly woman in your Bible Study (who has been there since its beginning): “And what’s your name? … What’s your last name? … And how long have you been coming here?” (the answer to the last question … about 4 years … minus a year or so when you didn’t live in the area).

On completely different note … is it really November? Time sure flies when you’re having fun! The funny thing is a couple weeks ago, I saw my first Christmas commercial of the season and … it was just under 90 degrees here in sunny SoCal! That just seems like such a contradiction to me … go figure! I was so excited yesterday when we had a few little drops of rain!! Such an amazing and rare thing here!!

 

East Coast Trip: Top 10 List

#10 – The Leaves – We were there a little too early for the full change of the fall colors, but we did see the beginning and there were spots of color here and there. It was so beautiful, so I can only imagine how gorgeous it must be in full orange, red and yellow!

#9 – Papa Driving in NYC - We were all quite proud of his maneuvering through the crazy streets of the city. We laughed (and gasped) several times throughout the journey. The best part was when we were stopped at a light, and Sally rolled down her window and touched the truck next to us.

#8 – Empire State Building - If you didn’t see the pictures from this post, check it out. It was a crisp, clear night … the view was amazing! When I asked my friends what to do in NYC, they all agreed that I had to do the Empire State Building at night. I definitely agree.

#7 – Tea & Carriage Ride. In honor of my grandma’s birthday, we surprised her by going to tea at The Plaza Hotel and then taking a carriage ride through Central Park. It was so much fun! I absolutely loved Central Park … it’s such a beautiful, calm place.

#6 – North End: Boston’s Little Italy – LoVeD it here! I wonder why?! Mike’s Pastry was just amazing, as I already mentioned in my previous post. And Caffe Vittoria is a legit Italian bar (and by bar I mean coffee shop). My latte macchiato took me back to Venice … it was just grand!

#5 – Sea Swirl!! We were in Mystic, Connecticut (way cute little town with fun shops), and I was craving ice cream. One of the tourist guides to Mystic recommended a few ice cream places, one of which was Sea Swirl. The thing about this place that caught my eye was that Rachael Ray had eaten there on her show “$40 a Day,” and I LoVe Rachael Ray. So my quest … find Sea Swirl and have ice cream there. Well we found it, and I’m not gonna lie it wasn’t what I was expecting. It was just this little hole-in-the-wall kind of place on the side of the street. It was the kind of place where you go up to the window and order and there are picnic tables outside. I told the girl I was a big dork and I was only there because Rachael Ray had been there, haha. She had actually been there when Rachael Ray was there and she told me what she ordered – the codfish sandwich. So all this effort … and she didn’t even get the ice cream! But since I was hungry I decided to be brave and try the sandwich. Note to keep in mind: I do not like fish! Oh. my. goodness. The sandwich was InCrEdIbLe!!! In fact, it’s just before lunch as I’m writing this, and now I want one for lunch. Do you think I can make it to Connecticut and back in 1/2 an hour?!

#4 – Ear piercing! I told Heidi months ago that I wanted to get second holes in my ears. We decided we wanted to get it done on this trip if we could find a place. The process of trying to get our ears pierced was hilarious … we tried to do it our 1 night in Providence, and after 3 piercing and tattoo parlors (or is it a shop – I do not know), more lessons in piercing and gauges than I care to know, and several thoughts of “Am I going to die in here?!” … we did not get it done. In Boston, right before we had to leave (literally … I was afraid we were going to miss our plane, haha!) Heidi and I spotted a Claire’s … and we came out of there with second holes, permanent souvenirs, and a mission accomplished.

#3 – Hot cocoa and talking. On the last night of our trip (in Boston), Heidi and I really wanted some hot chocolate to drink. There was a downpour, we were soaked, we were cold … we wanted to drink warmth. We were back at our hotel, and we weren’t really sure where to go at that late hour to drink hot chocolate. So Heidi, Sally and I headed down to the “lounge” in our hotel to see if they could satisfy our craving … and sure enough, they had hot cocoa … and whipped cream! The three of us sat and talked for a long time and had great conversation. 

#2 – Story time with Papa and Grandma. There were lots of stories and fun conversations and memories throughout the trip, but the highlight was in the car driving from New York to Connecticut. Sally asked Papa and Grandma to tell us the story of their relationship. We got to hear everything from when they first met to their first date to their first kiss to their wedding to their honeymoon to their anniversaries and much, much more. So fun!

#1 – My favorite moment from my trip … the end of my plane ride to New Jersey. It was sunset … there were beautiful, huge, white, puffy clouds … there were amazing colors dancing across the sky … I was listening to the Sovereign Grace song “Glorious & Mighty.” It was one of those mountain top experiences of seeing God’s greatness through His creation and worshipping Him. He is truly amazing!

 

It all caught up with me …

So the last few weeks have been pretty busy for me. A couple weeks ago I was in charge of planning food for about 60 people for our Bible Study retreat. Yeah, that was a whole lot more work than I realized … but it was great! Then a couple days after retreat, I flew to the East Coast, where I met up with my grandparents and two cousins. We traveled through 5 states in 7 days. Needless to say … it was not exactly a restful vacation. This week the exhaustion of the past few weeks finally caught up with me … especially Friday afternoon. Allow me to explain what happened …

On my afternoon break I decided to lay down for a few minutes, because I was so stinkin’ tired! I went down to the comfortable couch in the lounge, set my alarm for 10 minutes, and enjoyed a nice rest. When my alarm went off, I was very sad because I had not fallen asleep (which was not a surprise … I’m not one of those people to lay down and immediately fall asleep). I thought to myself … “Self, you have a couple minutes of break left, just lay here a minute more … it’s not like you will fall asleep or anything.” Next thing I remember: waking up (a little confused by my surroundings), seeing the lounge door open and someone walk in, and hearing the words: “Rita (my boss) just wanted me to check to see if you were in here.” I quickly realized what had happened, looked at the clock, and was alarmed to find out my alarm had gone off 45 minutes earlier!! I ran upstairs to customer service and apologized to my boss and sat down and tried to work. Problem was, I was dizzy and so disoriented from my long, deep sleep that I could barely function! And the day was almost over anyways, haha.

Moral of the story … always get up to your alarm at work

 

Zucchini Frittata for Jenn

This post is dedicated to my dear friend, Jenn, who got me hooked on the most amazing blog! This blog, combined with seeing the movie Julie and Julia(“What is it that you really like to do?” “Eat!” “And you are so good at it.” “I am good at it … I’m practically growing in front of you!”), has inspired me to cook. I already loved to cook … but now I just feel more and more like doing it! I recently made a zucchini frittata (a frittata is like the Italian version of an omelet, but way, way better!), and I had leftover ingredients to make another. So last night for dinner, I decided to make this scrumptious dish and to document and to blog about my experience. I realized in the process, I’m not a photographer, haha. I have no clue how to take good pics of food … oh well.

Chopping made so much easier with a Cutco knife!! Love it!!!

Oh, and I love my wooden spoon from Sur la Table.

Buon Appetito!

Here’s the recipe I made (I modified it from The Silver Spoon recipe – added onion, thanks to a friend’s teaching) ….

Zucchini Frittata

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/4 cup butter

2 and 1/2 cups zucchini, thinly sliced

1 small or 1/2 large white onion, chopped

6 eggs

Salt and pepper

Heat the oil and half the butter in a pan, add the onion and the zucchini and cook, stirring occasionally, for 10-12 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and remove from the heat. Lightly beat the eggs with a pinch of salt and stir in the zucchini. Melt the remaining butter in a skillet, pour in the mixture and cook until lightly browned *on both sides. This frittata may be served hot or cold.

*My sweet friend, Cristina, taught me the trick of how to cook it on both sides. You can try to flip it with a spatuala … but good luck. The easier route … place the lid on the skillet (I recommend doing this over the sink, just in case of a catastrophe) and flip it upside down. Result: the frittata will now be in the lid, cooked side up. Slide the frittata back into the skillet, resulting in the uncooked side down … allowing for it to get cooked!

 

More Unwanted Visitors

You may recall my former roommate, Karrie, and I having an unwanted visitor back in November. Well … let me tell you about the latest unwanted visitors … yes, that is visitors in the plural form.

A month ago, I went downstairs on a Thursday night just before going to bed. I started to enter the kitchen to check the garage door, and I flipped on the light. When I did that, I saw something jump off the stove onto the counter and go behind the stove. I definitely freaked out! I tried to imagine it away … I was on NyQuil at the time … so I wondered if I was hallucinating. But then I examined the ground and found the evidence (little mouse poops). Of course the mouse did a vanishing act on me and I couldn’t find it. To make a long story short … Polly got some mouse traps the next day and set those up. We finally caught it a couple days later on one of the sticky traps, which of course doesn’t kill it. Well, thanks to her brother, we now know that mice die quickly if you drown them. A couple weeks later (also on a Thursday … please notice this trend), another roommate was in the kitchen and “thinks” she saw “something.” I haven’t seen any more evidence of mice, and we haven’t caught any more. We are hoping they are no longer around … but there’s no knowing for sure. Unfortunately, I don’t have pics to show … I really wish I did. But for my next unwanted visitors, there are pictures showing them in all their glory!

Thursday night (yes, that’s right … these accounts all took place on Thursday nights), I went out to my roommate’s car because I left my phone in it. As I started down our walkway, I noticed a big, ugly, malicious, black spider. I took a closer look, and of course, it was a giant (i might be exaggerating a tad) black widow! What in the world?! Am I like cursed by critters on Thursday nights or something?!? So, I ran inside and got the trusty can of Raid. I probably said this in my other black widow post … I love Raid because you can kill a nasty insect from far away!! And there’s no gross guts left on your shoe … it’s brilliant! So I come back, and of course the thing has disappeared (it’s part of the Thurs. night curse). so I just start spraying all over the area where that beast was … and then it came out and I used about half the can on it (you can never use too much Raid, in my professional opinion). Here are the lovely pics.

The Beast before Raid

The Beast after Raid ... much better!!!

Mini Beast that I unknowingly killed too ... found him today!

Mini Beast and The Beast together ... in all their dead, Raided glory. Sick-o!!!!

 

6 Years Ago …

This weekend, things were abuzz at The Master’s College due to one thing … WOW. Week of Welcome began on Saturday, as all the new students arrived, unpacked their belongings, met their roommates, said good-byes to family and friends, and were overwhelmed with crazy, energetic, sleep-deprived SLSers. I had the privilege of picking up a friend at the airport Friday and then taking her to the college the following morning to begin her college experience. As we made a Target run Friday night, thought through things she might need, checked into college, set up her room, met her RA and roommate … I was rushed with the sense of “I have been here and done this.” Despite several people assuming I was a new student as well, I actually graduated two years ago. That means my WOW experience occurred 6 years ago. Did you hear (I mean, read) that … 6 years?! I know to some people (anyone older than me who’s reading this), 6 years is not a long time. But to my little mind, 6 years seems like forever ago! This got me to thinking about a couple things … I can’t believe how time flies, and I can’t believe all that’s happened in those 6 years. Take a trip down memory lane with me …

- While I was excited to be at Master’s my first semester and enjoyed it immensely, I was terribly homesick. I missed my family, my friends, my church, my dog … everything! At Christmas break, I did not want to come back to school. I shed many tears during my first months at Master’s. But by the end of my four year college experience, I shed tears over leaving (actually, it was by my second semester that I loved and missed it).

- I met the people who have had the biggest impact on my life – from RAs to RDs to roommates to wingmates to bosses to classmates to professors. I cherish these people God placed in my life, and I am so incredibly thankful for them.

- I made the greatest and most lasting friendships at TMC. Pretty much all of my close friends now are people that I know through Master’s.

- I was blessed to sit under what I believe is the best teaching in our nation – in the classroom, chapel, and church. I was introduced to Rick Holland, John MacArthur, Steve Lawson, CJ Mahaney, John Piper, and many others I am not thinking of at the moment. I was challenged in my faith, grown in my sanctification, and stretched in my thinking. There are certain sermons that still resonate in my mind and heart.

- I experienced IBEX (Israel Bible Extension), which were the best 4 months of my life thus far! I got to study God’s Word where it all took place, made some of my best friends, was so challenged in every way possible (no American Dream!), experienced other cultures, had my heart greatly softened toward missions, shared the Gospel with an Israeli and a Muslim, travelled to Italy for a week and saw everywhere Paul went (plus more), ate falafel and half shekel pita, and laughed a lot. I could go on and on about this semester in which my life was changed, but this post is not all about IBEX … so moving on ….

- On a less serious note … I had so much fun in college!! It’s all about steam rolling in the halls of Dixon, food on the trash can, 80’s parties, Year End Shows, games, Starbucks and Golden Spoon runs, movie nights, Disney Day, etc. etc. etc.

- I was an RA for one year in Dixon … talk about a humbling growth experience … and a whole lot of fun!! This time was invaluable in training me in my philosophy of ministry and in understanding the importance of discipleship and life on life relationships.

- I fell in love with Italy! I met some of the dearest Italians, whom I have come to love so much! After college, I spent 3 months in Italy! It was 2 years ago that I was preparing for this missions trip in the Venice area. (I can’t believe it was 2 years ago – unreal!) The Lord taught me so much during that time … read my past posts cuz I’m definitely not going into any more here.

- And to sum up the last year and a half … I worked at Starbucks, moved to SoCal, got hired at GTY, got laid off from GTY, moved a few times, and got re-hired at GTY. Today, I am enjoying my job and looking forward to college ministry in Crossroads.

As I think back on the past 6 years, I think of God’s sovereignty and His amazing goodness. Everything that has happened has been an exact part of His plan for me. Nothing has been a mistake. I praise God for the last 6 years, and I look forward to reminiscing after the next 6.

 

The Certainty of Death

Death is something we all deal with. Whether we have lost someone close or know others who have lost someone dear to them … we will all die. Lately I have been reflecting on death a lot. With the death of several big stars and a fellow employee at Grace to You, as well as the anniversaries of the deaths of some people I knew and was connected to … I feel like I have not been able to get away from the reality of death. Most of these deaths were sudden, which reminds me of the brevity of life.

At work we had our own little memorial for Mike, and I was so blessed to hear what everyone remembered him by. Most everyone’s memories included his laugh and his love for the Lord. Being remembered  for songs, dance moves, movies, etc. is no match for a legacy of pointing others to Christ.  It caused me to stop and think … what will people remember me by?

Reminders of death and the uncertainty of life are good. They cause us to reflect on our lives and how we are living. Ecclesiastes says, “It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, because that is the end of every man, and the living takes it to heart” (Ecc. 7:2). A Bible teacher I had in high school used to say, “The only breath you’re assured of is the one you just took.” Our lives can end at any moment, which is such a sobering thought. This motivates me to pour into others more, evangelize, and live every moment to the fullest for the glory of God. You don’t know when your life, or the life of someone you know, will end.

 

Our New Home

I just looked at my roommate’s blog, and she has pictures of our new and beautiful place.

If you’d like to learn about our lovely statue, check this out. And yes, I said “lovely,” Steve, not creepy!

We are all unpacked and pretty much settled. One of my Roman Holiday posters goes perfectly in our yellow bathroom downstairs, so Polly and I hung our first picture on the wall last night (with much laughter and perfect centeredness). I still have to get things hung on the walls in my room … but I’m kind of hoping that if I wait long enough they’ll just hang themselves. But I don’t think that will happen. We are enjoying our house so much! Last night we had a little roommate dinner (risotto with sausage, zucchini frittata, and really good wheat French bread). Yum-o!

NOTE: Polly’s website is the same as mine, but with two different names … that’s just for you Polly!

 

My Thorn in the Flesh

Ever since I moved to Southern CA … I have had what feels like continual car problems. I think I’ve been to the mechanic more in the last few months than in my whole life. I’ve decided it’s my thorn in the flesh, and I’m starting to get really tired of it. So, I’m learning a lot about cars, getting to talk to someone about the Lord, and continuing to be sanctified through this wonderful vehicle. Today, I am seeking to rise above my circumstances and rejoice in my faithful God … even though I don’t really feel like it.

 

Memorial Day Weekend

I got to go home for Memorial Day Weekend, which was so fun! My friend, Jenn, went home with me. We went to San Francisco, which I just realized Jenn has all the pictures from there. I will have to get those from her and then post some. Sunday we went to church and then some of my family came over. Here’s a pic of me with me two “little” boy cousins, haha. Aren’t they adorable?! I love them, and we had so much fun playing in the pool together.