RubyRi

Presents!

2012-01-03T21:28:00.002-07:00

I had two -not one, but TWO- boxes waiting for me when I got home today! Nothing better than something sitting by your front door... unless it's one of the millions of phone books I seem to get. Three already this year, good grief! These are much better than an old phone book. I already knew what was in them, but they were still fun to open. One was a present from my parents, and the other was a present from... me! What could be inside... hmm... maybe a whole fish, shipped overnight on ice from Italy? Maybe a pair of those roller shoes that were trendy with kids a few years ago? You know, the ones that make you slip and break your back just by looking at them. Or maybe just a giant bag of paillettes?

Let's look inside Box #1 first, on the right:

Coconut goodies!

This is the gift I bought for myself - coconut soap. I needed some new hand soap for the kitchen and bathroom; something that wouldn't dry out my hands like other soaps do. This soap is made completely from coconut oil that has been saponified, and the lather is really impressive! It's creamy and the unscented version that I got is pleasantly perfume-free, not with a slight odor that other non-perfumed things can have. Tropical Traditions was having a Christmas special when I bought the soap. If you spent more than $16, you got a 32 oz. jar of coconut oil for free! That's pretty cool. I use coconut oil all. the. time. In the kitchen, on my hair, on my arms and legs and face and feet. It's really versatile.

Well, what's in Box #2? I'll give you a few hints: it's round, it's made of iron, and it weighs 14 pounds! This present came from my parents.

It's a cast iron pan set! The skillet has a slight lip all the way around the edge that fits into the top of the deeper pot so it can act as a lid. Double trouble! I have been wanting a cast iron pan for ages. I kept putting off buying one for myself because I wanted to find a used one in a thrift store. I figured a used pan would be cheaper. Nope, I was wrong. Every time I was in a thrift store, I would check, and either they would not have any at all, or the ones they did have cost just as much as a new one. These things are popular! And for good reason. With a little seasoning, they can outlast their owner.

Cast iron pans take some getting used to, but they are well worth it (these may become my all-time favorite pans). You should only wash them in hot water (no soap), dry them immediately, and put a little oil on them before they go back into storage. You can't shimmy them around on the stove top like your other pans because they are so heavy.

On the plus side... who needs to lift weights when you've got these guys around?

Winter sunset

2012-01-02T17:28:00.001-07:00

Don't ask me why the trees only shed the top half of their branches.

Sent from Yahoo! Mail on Android

The Last Day of the Year

2011-12-31T18:17:00.000-07:00

Today I'm...

* Writing a birthday card to my almost-6 (!) niece.

* Sorting through all the books I own, since I gave away my tall bookcase and they no longer have a home! My new rule is: if the book is easily available at the local library, it doesn't need to be in my house. Might as well let someone else store them, right? This makes me a little sad, since I love the look and idea of shelves and shelves of books, but I don't have the storage to hold them, so it's just not practical for me anymore.

* Renewing my dedication to a paleo diet, including buying and making fun new foods for myself: coconut butter, a strawberry-cardamom green smoothie, a whole ham (I've never cooked ham before!), Thai garlic-chili brussels sprouts, and shrimp lo mein for dinner tonight (subbing green cabbage for the noodles, mmm.....).

* Flattening all the tissue I received in Christmas present packaging so I can reuse it. Yes, I'm one of those frugal girls.

*Waiting for my new cast iron cookware to arrive on Tuesday (Christmas gift from my parents)!

*Pondering the likelihood of there being enough snow to go snowshoeing on Monday.

*Listening to three of my favorite podcasts: Joy the Baker, Spilled Milk by Molly Wizenberg, and Boundless.

* Taking a break by "allowing" (do you know what I mean?) myself to stay home tonight on New Year's Eve, maybe watch a movie, and go to bed early if I feel like it. I'm excited to start a new year on the right foot.

Happy New Year everyone! Hope you are looking forward to a great year of blessing and growth.

My 2011 Christmas ornament

2011-12-29T18:19:00.001-07:00

A sweet (and sparkly) reminder of Paris. Thanks Mom!

Sent from Yahoo! Mail on Android

Advent calendar, Day 25

2011-12-25T21:28:00.001-07:00

Coffee and chocolate, two of my favorite things.
Merry Christmas everyone!

Sent from Yahoo! Mail on Android

Advent calendar, Day 24

2011-12-24T11:36:00.000-07:00

Another little birdie, to match the first!

Sent from Yahoo! Mail on Android

Advent calendar, Day 23

2011-12-23T06:47:00.001-07:00

You just can't have enough chocolate.

Sent from Yahoo! Mail on Android

Advent calendar, Day 22

2011-12-22T13:14:00.001-07:00

Today is the bottom half to match yesterday. A little jewelry box!

Sent from Yahoo! Mail on Android

Advent calendar, Day 21

2011-12-22T12:32:00.001-07:00

A sparkly top half to something that will come later...

Sent from Yahoo! Mail on Android

Advent calendar, Day 20

2011-12-22T12:31:00.001-07:00

Cheery cherry

Sent from Yahoo! Mail on Android

Advent Calendar, Day 19

2011-12-19T18:00:00.000-07:00

Charlie IS charming... especially in my favorite color!

I had heard about Charming Charlie jewelry from one of the blogs I read, but I didn't know they had actual storefronts. I will definitely be visiting one with my mom next weekend.

Advent Calendar, Day 18

2011-12-18T18:00:00.000-07:00

More chocolate!

Advent Calendar, Day 17

2011-12-17T18:00:00.000-07:00

A garland of cheese tags, because everything is better with a little cheese!

And I know someone who will really appreciate this post...

Advent Calendar, Day 16

2011-12-16T18:00:00.000-07:00

Minty fresh!

Advent calendar, Day 15

2011-12-15T17:56:00.001-07:00

A bluebird of happiness! This little clip-on bird is similar to another one that I have attached to the top of a plant holder... Now they will be pals!

Sent from Yahoo! Mail on Android

Advent calendar, Day 14

2011-12-14T21:28:00.000-07:00

Mmm... Chocolate!

Sent from Yahoo! Mail on Android

The tree is up!

2011-12-14T21:26:00.001-07:00

Sent from Yahoo! Mail on Android

Advent calendar, Day 13

2011-12-13T23:34:00.001-07:00

Special baking labels that read: "From Marie's kitchen" in different fonts.

Sent from Yahoo! Mail on Android

Advent calendar, Day 12

2011-12-12T15:35:00.001-07:00

A special sticker!

Sent from Yahoo! Mail on Android

Advent calendar, Day 11

2011-12-11T17:16:00.001-07:00

An apple a day...

Sent from Yahoo! Mail on Android

New haircut!

2011-12-10T11:51:00.001-07:00

It probably won't ever be this straight again in my life (or at least until the next time I go to the salon)!

Sent from Yahoo! Mail on Android

Christmas card display

2011-12-10T11:34:00.001-07:00

My mom had a great idea when she used miniature clothespins to attach the advent calendar envelopes. I can use them after the envelope is gone to hang my Christmas cards! Sorry for the odd angle of today's picture; it's hard to get the right light when you have a bright window behind your subject!

Sent from Yahoo! Mail on Android

Advent calendar, Day 10

2011-12-10T11:31:00.001-07:00

A little ornament for my little tree!

Sent from Yahoo! Mail on Android

Advent calendar, Day 9

2011-12-09T17:11:00.001-07:00

Snowflakes for my table!

Sent from Yahoo! Mail on Android

Advent calendar, Day 8

2011-12-08T18:26:00.001-07:00

A big old button from my late grandmother's sewing stash. It's the color of wood, but with an iridescent sheen.

Sent from Yahoo! Mail on Android

Advent calendar, Day 7

2011-12-07T20:46:00.001-07:00

Another favorite chocolate: dark with a mint filling, yum!

Sent from Yahoo! Mail on Android

Advent calendar, Day 6

2011-12-07T20:45:00.001-07:00

Pretty paperclips! At first I thought they were bobby pins, but the hook on the back only extends about 1/4 of the way down, just long enough to hold a stack of bills, or uh... recipes is more like it!

Sent from Yahoo! Mail on Android

Advent calendar, Day 5

2011-12-07T20:43:00.001-07:00

Three lifesaver candies, including one of those fun swirly cream flavors. The card says, "Daughters: Little girls are cuter than a sack full of puppies" and of course Mom's note is edited to say "PUG puppies". :-)

Sent from Yahoo! Mail on Android

Advent calendar, Day 4

2011-12-07T20:39:00.001-07:00

A teensy little battery powered candle! This might be coming to work with me too, to make my boring cubicle a little more festive. I don't think the safety staff will have any problems with this flame.

Sent from Yahoo! Mail on Android

Advent calendar, Day 3

2011-12-07T20:37:00.001-07:00

How did Mom know what my current favorite chocolate is?! Ghirardelli Intense Dark Sea Salt Soiree (semi-sweet with sea salt and roasted almonds).

Sent from Yahoo! Mail on Android

Advent calendar, Day 2

2011-12-07T20:35:00.001-07:00

Today's gift is a tiny, itty-bitty garland for my computer at work! Sharin' the Christmas love...

Sent from Yahoo! Mail on Android

Advent calendar, Day 1

2011-12-07T20:34:00.001-07:00

The stickers inside today's envelope read: "Baked by Ri / Christmas goodies for you". Some of you may be seeing more of these! :-)

Sent from Yahoo! Mail on Android

All strung up!

2011-12-07T20:31:00.001-07:00

Sent from Yahoo! Mail on Android

Advent Calendar

2011-12-07T20:30:00.001-07:00

Look what my crafty mom made! Anybody who knows her knows that she is a very creative person. Last year, she started a tradition that I hope will continue, and this year it was confirmed. I got a handmade advent calendar in the mail today! I really appreciate having something Christmas-themed to enjoy because I live by myself, and therefore don't have many opportunities to celebrate the holidays.

Each day of December, I will post what that day's packet holds. Since today is the 7th, I got to open 7! Coming right up...

Sent from Yahoo! Mail on Android

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-27T13:42:00.001-07:00

How was your Thanksgiving? We had a great time... That's Cherie, Alyssa, and Meredith there around the table. Our dinner was followed by several enthusiastic and sometime violent games of Uno Attack. Lots of slapping going on, but nobody was hurt in the making of this event... Only the Uno machine.

And, well, the turkey. But he tasted great! And provided yet another amusement, recorded for posterity by my blurry camera... Watch for the next post!

Sent from Yahoo! Mail on Android

Sunset over Seattle

2011-11-23T08:08:00.001-07:00

Well... Not quite Seattle, but flying out of Seattle on my way home from Europe. You can never capture sunsets or sunrises the way your eye sees them, but the pictures are still nice to look at later.

Sent from Yahoo! Mail on Android

Kristiana

2011-11-23T08:02:00.000-07:00

Isn't she cute?? My last visit to my brother and sister-in-law's was full of smiles and adorableness from this little munchkin.

Sent from Yahoo! Mail on Android

Tiny Prints is giving away free cards!

2011-11-23T08:00:00.000-07:00

They have some really cute ones for Christmas right now, and if you post about their cards on your blog, twitter, or facebook you can get free cards! What a cheery deal.

Techno Help!

2011-11-22T12:53:00.001-07:00

Several of you probably already saw me post this on Facebook, but I am having so much trouble downloading those Europe pictures off of the SD cards I used in my camera onto a jump drive, via my laptop. Some photos will load and others won't, for seemingly no rhyme or reason.

My next step is to try the cards in other computers (maybe my computer is the issue, not the card!), and if all else fails, I will simply be satisfied with the pictures I do have.

I went to a coffee shop the other night to use the internet (the WiFi at my apartment complex has been down for the last week) and only got a third of the way through uploading pictures to an album on Facebook when I had to disconnect and cancel the entire upload because the shop was closing. Stymied again!

Sooner or later, these pictures will see the world. We will prevail! Ha!

Sent from Yahoo! Mail on Android

Coming Home

2011-11-01T17:54:00.001-06:00

So many things to sort:
Dirty clothes
Emails
Snail mail
Voice messages
Thoughts
Schedules
And...

Europe pictures!

Soon!

Sent from Yahoo! Mail on Android

These made me smile so big!!

2011-09-23T18:34:00.000-06:00

MOVE from Rick Mereki on Vimeo.

LEARN from Rick Mereki on Vimeo.

EAT from Rick Mereki on Vimeo.

Watching autumn settle in...

2011-09-08T22:34:00.000-06:00

Sent from Yahoo! Mail on Android

Questions for which there may be no answers...

2011-07-15T17:22:00.001-06:00

1) why do women insist on walking into the bathroom and immediately pushing on the one closed stall door while there is an open door right next to it?

2) when will I have time to actually stop and listen to the random performers hanging out in the amphitheater behind the dorms at BSU, like the cool beatboxer I saw today?

3) why does every travel blogger out there hail the merits of credit card miles when they are so blasted hard to use? Money-saving, my foot... Only if you don't count your time on the phone with dungeon-sequestered customer service reps whose only job in life is to confuse you and gyp you out of money.

You got any on this fine Friday?

Sent from Yahoo! Mail on Android

New apartment

2011-06-28T19:35:00.000-06:00

Here are some pictures from the first week i was in my new apartment! you can see i have a lot to do yet, but It's coming together. This first picture is of the living room. I like the fact that not all the walls are white!

Been a long time...

2011-06-27T16:51:00.000-06:00

Since I got to open one of these!

Mileage yesterday

2011-06-26T07:43:00.001-06:00

I spent yesterday on the cruiser, since my mountain bike apparently has an almost-cracked rim (although after the guy at the bike shop told me about it over the phone, the second guy I talked to when I picked up the bike couldn't find it) and I'm trying to sell it, so I don't want to push my luck and have something major go wrong. Considering that my cruiser is a single speed, it requires approximately five times more manpower to ride than any other bike. I shouldn't be surprised that I'm sore today (well, considering the hike to Table Rock too).

Home and back to the farmer's market in the morning with Taryn, Jenell, and Cherie: 4.91 miles

Home and back to the Botanical Gardens to hike with Cherie and Jenell: 2.71

From home to the Rose Garden downtown to meet up with some MAF friends (thanks for inviting me, Mere!), and right back to my neighborhood to have some really great frozen yogurt, then home again, home again, jiggety jig: 7.75 miles

Total: 15.37 miles

The best kind of Saturday!

It's a beautiful day in Boise

2011-06-25T22:28:00.001-06:00

Hike to Table Rock.

This message has been sent using the picture and Video service from Verizon Wireless!

To learn how you can snap pictures and capture videos with your wireless phone visit www.verizonwireless.com/picture.

Note: To play video messages sent to email, Quicktime@ 6.5 or higher is required.

Moved in

2011-06-20T22:40:00.001-06:00

Pictured here you see the only remotely pretty-looking corner of my new apartment. I've been taking breaks from unpacking to go to the movies and the farmer's market with friends. This is how I keep my sanity. Only a few more boxes to go in the living room, and then i am done with the 'public' areas. All I will have left is the bedroom, which is often the hardest because... Nobody can see it. I also tend to spend more than a few minutes every day staring blankly out the back windows over the deck. It's been several years since I've watched a sunset - I'm taking every chance I can get. Needless to say, I'm very happy here! More pictures soon.

Moving Day

2011-06-10T22:09:00.001-06:00

The Mute Button

2011-06-03T20:15:00.000-06:00

One of my favorite bloggers, artist Katie Sokoler, is part of a hilarious improv group. Check out their latest work for the Guggenheim, via Color Me Katie:

Holiday

2011-06-01T18:34:00.000-06:00

How was everyone's Memorial Day? Did you remember to remember? Most of the time, I forget to remember - it's amazing if I even remember it's a holiday. In fact, the only reason I do remember is because I get a day off work. That's probably not something I should have admitted out loud, but it's the truth. A bit shameful, I agree. I don't think I know many (any?) servicemen personally, so it's not often on my mind... except I do know one or two of my uncles served in the war(s). Maybe my mom will comment on this post and remind me. (hi Mom!) In case you're wondering, yes, I am grateful for the US military and our freedoms!

I spent the day getting ready to move. The count-down begins, folks. T-minus 9 days. I took down everything from my walls and spackled the little nail holes... which was kind of fun! It made me feel like I was finger-painting.

We've had a few dates to celebrate in our family in the last few days! Sunday was my parents' 35th anniversary! woo! Way to go Mom and Dad! I can only hope to get to 35 some day. Yesterday was my Grandma H's 80th birthday. And ditto... I can only hope. I think it's great that my grandparents still travel around "at their age" and that they are active. It looks like fun.

Not much else going on here except workworkwork. I don't typically work outside of the normal 8-5 bounds, but when I'm really busy, I come home exhausted and don't feel like doing anything in my "free time" of 5:30-10. And so it feels like I just worked that day and that's all. Which I guess is ok... making a living, right?

Alrighty. Hope you're all doing well. It's almost summer! Please send a bit of whatever sunshine you have our way. We've only got rain, rain and more rain. But it makes for some great rainbows.

There's a reason humans are compared to sheep

2011-05-25T20:02:00.000-06:00

A lot of the things I post on this blog are primarily for my own recollection. On occasion, I will read back through old posts and consider what I was doing then, what I was thinking about, and where that succession of events has taken me.

The following little quote gave me pause; maybe it will do the same for you.

"Forces are afoot right now, negotiating how to get you fat enough for consumption and how to get you calmly and without struggle to the cosmic slaughterhouse floor. The easiest life for you will be one in which you don't question these things, a life in which you simply do what seems natural. The ease of it all will seem to be further confirmation that this is the way things ought to be. It might even seem as though everything is happening exactly as you always hoped it would. You might feel as though your life situation is like progressing up a stairway so perfect it's as though it was designed just for you. And it is.

"In many ways the more tranquil you feel, the more endangered you are. As you find yourself curving around the soft corners of your life, maybe you should question the quietness of it all. Perhaps you should listen, beneath your feet, for the gentle clatter of hooves."

~Russell D. Moore, via The Gospel-Driven Church

The Minnesota Marriage Amendment

2011-05-25T19:51:00.001-06:00

Next year, the constituents of Minnesota will be voting on an item which could have national consequences. John Piper has posted some thoughts on the Minnesota Marriage Amendment.

To those who sit under a faithful pastor who preaches from every part of the Word, these points will not be new ideas, but they are worth repeating anyway:

1) There is no such thing as so-called "gay marriage".
2) Same-sex sexual relations are sin.
3) Not all sins should be proscribed by human law, but some should be.
4) The legal significance of marriage makes a statutory definition necessary.
5) It is wise that our laws define marriage as between a man and a woman.

Attack of the Killer Vine

2011-05-25T12:00:00.000-06:00

Ok, so maybe it's not a "killer" vine, but it does look like it could strangle somebody, given enough time. And those thorns are vicious. As you can imagine, this window in my living room takes on a particularly chilling quality after dark.

Repeat after me: "I'm moving in three weeks.... I'm moving in three weeks... I'm moving...."

Bakeoff!

2011-05-24T21:04:00.000-06:00

Last weekend, we had a silent auction bake sale as part of a fundraiser for the high school youth group at church. Of course I had to make something... uh... several somethings! With the help of my trusty sous chef Alyssa, we divided and conquered 4 different desserts in 6 hours. Hop over to Molto Gelato to see the recipes!

At Long Last*

2011-05-24T19:54:00.000-06:00

... I can finally make ice cream. Just take a look at this beauty:

Why yes, I am moving in just under 3 weeks. How ironic that you ask.

*I assumed I had chronicled my refrigerator woes at some point on the blog, but apparently not. Only my local friends go the pleasure of those earfuls of frustration. In short, my freezer has been on its last leg... or toe... since, oh, probably the day I moved in. I would regularly find packages of vegetables half-thawed, especially if they were near the back, and within the last 2 weeks I've had several packages of meat thaw as well. Ice cream is completely out of the question. I have tried for months to get this issue resolved with my property manager, to no avail. Finally in a fit of desperation last night, I called the "Emergency" maintenance line, and I finally got ahold of someone who said they would come right away (hallelujah!). Saeed was very nice and helped me transfer all of my frozen goods to an empty apartment in the next building. He came back today and replaced the old dysfunctional wheezer with this bright, clean, brand-spanking-new, COLD refrigerator. I will thoroughly enjoy this until my lease expires... in 3 weeks.

Saturday afternoon hike

2011-05-22T22:40:00.000-06:00

This message was sent using the Picture and Video Messaging service from Verizon Wireless!

To learn how you can snap pictures and capture videos with your wireless phone visit www.verizonwireless.com/picture.

Note: To play video messages sent to email, QuickTime® 6.5 or higher is required.

Fallacies of Complementarianism

2011-04-14T21:01:00.000-06:00

Again, none of my words, except to say that I have seen each of these concepts accepted via sadly misguided presumptions, including my own for a time. A humorous take on false ideas about complementarianism, including: Dora the Doormat, Dipstick Danielle, Kitchen-Trapped Kathy, Baby-Popping Bertha, and Repressed Rita.

On the Futility of Atheism

2011-04-14T20:46:00.000-06:00

Warning, this post contains no original content, but I couldn't help repeating what Katherine said (and she's quoting others too! ha! sometimes there's just no need to reinvent the wheel):

If there were no God, there would be no atheists. - G.K. Chesterton

I was at this time living, like so many Atheists or Antitheists, in a whirl of contradictions. I maintained that God did not exist. I was also very angry with God for not existing. I was equally angry with Him for creating a world. - C.S. Lewis

If God were small enough to be understood, He would not be big enough to be worshiped. - Evelyn Underhill

The greatest act of faith takes place when a man finally decides that he is not God. - Johann Wolfgang Goethe

To sustain the belief that there is no God, atheism has to demonstrate infinite knowledge, which is tantamount to saying, "I have infinite knowledge that there is no being in existence with infinite knowledge." - Ravi Zacharias

A heathen philosopher once asked a Christian, 'Where is God'? The Christian answered, 'Let me first ask you, Where is He not?' - Aaron Arrowsmith

God exists whether or not men may choose to believe in Him. The reason why many people do not believe in God is not so much that it is intellectually impossible to believe in God, but because belief in God forces that thoughtful person to face the fact that he is accountable to such a God. - Robert A. Laidlaw

Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing had happened. - Winston Churchill

Sin has gotten men into more trouble than science can get him out of.- Vance Havner

Atheists express their rage against God although in their view He does not exist. - C.S. Lewis

Atheism is a crutch for those who cannot bear the reality of God. - Tom Stoppard

Nobody talks so constantly about God as those who insist that there is no God. - Heywood Broun
Everything science has taught me --- and continues to teach me --- strengthens my belief in the continuity of our spiritual existence after death. Nothing disappears without a trace. - Wernher Von Braun
There are those who hate Christianity and call their hatred an all-embracing love for all religions. - G.K. Chesterton

As Christians we accept one foundational truth - God - and everything else makes sense. An atheist denies God and has to accept incredible explanations for everything else. It takes more faith to deny God than to believe in Him. - John MacArthur

If Christianity is untrue, then no honest man will want to believe it, however helpful it might be; if it is true, every honest man will want to believe it, even if it gives him no help at all.- C.S. Lewis
A great many of those who 'debunk' traditional...values have in the background values of their own which they believe to be immune from the debunking process. - C.S. Lewis

Really, a young Atheist cannot guard his faith too carefully. Dangers lie in wait for him on every side. - C.S. Lewis
Someone once said that if you sat a million monkeys at a million typewriters for a million years, one of them would eventually type out all of Hamlet by chance. But when we find the text of Hamlet, we don't wonder whether it came from chance and monkeys. Why then does the atheist use that incredibly improbable explanation for the universe? Clearly, because it is his only chance of remaining an atheist. At this point we need a psychological explanation of the atheist rather than a logical explanation of the universe. - Peter Kreeft

The real attitude of sin in the heart towards God is that of being without God; it is pride, the worship of myself, that is the great atheistic fact in human life. - Oswald Chambers
Humanism or atheism is a wonderful philosophy of life as long as you are big, strong, and between the ages of eighteen and thirty-five. But watch out if you are in a lifeboat and there are others who are younger, bigger, or smarter. - William Murray

The atheist can't find God for the same reason that a thief can't find a policeman. - Author Unknown
There are no ordinary people... it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit. - C.S. Lewis
Out of 100 men, one will read the Bible, the other 99 will read the Christian. - D.L. Moody
If you ask why we should obey God, in the last resort the answer is, 'I am.' To know God is to know that our obedience is due to Him. - C.S. Lewis
Merely having an open mind is nothing; the object of opening a mind, as of opening the mouth, is to shut it again on something solid. - G.K. Chesterton
I am perfectly convinced that whatever the gospels are they are not legends. I have read a great deal of legend and I am quite clear they are not that sort of thing....Christ bent down and scribbled in the dust with His finger. Nothing comes of this. No one has based any doctrine on it. And the act of inventing little irrelevant details to make an imaginary scene more convincing is purely a modern art. - C.S. Lewis
Die: To stop sinning suddenly.- Ambrose Bierce
The lost enjoy forever the horrible freedom they have demanded. - C.S. Lewis
For when we cease to worship God, we do not worship nothing, we worship anything. - G. K. Chesterton

The kind of changes that Darwinism suggests, Local small changes are not capable of coordinating large complex solutions... it doesn't work when you do this to sophisticated computer programs, so why should it work in the case of biological machines?... Darwinism seems to have become a politically protected sacred cow, and I've never seen a sacred cow I haven't wanted to roast - the fact that you are not supposed to criticize it is just too irresistible to me. - Angus Menuge

Faith is like radar that sees through the fog - the reality of things at a distance that the human eye cannot see.- Corrie Ten Boom

Before faith comes, reason is king. After faith comes, reason is servant. - Unknown

In short, I didn't become a Christian because God promised I would have an even happier life than I had as an atheist. He never promised any such thing. Indeed, following him would inevitably bring divine demotions in the eyes of the world. Rather, I became a Christian because the evidence was so compelling that Jesus really is the one-and-only Son of God who proved his divinity by rising from the dead. That meant following him was the most rational and logical step I could possibly take. - Lee Strobel
In faith there is enough light for those who want to believe and enough shadows to blind those who don't.- Blaise Pascal

God isn't looking for people of great faith, but for individuals ready to follow Him.- Hudson Taylor

We often think of great faith as something that happens spontaneously so that we can be used for a miracle or healing. However, the greatest faith of all, and the most effective, is to live day by day trusting Him. It is trusting Him so much that we look at every problem as an opportunity to see His work in our life. - Rick Joyner

Fight to escape from your own cleverness. If you do, then you will find salvation and uprightness through Jesus Christ our Lord.- John Climacus
For many of us the great danger is not that we will renounce our faith. It is that we will become so distracted and rushed and preoccupied that we will settle for a mediocre version of it. - John Ortberg
We turn to God for help when our foundations are shaking only to learn that it is God shaking them.- Charles West

Faith is deliberate confidence in the character of God whose ways you may not understand at the time.- Oswald Chambers
It's a good thing to have all the props pulled out from under us occasionally. It gives us some sense of what is rock under our feet, and what is sand.- Madeleine L'Engle
If there is no God, then all that exists is time and chance acting on matter. If this is true then the difference between your thoughts and mine correspond to the difference between shaking up a bottle of Mountain Dew and a bottle of Dr. Pepper. You simply fizz atheistically and I fizz theistically. This means that you do not hold to atheism because it is true , but rather because of a series of chemical reactions… … Morality, tragedy, and sorrow are equally evanescent. They are all empty sensations created by the chemical reactions of the brain, in turn created by too much pizza the night before. If there is no God, then all abstractions are chemical epiphenomena, like swamp gas over fetid water. This means that we have no reason for assigning truth and falsity to the chemical fizz we call reasoning or right and wrong to the irrational reaction we call morality. If no God, mankind is a set of bi-pedal carbon units of mostly water. And nothing else.
- Douglas Wilson
* * *
More C.S. Lewis:

You will never know how much you believe something until it is a matter of life and death.
If you think of this world as a place intended simply for our happiness, you find it quite intolerable: think of it as a place of training and correction and it's not so bad.
Atheism turns out to be too simple. If the whole universe has no meaning, we should never have found out that it has no meaning.

There is no neutral ground in the universe: every square inch, every split second, is claimed by God and counterclaimed by Satan.
A man can no more diminish God's glory by refusing to worship Him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling the word, 'darkness' on the walls of his cell.
This is the fix we are in. If the universe is not governed by an absolute goodness, then all our efforts are in the long run hopeless. But if it is, then we are making ourselves enemies to that goodness every day, and are not in the least likely to do any better tomorrow, and so our case is hopeless again. We cannot do without it, and we cannot do with it. God is the only comfort, He is also the supreme terror: the thing we most need and the thing we most want to hide from. He is our only possible ally, and we have made ourselves His enemies. Some people talk as if meeting the gaze of absolute goodness would be fun. They need to think again. They are still only playing with religion.
My argument against God was that the universe seemed so cruel and unjust. But how had I got this idea of just and unjust? A man does not call a line crooked unless he has some idea of a straight line. What was I comparing this universe with when I called it unjust? If the whole show was bad and senseless from A to Z, so to speak, why did I, who was supposed to be part of the show, find myself in such a violent reaction against it?... Of course I could have given up my idea of justice by saying it was nothing but a private idea of my own. But if i did that, then my argument against God collapsed too--for the argument depended on saying the world was really unjust, not simply that it did not happen to please my fancies. Thus, in the very act of trying to prove that God did not exist - in other words, that the whole of reality was senseless - I found I was forced to assume that one part of reality - namely my idea of justice - was full of sense. If the whole universe has no meaning, we should never have found out that it has no meaning: just as, if there were no light in the universe and therefore no creatures with eyes, we should never have known it was dark. Dark would be without meaning.
- Mere Christianity
If the solar system was brought about by an accidental collision, then the appearance of organic life on this planet was also an accident, and the whole evolution of Man was an accident too. If so, then all our present thoughts are mere accidents - the accidental by-product of the movement of atoms. And this holds for the thoughts of the materialists and astronomers as well as for anyone else's. But if their thoughts - i.e., Materialism and Astronomy - are mere accidental by-products, why should we believe them to be true? I see no reason for believing that one accident should be able to give me a correct account of all the other accidents. It's like expecting the accidental shape taken by the splash when you upset a milk-jug should give you a correct account of how the jug was made and why it was upset.

A young man who wishes to remain a sound Atheist cannot be too careful of his reading. There are traps everywhere -- 'Bibles laid open, millions of surprises,' as Herbert says, 'fine nets and stratagems.' God is, if I may say it, very unscrupulous.
– Surprised by Joy
- C.S. Lewis

2011-03-22T17:11:00.001-06:00

Mmm... Peanut butter M'n'ms are my favorite!

This is not a joke.

2011-03-19T14:32:00.000-06:00

"Jihad Cosmo"

From The Independent, via Carolyn McCulley:

"Not content with launching an English-language magazine that debuted with a feature called "How to make a bomb in the kitchen of your Mom", al Qa'ida's media wing has followed up with a magazine for women, mixing beauty tips with lessons in jihad.

The 31-page glossy, Al-Shamikha, which translates loosely as "The Majestic Woman", features a niqab-clad woman posing with a sub-machine gun on its cover.

The magazine's editors explain their thinking in a launch issue preamble: "Because women constitute half of the population – and one might even say that they are the population since they give birth to the next generation – the enemies of Islam are bent on preventing the Muslim woman from knowing the truth about her religion and her role, since they know all too well what would happen if women entered the field of jihad... The nation of Islam needs women who know the truth about their religion and about the battle and its dimensions and know what is expected of them." Analysts say the idea is to market global jihad with the same slick feel as Cosmopolitan or Marie Claire push Western culture to young women."

McCulley: "I put that one sentence in bold because it's similar to what many Christian leaders say to women, minus the Islam reference, of course. The kingdom of God needs women who know the truth about their religion and about the battle and its dimensions and know what is expected of them. Murder and suicide are not one of the expectations, however. A big, big difference there."

March 3, 2011

2011-03-03T20:41:00.000-07:00

Today, I enjoyed lots of little things. Lemon in my water (have any of you dear faithful RubyRi readers tried this at home? It's a win.), a few squares of chocolate, the satisfaction of getting a lot of work done, and a really great dinner.

And then I came home.

Tonight, I did NOT enjoy hearing scratching sounds coming from an interior wall in my house. It could only mean one thing. I'm buying stock in tin foil.

Handmade by Bernice

2011-02-27T14:53:00.000-07:00

My fabulous sister-in-law Bernice made me a purse for my birthday! She asked me for pattern suggestions and a few color ideas, and then surprised me with something even cuter than what I was expecting! It's perfect! I love the gray and yellow together, and the shell buttons. So pretty.

And this lovely little thing is a tea wallet! What a novel idea! Great for my recent tea obsessions.

It's about time...

2011-02-26T21:38:00.001-07:00

for a refresher. Over the past year, I've given away approximately 30% of my wardrobe. That's not really that much, considering the plethora of clothing options I had in the beginning. The only problem with getting rid of old clothes is that you don't have those standbys anymore to depend on when you don't feel like thinking about getting dressed. But maybe that's the point. There's a reason you get compliments on those days you take more than 10 minutes to get dressed.

Today I did something rare and unusual for me: I went shopping. Many years ago (ok, about 5), shopping was my weekend hobby. I wasn't an outdoorsy sort of girl back then, I was an indoorsy sort of hobby shopper, and it was a weekly habit. One which ate up many dollars that could have been directed towards my savings account. The saddest part of it all was that I didn't need any of the stuff I bought, and I didn't even truly want half of it. It was just something fun to do. Today, I only go shopping when I absolutely must, because it's no longer enjoyable. I get a bigger thrill out of watching my debt decrease and my savings increase, and it feels stressful now to make all those decisions about my hard-earned cash. Clothing, in my mind, is the second most quickly depreciating investment you can make - behind buying a new car. It is a necessity, however, so you might as well try to have a little fun with it, right?

Ok, what did I get? Well, you know I had to have coupons, and today also happened to be a sale day at JCPenney's! So it was a win-win. Let's hope I made some wise choices:
(really really sorry about just having links, but I don't know how to make pictures from other websites show up on my blog!)
Gray Cowl-Neck Sweater Dress with Belt
Reversible Gray&Pink Drape Cardigan (apparently it's called a "cozy"... get with the times, Ri!)
Black flyaway cardigan/cozy/whatchamacallit
Gray Laceback Vest
Black Heels (to go with the dress... not sure if I'll end up just wearing my usual knee-high boots with the dress and returning the heels. Pain tolerance issues and all, you know...)
Khakis for work in "Barnswallow", I think, which is somewhere between gray and khaki/cement
Jeans because my current ones are getting holes, but not in the "cool" places to have holes, of course! I didn't get the skinny flared jeans I'm showing in the link... I got regular bootcut, but for some reason Old Navy's website doesn't have the same style I bought in the store.

Total cost: $131.83 - $20 Old Navy gift card = $111.83. Total value was $253.99. Not bad!

30th Birthday Dinner

2011-02-12T20:08:00.000-07:00

Katie, Cory, John, Kasey, Miriam

Me, Katie & Cory, Taryn, Jenell, John & Kasey, Miriam & Peter, Kris & Catherine.

Roasted beet salad with goat cheese and candied walnuts

Mushroom and Brie soup

My favorite, Confit de Canard (duck)

John, Kasey, Annie, Miriam.

Peter, Kris.

John, Kasey, and Kate, our very accomodating waitress.

Taryn, Jenell. John &Kasey's baby Annie did so great!

Le Cafe de Paris consistently makes the best cappuccino I've ever had.

Crème brulée.

Taryn, Miriam, me, Kasey, Catherine.

Such a LOVEly Saturday

2011-02-12T19:35:00.000-07:00

Look what showed up at my door today!

A Valentine's package from my Mom (Aside: She always sends me something for Valentine's Day, despite knowing I will be so behind as to forget that the Can-I-still-mail-something-and-get-it-there-by-the-holiday? window for Valentine's Day has closed and there won't be anything in her mailbox come Monday. But that's the definition of love, isn't it? Giving without expecting anything in return? Thanks Mom!):

A sweet little pink package

I also got a new purse for my birthday! My super-talented sister-in-law crafted this for me!

And she has no idea how much tea I've been drinking lately, but serendipitously, she made this matching tea wallet!

Today...

2011-02-09T17:39:00.000-07:00

~ I am 30 years, one week, and one day.

~ I am feeling guilty for not being as prompt as my friends when it comes to Thank-You Card Response Time (TCRT).

~ I am wearing glasses to avoid the "freshly ground sand" feeling in my eyes.

~ I am still reeling from the over-the-top dinner last night at The Mona Lisa, courtesy of P&M. (And the birthday beat goes on...)

~ I am making Kale & Chorizo soup and Cheesy Beef (-Elk!-) Casserole for J&K. I've made the delicious soup before, but not the casserole. One's mainly for her, the other mainly for him. Can you guess which?

~ I am the proud new owner of a 12-kilo kettlebell. Woo!

~ I am happy it's February.

Den stora IKEA äventyr

2011-02-06T16:51:00.000-07:00

What? You don't speak Swedish?

Today's post is titled "The Great IKEA adventure"! And an adventure it was. Did I tell you about it? I don't think I did, because otherwise the photos would not have languished on my camera for the last 4 months. Enjoy. (See more on facebook!)

Alive and Well

2011-01-19T18:17:00.001-07:00

Hi everyone! I am still alive, but January is a suprisingly busy month, is it not? I'm still waiting for life to slow down a little, like I was expecting in... October.

Today was kind of crazy - I fell twice on my way to work this morning! It's been really rainy here, but it froze overnight, so there was a veeerrry thin layer of ice on the sidewalks. I have a nice big bruise on my left hip.

I also gave my annual presentation to coworkers on the personnel budget system. I don't mind speaking in public, but my one big folly is forgetting everything I wanted to say. I should have set aside more time to write notes, but when your boss doesn't tell you you're presenting until the day before, uh... it's a little hard.

Ok, off to Bible study! We are still going 12-15 strong, for which I am very thankful. Our group is composed of some of my best friends and it's a great oppotunity to learn about God alongside of them.

Hope all of you are surviving the January blues. Did you at least leave some twinkle lights up?

Fun invitation templates

2011-01-03T18:22:00.000-07:00

I've had these templates sitting in my email inbox forever. They're from Real Simple several years back, which I love - you know a magazine has good content when the features are still relevant years later.

The Sweet Celebration recipe...

The Say Cheese slice...

And the classy Celebrate card...

Banging my head on a wall

2010-12-07T13:44:00.000-07:00

You know those instances in which you are so completely misunderstood that you wail, "What?! Noooo....!! That's not what I SAID!"?

Yeah. This is one of those.

I recently received a new (replacement) credit card in the mail, simply updating the expiration date and security code on my current card, which meant that before I could get rid of my old card, I had to... simply update my expiration date and security code on a handful of websites which pull my bills/donations directly from my account via the card. Not so simple. I had almost completed the update form on their website when I noticed that it said in fine print that I would be charged once when I submitted the form, and then monthly, thereafter, according to what I signed up for.

My email to customer service: "Hi, I am currently [using your online transaction service] on a monthly basis and simply need to update my credit card information. I was going to use the online form on your website, but I don't want my card charged twice, and I don't want a payment to come out until December 15 (which would be the next regularly scheduled monthly payment coming up). Can you please assist me?
Thank you!
[Ri]"

My phone rang shortly after, but it stopped after one ring. It was a number I didn't recognize, so... I didn't answer it, per my personal protocol. Besides the fact that it only rang once. And they didn't leave a message.
Pretty soon, I received an email response: "Thanks, [Ri], for your recent e-mail to [our company]. We felt a phone call would be the best way to get back to you, but we weren’t able to reach you. We hope this e-mail is helpful. Please be assured that we have removed you from the Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) [payment] program as you requested; this change will be effective immediately. As you may realize, it’s not possible to guarantee the security of e-mail. As such, we’d request that you send your name, address, credit card information, withdrawal date and amount via fax or postal mail..."

Noooo!! That's not what I said!!

This is why it took me 2 months to even think about activating my new credit card. Sigh...

October Farmer's Market Adventures

2010-12-06T20:51:00.001-07:00

Yes, the following pictures are from OCTOBER.

What?

You should be used to this by now.

So, in October, some friends and I went to the farmer's market, as per my usual Saturday morning tradition by now. The party included Catherine, Tori, and Taylor. We were strolling along, minding our own mini-doughnut-eating business, when out from behind the hum of the crowd we heard a haunting and ethereal sound. It floated around, high and low, dreamy and chilling all at once. So of course we had to follow it. We found this couple playing their instruments and occasionally singing along, on the sidewalk. (The Saturday Market includes a program that allows upcoming musical and performing artists to obtain a cheap, 1-day sidewalk permit so they can gain more exposure in front of the thousands of people walking around downtown Boise every Saturday.) The female of the duo was playing a saw. I've seen people play saws before, and I remember hearing a Sarah McLachlan (saw comes in at 0:23) song in which the saw is played, but hearing it in person again was incredible. It's unlike anything else you've heard.

This couple (and piggybacked baby!) had a very homegrown, bluegrass look and sound. They sure had it down. Her voice was strong, clear, and slightly twangy. His was earnest and a little gruff, just like a good hillbilly should be. All of their instruments were homemade, with the exception of the guitar. We saw her play the saw (with violin bow) and a sort of bass made out of an upside-down metal washbin and a wooden broom handle with a string attached at a triangular angle. Oh! She also played the washboard by strumming it, I think. Tori bought a CD, hoping to catch some of the woman's voice, but sadly it was an earlier album of his and she wasn't on it at all! Very disappointing.

We moved on past the outdoor market to Anthropologie, a truly unique and subsequently overpriced boutique store. Catherine found a nifty little neck warmer just a few steps inside the door. She's been knitting recently and we needed photographic guidelines for her next project. The salespeople were not happy to see a camera, but it's a free country. Especially when their neckwarmer costs upward of $40.

Each side looked similar, with a cinched portion in the middle, but one side had a solid cinch, and the other side had hollow cinch, if that makes sense, so that one end pulled through the other. I bet my mom could knit this. :-)

Catherine was so excited about her new project that she had to immediately go home and get to work. There may have been nursing school homework thrown in there before she could get to the knitting, but we know where her true priorities were. Tori and Taylor and I continued drooling our way across the store until we finally reached the sale room in the far reaches of the back corner. Even on sale, most of the items are in the $30-60 range, so we were surprised to see a rack of dresses for $15-30. I found this one in my size and had to give it a go.

It would have been perfect for the Christmas party I'm crashing next weekend, but sadly it was a no-go. I would have to make so many adjustments to it (straps, neckline modesty patch, etc.) that I would have created an entirely new dress by the time I was done! Tori and Taylor had similar luck. But it's still fun to try things on and get ideas for the day when I do finally decide to sew my own clothes.

Let down by our Anthropologie failures, we decided to go somewhere we would be guaranteed success. The good ol' standby, Old Navy. I'll leave you with a picture of what's supposed to be a Halloween costume, but actually describes the two sisters in real, daily life. They're quite a pair.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

2010-12-01T11:39:00.000-07:00

This message was sent using the Picture and Video Messaging service from Verizon Wireless!

To learn how you can snap pictures and capture videos with your wireless phone visit www.verizonwireless.com/picture.

Note: To play video messages sent to email, QuickTime® 6.5 or higher is required.

Little L Man

2010-11-26T09:10:00.001-07:00

For all of my dairy friends...

2010-11-18T18:49:00.000-07:00

Summer ride

2010-11-03T20:19:00.000-06:00

I forgot to post these pictures from... what? a month ago? Something like that. Tonight I'm not feeling so hot (very sore from XF workouts and a pinched nerve(?) in my back, and my allergies are acting up), so I'm home and just bumming around. I made stuffed squash and a plum pie of sorts. For the squash, I cut a kabota squash in two, roasted for half an hour, then filled it with sauteed beef, onion, apple, cranberries and pecans, then continued roasting for another 20 minutes. Really tasty fall dinner. The pie is a little different. I'm just trying to make some room in my freezer for stuff I know I'm going to want to store soon (cooked pumpkin, sausages, applesauce). I thawed a bag of sliced plums from the abundance currently overtaking my freezer and simply poured (very juicy!!) them into a pie plate with a little butter. I'm playing around with almond flour a lot these days, so I made a top crust with almond flour, almond paste, egg, vanilla, and butter. It tastes great, even if it is more like plum soup with a biscuit on top.

Anyway, on to the pictures I was going to show you! These are just from a bike ride I took to Barber Park in September. Might be the last one I do this year.

These deer were just off the path. They watched me warily but never flinched or ran. I sat and watched them for a while.

For What It's Worth

2010-11-02T19:52:00.000-06:00

2010-10-31T17:43:00.001-06:00

Rainbow!

2010-10-29T09:09:00.001-06:00

Breakfast! What? I'm hungry...

Rock Climbing

2010-10-23T12:52:00.000-06:00

I think I told all of you that I went rock climbing for the first time a few weeks ago, right? Maybe that was on facebook. It's hard to keep the two forums separate! Well, in case I didn't tell you, I went rock climbing. :-) I had gone once before at the Black Cliffs, about 6 years ago, but it was a very embarassing experience, as nobody told me what to wear and so I showed up in shorts on that hot summer day.

Rule number one of rock climbing: Do not wear shorts.

When you wear a rock climbing harness, there's a strap that encircles each thigh at the top, right at your hip. There's also a waist strap, and a strap that connects each hip strap to the waist strap. They all look like a death trap waiting to happen, until you get the thing on. See here for a visual. After you're strapped in and you start climbing, the belayer (ooo... technical jargon!), also known as the person who holds your life in their small, weak hands, keeps tension on the rope so that if your muscles give out and you fall dramatically off the wall, screaming like a little hyena (hypothetically speaking), you won't go plummeting to the ground. What this also means is that the tension on the rope translates to tension on the harness, which translates to tension on your shorts. Can you see where I'm headed here?

Welcome to Wedgie-ville. Nice to...ahh... see you.

If you're a girl, and the longest shorts you can find in any store on planet Earth only go to about, say, your mid-thigh, that will mean they turn into bathing suit bottoms the minute you get up on that rock wall. Goodbye modesty. My first rock climbing experience, so long ago it is almost blissfully eradicated from my memory, was traumatic. Not to mention my belayer was a guy.

So you can imagine what I wore the second time I went rock climbing... duhn duhn duuuhhnn.... PANTS! Smart, smart move Ri. It was much more fun and carefree this time around, especially since we were at the Y with semi-padded floor beneath us. Here's my friend Kim and I ringing those bells:

Boots! Tall black ones, to be specific.

2010-10-20T21:52:00.000-06:00

For the past two or three years, I've been searching for a pair of tall black boots. Yep, you read that right, years. I have a weird foot, or pair of feet, and finding shoes that will even fit on my ~~foot~~ feet is very difficult (they're very wide, one foot is wider and slightly longer than the other, very high arch, yada yada yada). Two years ago, I gave up on finding anything in a store and started shopping online. I was highly skeptical of online purchases because... these are shoes. Which need to fit my weird feet. Which means I need to try them on. So what am I supposed to do? Order pair after pair after pair until I finally find some? YEP. Care to wager a guess as to the number of pairs I ordered online, had shipped to my house, tried on, carried to the office to ship back, and occasionally even had to pay return shipping on?

Thirty-one.

My feet hurt just thinking about it.

So you can imagine how thrilled and willing-to-invest-hard-earned-cash I feel for this pair I finally found. I'm not even head-over-heels (hee!) enamored of the little design on the ankle, but they fit - They Fit! I even wore them outside already. Now that's committment, friends. Forget signing on the dotted line or swearing to uphold the law in court or giving out your social security number. I got dirt on the heels.

The Boots.

Announcement!

2010-10-18T21:05:00.000-06:00

I have a big announcement! Well... not so big, but something very fun and hopefully useful to you. Thanks to the encouragement of my good friend Debbi, I started a food blog. About half of what I write concerns food anyway, so might as well give it its own space, right? It's called Molto Gelato. Anyone who knows me knows I love ice cream, and in my opinion gelato is the best!

I'll still be tweaking it here and there over the next few weeks (I'm not satisfied with the template yet, for one thing), but there are a few posts up already, including one about kitchen disasters. Ironically, I haven't posted any ice cream recipes yet. That will have to be remedied, pronto. Some day I hope to use Molto Gelato as a kitchen journal to document the results as I bake and cook my way through every recipe I own. Yep, all of them. I have folders (both real and virtual) full of recipes that are just begging to be tested, not to mention two shelves of cookbooks! No time to start like the present!

If there's a particular sweet you'd like to see me try, be sure to let me know. I'd love to make it for you. If you're within reasonable mailing distance... and the item is sturdy... and you're a faithful blog reader... we may be able to work something out. *wink*

Ciao for now,
Ri

MaryEllen

2010-10-14T21:58:00.000-06:00

MaryEllen is a good friend of mine. We usually only get to visit in person once or twice a year because we live almost an hour apart, and we are both busy little bees. Just thought I would share this recent photo. The Weavers' house reminds me of Mom and Dad's!

MaryEllen (left) and I

If you happen to be looking for new makeup, MaryEllen's your girl. She makes her own! It's completely natural, moderately priced, and can be found at Ella Rose Minerals. I have several of her eyeshadows and lip balms. Highly recommended. :-)

10.10.10 One Day On Earth photo project

2010-10-10T21:31:00.000-06:00

Boise downtown farmer's market

2010-10-10T17:10:00.000-06:00

I don't think I've ever shown you around downtown, have I? Well, this won't be a total downtown exposé, but it is a tour of one of my favorite places to be on a Saturday morning. Apologies to all of you who already saw these on Facebook.

This rootbeer is phenomenal. You can taste the chicory, spearmint, and sassafras.

I bought one of the purple peppers and one of the light green peppers. They tasted the same as other bell peppers, but they are prettier!

Meredith enjoys some of the kettle corn we bought.

We determined it was indeed Boise's Best. Mainly because we don't know of any other kettle corn producer in Boise.

Every time I come to the market I smell the orange-lavender bar at this handmade soap vendor. Pretty soon I will have to buy it because half of it will be on my nose anyway.

My old home. :-(

The buffalo meat from Brown's is good stuff. Especially as fajitas.

One of my favorite stops, right there on the right. Look up "Saturday" in ~~the~~ my dictionary and you will find a picture of mini doughnuts.

Art on the side of City Hall. My office is on the other side.

Farmer's market flowers. Pretty much the only thing I buy at the market that lasts a whole week until the next Saturday.

It's Friday.

2010-10-08T21:44:00.002-06:00

Do you ever walk across the room and forget what you were going to do?

I'm too young for this.

So today is Friday. Finally the end of a very busy week. I went to work early several days. I did lots of baking (pies, cake, muffins), lots of working out (pullups, back squats, bench press, rowing, kettlebell snatches) and lots of other things that just made me overwhelmed with busy-ness*. Granted, this is not a "serving your neighbor" type of busy-ness, but a totally, completely, self-centered type. I struggle with this. I love (love!) to bake, and I love the happiness it brings to others when they bite into something deliciously homemade and really... enjoy themselves. And so I bake. And bake. And bake. Which requires me to work out. And work out. And work out. :-) A pretty good balance, for all intents and purposes. Except it just seems so... typical. How many other 20-somethings are out there doing the exact same thing? Weekdays: Work. Cook. Gym. Facebook. Weekends: Church. Errands. Friends. Wash, rinse, repeat. Aren't we supposed to be doing something new and fabulous and extraordinary with our time? We singles supposedly have so much time on our hands**, shouldn't we be changing the world? A lot of the time I feel like I should be doing something more "meaningful", but then I wonder how in the world I could possibly fit anything else in my schedule. I run around like a chicken with its head cut off (sorry, queasy friends) every day, but what am I really accomplishing?

I do have to say, I believe my friendships have deepened significantly in the past year or two. I've met more new friends (and spent time getting to know them deeply) than in years past, when my brothers still lived in Idaho and I think I may have sort of followed on their coattails. Road trips and hard work and running races and going to Bible studies together will do that to you. It's wonderful. Being part of God's church means enjoying fellowship with your brothers and sisters, and that is meaningful. But isn't my free time supposed to include more than just "hanging out with my friends"? Maybe not. Maybe it depends on what kind of hanging out you do.

Recently, I was invited to help out with youth group at church. I'm 99% sure I will do it (otherwise I would not be mentioning it here!). I'm excited to be putting time into something completely worth it (friendships with other church members, those outside my usual group/age range). It's not worth it because of what I could teach the kids or what they will teach me, but because we'll be learning about the glory of God together, and his will for the church, his people; and therefore his will for all our lives. I remember being in youth group. I remember being in high school and college and a new apartment in Boise, wondering, "What is God's will for my life? What am I supposed to do after school? Where should I live? Where am I gonna get a job? What is this... this piece of paper asking me for money?! I thought light and heat were free." And I was so blessed to have adults in my life who led me to the Bible and said "This is God's will for your life. Right here..."

"Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." I Thessalonians 5:16-18

"Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will." Romans 12:1-2

"Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding." Proverbs 3:5

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God." Philippians 4:6

"But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have." I Peter 3:15

"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast." Ephesians 2:8,9

God doesn't save us because of all the lovely things we do for our neighbors, even though that is fruit (or evidence) of a changed heart. In fact, He doesn't save us because of anything we do, good or bad. He saves us because of who He is, and His will is good and perfect and deserving of praise. We can bring honor to Him by praising Him together. Which is what I hope to do by hanging out with my friends, all of them.

Sorry for such deep thoughts on an otherwise typically light-hearted blog. That's what you get from a 20-something who is home alone on a Friday night, trying to ignore her drunk neighbor's loud banging and strange noises. :-)

*I know busy-ness is really spelled "business", but if I spelled it the correct way, how would you all know whether I was saying it like "mind your own business" or "the day was full of business". hmm... Oh wait! I was wrong! I just look at Merriam Webster and discovered that there is a correct way to spell busy-ness. It's busyness. Heh heh... "the more you know..."

**I have never been responsible for a family, so I could be way off base here, but for several years now, I've had the opinion that singles are just as busy as marrieds, but in different ways. Sometimes it makes life even more hectic to be single, because instead of having two people to split the chores and errands and bacon-bringing, you only have one. Again, I'm sure lots of you are going to disagree with me and say "Wait til you're married!" but this is my blog so I get to have my opinion. hee!

Where art and sugar meet

2010-10-06T18:28:00.000-06:00

I just came across the most impressive baking blog! Have you guys seen SprinkleBakes yet? Wow. It's like a smashup of Tartelette and Bakerella! I skimmed through all of SprinkleBakes archives, and she is one talented lady. She's only been blogging for a year, but she already has a book in the works and regularly gets 20-50 comments on posts! She was an art major in school, but also loves to bake. She joins her two loves in her blog with clear, crisp photography and creative food styling. Take a peek...

Coffee and Donuts Cake

The Sydney Opera House Cake

Colorful Spiral Cookies

Triple Salted Caramel Cupcakes

I'll be making the coffee and donuts cake for sure, as soon as I can get my hands on a mini-doughnut baking pan! (Christmas is commmiinnng!) I also want to make the salted caramel cupcakes, and... oh... just about everything else she's ever posted.

Imagine my surprise, though, when I started browsing through her blog and realized her greatest feature... she has a PUG! That, my friends, takes the cake.

All pictures property of Sprinkle Bakes.

As promised

2010-10-05T21:56:00.000-06:00

I'm not very timely with my updates, but sooner or later, they show up, eh? :-) Today was very busy. I am on a few of the interview panels for the vendors who will provide the City's new ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) system. In other words, a bunch of us are choosing the City's new financial/human resources/procurement/grant/GL system. Woohoo. The interviews are as boring as the vendor wants to make them. Some of them do a great job "entertaining" us (sense of humor, using the audience to their advantage to showcase their product), but several have been slumber-inducing. One has even been sent home.

I also did the usual post-work activities - the gym and laundry and a little baking and plum delivery and facebooking. I bench pressed 105 pounds today, the first time I've done the bench press since early college, and therefore my heaviest weight as an adult (or so I'm claiming). Most of the girls did around the same, but I'd like to see some progress for myself before we try again in a few months, simply because the bench press was always my favorite lift in the college weight-lifting class I took.

Last weekend I went to a friend's house to pick plums, and wow, did I ever pick plums! I think I came home with about 40 pounds. Most of it went in the freezer, but I did make a plum-cardamom cake and plum clafoutis. I gave a few away to friends, too, along with a bite of cake. Tonight I also made chocolate drops, the nice name for what I privately call "clean out your pantry candy". It's just dried fruit and nuts, rice krispies (or not), and melted choclate. Stir and spoon onto wax paper. Chill. Easy peasy! And a perfect treat for someone's birthday tomorrow...

Anyway, on to the pictures! These are from July, when I visited Chicago to see Jerry, Bernice, James, Lucas, and Mr./Miss Yet-To-Be-Seen. Maybe they will help you take a little mental vacation to Chicago as well.

The Big City... but not much wind.

The port! Or harbor! Whatever it's called! I'm too tired to look it up! But I love the pretty sailboats.

The famous ferris wheel.

Skyscrapers

And more sky scrapers. But one is old. With a cool clock at the top.

The Donald Trump tower. Which I thought was in New York. Apparently not.

Big brother needs some shades. Hmm... what holiday is coming up next?

Yeah, I'm a little weird for taking a picture of a restaurant's bathroom. But I loved the hammered metal sink! And the tile! And that mirror!

Grand old mossy church!

I guess renters in downtown Chicago have to put up with the same type of air conditioning we get in downtown Boise.

Goodbye Chicago! Au revoir!

Score!

2010-09-22T21:19:00.000-06:00

So... have any of you heard of the ridiculously thrifty quatri-annual (did I just make up a word?) event known as the REI garage sale? Behold:

All this for $120! That's a sleeping bag, pair of Chaco sandals, pair of Keen waterproof hiking shoes, a headlamp, and a new daypack. Surprisingly, the most expensive (originally) item of the bunch was the pair of Keens, at $115. Overall, by not buying new, I saved $200. Pretty good in my book. And now I'm almost set for next season. All I need is a cookset, a backpacking burner, and maybe a tent.

Even though I brought my tent along on two trips this year, I didn't set it up once because the other people I was camping with brought theirs. And you're asking me, "well then why did you bring your tent along if you were going to use theirs?!" Well... there's this little thing called group planning that my group is not good at. We'd rather swing it, and when everybody brings a variety of things, we usually have everything covered.

Twice.

Its Officially Official!

2010-09-17T16:15:00.000-06:00

Spirit of Boise

2010-09-14T21:41:00.000-06:00

I'll be posting more pictures and giving you all an update on "what I did on summer vacation" soon, but first I want to show you the Glowing Balloons of Boise (tm). My friend Taryn and I developed that highly technical moniker.

Actually, Boise used to have a big community party every year called the River Festival. When the orgnnizers of the festival went bankrupt, the party went down the tubes. Er... the river. Several years passed, during which various groups would try to revive it, but sadly nothing else has gained popularity like the River Festival. Part of the Festival involved launching hot air balloons, and the balloon masters (is that what they're called?) would spend several days launching in the morning, completing courses for points, and then making the balloons available to the public in the evening. This event has continued every September, under the name Spirit of Boise.

Briefly inflating some of the shaped balloons as the sun sets.

Mmm... we love us some Dutch Bros! And it had the shortest food line. Sorry for taking your picture, lady in the bottom right corner!

Go Broncos!

The lineup.

Here, There, and Everywhere!

2010-09-14T19:33:00.000-06:00

Hi! Hey... it's been a while. Want to know where I've been? Well, how about Chicago, Yellowstone, California, Stanley, McCall, and downtown Boise! Yes, I had a very fun summer. :-)

First things first... (broadway voice) Chi-CAaa-go! It's where we saw lots of these...

And lots of this...

And who could forget seeing lots of this...

How cute is that?! Sadly the little guy waited until Auntie was gone to start walking, but that doesn't mean we didn't do lots of practice while I was there!

More pictures to come!

International Delight

2010-07-25T20:49:00.000-06:00

You know, I really should just make this a food blog, considering the majority of my posts are food-focused! I actually have ideas for a sweets blog in the making, but it's nowhere near ready to debut yet. It may be many months before I get around to that. This summer is flying by, and I think you'll agree with me that the best way to spend these incredible summer days is outside, not inside. Unless it's over 100 degrees. Which it is right now, here in this little "northwest" town called Boise.

I flew to Chicago recently to visit Jerry and Bernice and the little guys. Bernice, as you all know, is a great cook and baker, and she fulfilled my "almond paste at a time other than Christmas?! cool!" and "wait, it's not banket?" musings by making some fabulous almond rolls. Think cinnamon rolls, but with an almond filling instead. So good!

Sitting in an American airport eating a Dutch food with Chinese utensils.

Playing with my food

2010-07-25T20:41:00.000-06:00

On Friday night, I went to a friend's house for homemade sushi, dim sum, spring rolls, and other decadent Asian delights. I was fortunate enough to get sent home with leftovers! This is my imagination running wil- ....tired on Saturday afternoon.

Complacent Sushi

Happy Sushi!

Tyrannosaurus Sushi... rawr!

Fruit Futbol!

2010-07-25T20:33:00.000-06:00

Oh watermelon*, how I love thee...

*Now premiering in the new personal size! Perfect for one person. Actually, I have seen them in "personal size" before this year, but have never bought one because they are expensive on a per pound basis. I finally caved.

Ugh.

2010-07-19T15:30:00.000-06:00

I had such a great Saturday. Tennis lessons, crossfit, making ice cream with a friend, going out to dinner and then to the Twilight Criterium bike race downtown. Only to be followed by this:

First of all, waking up at 3am with stomach problems is never a good sign.

Second, I'm so thankful for friends who will go to the store for you on short notice, to get your favorite - if somewhat obscure - things, such as ginger tea. Also thankful for moms who will listen to the whole detailed story at 8am.

I don't think I've been this sick since I was in junior high. I had food poisoning and Gary's mom had to drive me home from the math contest, about 20 minutes from our school, I think. She was a brave lady for letting me ride with her. At least I didn't treat her car the way I did my bathroom yesterday morning.

Ugh.

In the latest Weird News From Boise

2010-07-15T22:08:00.001-06:00

Recently spotted at the Saturday morning farmer's market, I present to you:

The Fish Bicycle!

Mountain Biking

2010-07-02T18:27:00.000-06:00

My latest hobby is mountain biking. Some co-workers helped educate me a bit on biking, and this spring I took the plunge and invested in an older, but still good, bike. It has full suspension, which comes in very handy on rocky foothill trails. Co-workers Colin and Shannon are part of a Thursday night riding group, which I have also joined... sort of. I don't like loading my bike in my car and buying a bike rack is not a priority for me right now, so I only join them when they ride at the Military Reserve, which is right around the corner from my apartment. Here we are on a recent ride, surrounded by gorgeous fields of little purple flowers...

Rainbow Brite!

2010-07-02T18:18:00.002-06:00

Retro

2010-07-02T18:16:00.000-06:00

My friend Catherine and I have started a fun little ritual of going to the farmer's market and garage sales after tennis every Saturday morning. Last weekend, we stopped by an estate sale in the North End (picture cute, renovated Old Town area of any large city). The house was in mint condition, right down to the soft peach carpet, the built-in cabinets in every room, and the mid-50's furniture. But the crowning element (in my eyes) was the kitchen...

Jaw drop!