Round the Corner

I just have this feeling that amazing things are around the corner. I have been praying fervently about the decision to move to Philadelphia. I can't say I know for sure it will happen, but I get so excited about it. When I lived in Philly and worked at Montgomery, I really felt like I wasn't just professing my faith, but I was living it. And I think for the past two-ish years, I've been struggling with what it means for me to follow Christ. What does it mean to love my neighbor? What does it mean to live as Jesus lived? How can I interpret His example into the world I live in? When I sit in my office surrounded by some of the wealthiest people, and go to church and listen to studies of the fruits of the spirit I can't help but be like, Is this all there is? Is this the rest of my life?

I feel like right now, or very soon, I have huge life decisions to make. I will either do exactly what my parents hope I will do (get a "good" job, benefits, my own place, a car, get married, and live in the suburbs) or something different... learn to live by lower standards no matter how difficult it may be at first, make no money teaching kids how to cook, live with my best friend and others in community, and find joy in serving those around me and not in gaining material objects... Again, huge decisions. Ones that will affect the rest of my life. I don't think I felt that way when I graduated college- that the next step was HUGE. This time around, I'm feeling the pressure.

So uncomfortable...

So apparently when you turn 23 you are immediately ushered into the world of being set up by your parents friends. Perhaps sneak attacked... ambushed... those are better words.

Saddle

Well I am back at work, but just had some of the best days of my life. I got back Tuesday night from Seattle. I'll do a quick rundown of my adventures. There were a lot.
-toured Theo's, a fair trade organic chocolate factory. Ate many chocolates.
-took multiple buses by myself to get to Hannah's work, which I was given the wrong directions to because Hannah doesn't know her left from her right. I still found it.
-several trips to Pike's Place Market. I could live there I think.
-the day long winery-brewery adventure. Hannah and I took 3 buses totaling about 2 hours long, til we were dropped off in the middle of nowhere. Thankfully there's always a Starbucks in the middle of nowhere. I ran in to ask someone if they could tell us where the winery was. The first lady I asked offered to drive us there. Against all advice I've ever heard, I accepted and ran to get Hannah. LeeAnn (bless her little heart) drove us right to the front door and we thanked her profusely. After delicious wine tastings we headed out to lunch, only to get lost several times and start getting cranky with each other in frustration. I'll be fair, I was the cranky one. We finally got into the brewery and had lunch, only to find that there was a beer tour in about 5 minutes. So off we go like little alcoholics to another tour with free booze. Patrick was our guide and he liked me because all his jokes were totally lame but I laughed at them anyways. I'm not afraid to be kind of lame. Then some frat boys came up to flirt with us (15 of them, 2 of us. I can deal but Hannah was ready to peace). They offered to drive us but we drew the line there... but little did we know about the walk that was ahead of us. We walked for what felt like hours on this country highway, cars whizzing past us and laughing at the poor little girls. Finally we found an express bus back to Seattle. And ALL I spend that day was $18 for food, bus, wine, etc. Awesome.
-Clay got us into the Space Needle for free! He knows someone who works in the coffee shop so she let us go up for free. I'm really glad I didn't pay for that. Then we went to Thai Tom's and Ten thousand Villages. A bird pooped on my scarf and then peed on my head. While my best friend laughed at me, her boyfriend ran in to get napkins. It was horrible. Disgusting and I was freaking out while they were just laughing at me. But then it was ok and now it's all I hear about.
-Hannah and I made pasta with homemade pesto, sundried tomatoes and fresh mozzerella, and this was the best one out of the times I've made it. We also made a trifle for my bday with lemon pound cake, homemade blackberry-strawberry jam, fresh whipped cream and toasted almonds. Her roommates devoured it.
-My last day Hannah and I went to the aquarium and back to the market. We took funny pictures and dreamed about owning sea otters and seals. Then Hannah said I look like a sea otter when I laugh cuz I clap my hands. I still don't see it. We had Indian food with Clay for dinner and it was so good. We talked about our dreams for living in intentional community and wished I didn't have to go back to CT. Alas, Tuesday came and home I went, Hannah and I crying at the airport and me all the way down to security. It's okay I wasn't embarrassed.

So back to life as I know it right now. I am in constant prayer for the future, that God would grant everyone discernment and wise judgment, but a renewed sense of hope and optimism in His plans for us.
Such a good week.

This morning at Cocoa Michelle a man told me my smile was so beautiful I made his heart stop.

I'll take that compliment and use it to fuel me for the rest of this day.

SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO ready for Seattle.

Good NRG

Yes that is me, running around in heels following my boss, burning sage in one hand with the Buddha clasped in the other... ridding the office of negative energy so that the apartments will sell.

Does burning sage fix the economy...?

hummmmm

Well, I'm having a bit of a crisis of identity. My boss here at Highgrove talked to me yesterday about hiring me full time and having me start to sell apartments. Which sounds awesome except for a few things.

First... she told me that I look too young and she doesn't think anyone will take me seriously. Now if you know me at all you know I hate being told I look young, especially because with it comes all other sorts of things. Like not being taken seriously. She told me to wear more makeup and basically get a new wardrobe. Which, this in and of itself was embarrassing. It was like being on "What Not to Wear" but nobody gave me any money.

Secondly... they asked me during my interview if I gossip. It's always been a personal thing of mine to not gossip at work, because it's always disastrous. It finds its way back around and causes completely unnecessary drama. So imagine my surprise when I come to work here and all my boss does is gossip. Sigh.

Finally... I took this job as a very temporary way to make money. I have no intentions of becoming a rich and powerful business person. It's fine for other people but it has never been what I desired for my own life. I want to work in social services. I don't want to work here full-time. But how can I say that given this economy with thousands of people losing their jobs every day? I feel so dumb even saying that I wouldn't take the well-paying sales job because I want to make dirt money helping people, learn to adjust my standards and live simply, and be happy.


But I DO want to make dirt money helping people, learn to adjust my standards and live simply, and be happy.

To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to be sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket - it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. The alternative to tragedy, or at least to the risk of tragedy, is damnation. The only place outside of Heaven where you can be perfectly safe from all the dangers and perturbations of love is Hell.
- CS Lewis, "The Four Loves"

Love Love Love

I love you all!


But especially you!

This is Why I Don't Go to Movies

Tracy and I just went to the movie theater and watched "He's Just Not That Into You." And what was the moral of the story?

No boy in my life has ever been into me.

Hahaaaaa I love the cinema.

Work clothes. Boo.

So Saturday is like my Thursday because I work Wednesday through Sunday at Highgrove. Which makes Saturdays sound much less exciting. Plus my boss leaves nothing for me for the weekends, so I have nothing to do for the day (sounds fun but it's not). And while everyone else is dreading Monday, I can't wait to sleep in and do nothing. Except for this week when I have to find a tailor and get almost all of my pants hemmed because I am a shrimp.

I have been slightly scolded for my work wardrobe. I found this surprising at first because I have always thought I was a very creative dresser. I can't draw or paint, but I can dress. Haha. So anyways... I was told to wear a blazer. But I don't want to. I got a really cute one that isn't very blazer-y at all but my boss loved it. She also loves it when I wear dresses. But sometimes it is very cold and I want to wear pants. I get the feeling she wants me to buy really expensive name brand stuff when my favorite store is New York and Company and their $40 off coupons... and I want to say, please give me a raise if you are going to require me to wear expensive clothes. I have too many other bills right now. My mom keeps telling me it's an "investment." Ugh. What a grown-up comment.

I cannot WAIT to go to Seattle. I'm about to burrrrrrrst.

Ch ch changes

I start my new job tomorrow at High Grove. I am nervous and excited but mostly just ready to get to work. I started my training at Cocoa Michelle today and can already make a mean latte. My mom is really sick with either the flu or some kind of food poisoning, so I have been the mom for the past few days. And since my family will not know what to do once I start work 11 hour days, I made a weeks worth of food for them today. This included:

Shredded chicken with bacon, onions, shallots, pepper, smoked spiced and agave nectar.
Pork carnitas with cranberries and thyme.
Fajitas.
Hamburgers stuffed with chives and Havarti cheese.
Golden raspberry and blueberry jam.
Baked potato and ginger ale for my sick mama.

This all occurred in the past... three hours. Minus the jam, which I haven't made yet. Again, I'm a busy girl these days. I am so so so excited for what is ahead. I feel like I've got my groove back, now that my days are full of things to do. It feels good.

Babygirl got a Grown up job!

I'm officially employed. Office assistant at a real estate development company. I have my own office and I get to go to a cocktail party on Thursday.

Needless to say I'm freakin excited right now.

Cooking Frenzy

I dedicate this post to my favorite, Chad Blank, who always appreciates the food I've made.

Tonight: Chicken with fig sauce, and braised vegetables (zucchini, squash, artichokes, garlic, shallots, carrots, and asparagus)

Tomorrow: Seared Magret duck breasts and a balsamic cherry reduction, pan-roasted fingerling potatoes, and haricots verts

Saturday night: Roasted pork tenderloin with pears, roasted garlic mashed potatoes, and spinach salad with homemade apricot salad dressing

Sometimes I just loooooooove to be home... where I can cook and not pay.

Living the Moment to the Fullest

"Patience is a hard discipline. It is not just waiting until something happens over which we have no control: the arrival of the bus, the end of the rain, the return of a friend, the resolution of a conflict. Patience is not a waiting passivity until someone else does something. Patience asks us to live the moment to the fullest, to be completely present to the moment, to taste the here and now, to be where we are. When we are impatient we try to get away from where we are. We behave as if the real thing will happen tomorrow, later and somewhere else. Let's be patient and trust that the treasure we look for is hidden in the ground on which we stand."
-Henri Nouwen-

My lovely best friend sent me this quote by one of our favorite authors. It is good to be reminded that patience (for the right job, right city, right man, right time, etc) includes finding joy in present circumstances. I guess, as may be clear from other posts, that I'm at a point where really nothing in my life this year is going the way I had hoped or planned. A trait I inherited from my father, I am always looking forward to the next thing. I hope and plan and excite myself over things that are maybes and uncertainties. Often I am disappointed but I don't stay down for long, as I am soon looking for the next adventure. I'm not sure if I do this to keep myself motivated or if it means I am discontented. I think I have labeled this time in my life as a "phase" to get through and a bridge that will lead me to a place that I want to be. Perhaps I need to stop thinking forward for a moment and find the beauty in my life as it is this very second.

Some of you know my life might be changing again pretty soon. Depending on how a certain situation goes I will be heading in one of two very different directions. I could really use your prayers. God is good and I know He will provide no matter what the circumstance.

My sister calls it "twenty oh nine"

Well... I had a rockin New Years Eve. Had to work at 10, so to avoid CT snow the night before, I left home at 5:30 am... on an hour and a half of sleep. Needless to say I was exhausted that day. I planned around 7:30 to just close my eyes for a moment so that I could gain consciousness before I went to a party that Sarah had invited me to go to with her.

And I woke up just moments before the ball dropped. Woops. Happy new year to me!

Well, can my resolution for 2009 be figuring out what I want to do in 2009? Believing in my heart that I have been placed in Harrisburg for a reason, I have taken it upon myself to consider daily what my next step should be (not worrying, just... pondering). Stillllll pretty clueless. I keep asking God to illuminate something for me... don't have to push me just guide me. I read a book last year that suggested that the "will of God" is really more of a guide for us to live our day to day lives... that God is in the small decisions that become the building blocks of our character and our life-paths. That we are free to make the big decisions without fear that it is the "wrong" one. Which I like, but then... doesn't God have a plan for my life as a whole? Aren't there right places and wrong places to go, good and bad decisions? Isn't there somewhere I am preordained to be when August comes? Or should I just keep pursuing what sounds good to me, and God will close doors as necessary...? Any thoughts?

Ok I have to go to work. I'll probably still be thinking about this there.

turkey turkey turkey

Last night I cooked my first turkey and it was amazing. I filled it with apples, oranges and onions and also placed them in the roasting pan so that the gravy tasted amazing. I rubbed it with sage butter under the skin (unbelievably disgusting to perform but delicious in the end), and the top with olive oil, salt and pepper. I also made roasted asparagus and butternut squash risotto. I cooked for my parent's friends and their family so it was a big deal and I was quite nervous... but it was amaaaazing and I was so proud of myself (and my sisters for being my sous chefs).

Christmas was so perfect this year. I was really missing home so it made the holiday even more amazing. I am missing my close friends... but I got a plane ticket to SEATTLE!!!! I am going in April and I am soooo excited. I miss Hannah's presence in my day-to-day life... I truly miss all of my friends who are absent from daily life.

I need to get another job and I feel kind of annoyed about that. I am learning this year so much to rely on God and trust His providence. I am such a punk when it comes to God, I always assume I would know better and if He would just do what I say it would be fine... and then I consistently come to the realization that He knew/knows best. Aaaamen.

"He was still too young to know that the heart's memory eliminates the bad and magnifies the good, and that thanks to this artifice we manage to endure the burdens of the past."
-Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Love in the Time of Cholera-

One of my most fervent prayers is that God would grant me the grace to have a contented heart.

Peppermint Bark

"Hi! Welcome to Williams Sonoma! Would you like to try some Peppermint Bark? Right now we have a special holiday candy promotion. You get an extra price break when you buy two. It includes our hot chocolate and the holiday candy you can find around the store. But it ends tomorrow so stock up today! And it makes a great gift!"


I said this phrase for 6 1/2 hours today. Over and over and over again in my best cheery-Carly voice. Now my throat is raw and I am repeating the catch phrase continuously in my mind...

But I sold 100 tins of that darn peppermint bark cuz gosh darn it, there was a contest and you best believe I was gonna win it. And I DID. Stay tuned to see what my prize is.

Work Party

I went to a work party last night. My first work related Christmas party. It was actually really fun. I got to find out a lot more about the people I work with. I met their spouses or significant others, and pretended that I didn't notice I was the only single person there. Everyone seemed very interested in how I have been getting along at work. It was nice to find out that my boss condescends to everyone and not just me... I was starting to get worried about that. A few of my co-workers have even mentioned to her that they want her to keep me on after the holidays. She didn't look convinced... but who knows? Maybe I am impressing her and I don't even know it.

Another good thing about last night was meeting my coworker Laura's husband. They both actually went to Messiah and graduated a few years ago. Laura is a lot like me... a lot. We are both cute but not stunning, short, bubbly and outgoing, and very honest. The reason it was so good to meet her husband was... it gave me hope (I swear, boys are not the only thing I think about, and I've never been boy-crazy, but once I stopped having homework I had a lot more time to ponder them). He was an attractive NEUROSURGEON with a very sweet demeanor and he was so friendly and welcoming. I say all this because sometimes it is hard to believe that a good boy will ever want me. I seem to attract boys/men that I would never ever consider, and yet the boy I would love to date never seem to like me. I guess I have found this kind of discouraging. Now, I am not saying that I think I am not good enough for someone to love (my mom always says the man who marries me will be the wisest man on Earth, not that she's biased or anything). I really really really love sweet, good natured boys who love God and have a good sense of humor. Meeting Laura's husband made me a little bit more hopeful that maybe a man like that could love me too. The man I love will have to be worthy of my attention and dedication and I'm not going to settle for anything less even if it means staying single for ever... not to be snobby. Just being honest. But I do not want to be single forever. Being honest again.