aerobics, a code word for mom.

a day of adventure! well, every day is an adventure. but today especially.

we had several no-show's at work, so on my very last day, i had a bit of time to finish up the last bits of my objectives! it was nice to be able to leave with nothing left on my plate to do. well, for that rotation anyway.

bright, sunny day. i was torn between making a bee-line to alki to soak up the day, or taking advantage of being so close to goodwill to hunt down some finishing touches for my costume. i chose the latter, and i'm glad i did, because i found some treasures there. when i walked out the door $22 lighter than when i walked in, i had in my arms a pair of rollerblades exactly my size ($5), a practically new patagonia rain jacket ($8), a totally 90's multicolor plush vest ($6) for my costume, and some eggplant purple leg warmers ($3). if i wouldn't have been carrying around those so-awkward-to-hold rollerblades, i probably would have looked for longer.

home, just in time to make it to the gym for what i thought was a step class. turns out it was an aerobics class, and was the most unusual workout i've had in a while. firstly because i was the only one under the age of 50 in there. i promise, nowhere did it say that it was a class for a particular age! the group consisted of about 15 women in their middle 50's, and....me. okay, i felt totally out of place, but couldn't turn around and leave, so i decided to embrace it and struck up conversation. they're all regulars, and were perplexed to see (a) someone new, (b) who was young.

on to the class part. i felt ridiculous most of the time, and could hardly keep from laughing at some points. the hour consisted of lots of 3-4 minute different exercises. my favorite was where we each sat on our aerobics ball and bounced all around, side to side, kicking our legs out in time with the music. it was hilarious. also the one where we stuck our hips all out in every which direction. i'm telling you. for feeling like such a dork in the beginning, it was pretty entertaining by the end.

after that, an evening in, dining on some (previously packaged and frozen for grocery store shopper's convenience) butternut squash ravioli with veggies. and the last of the autumn cookie party cookies!

and trying on the roller blades for real.

that photo is real time, no height exaggeration. i'm a giant on wheels next to susie :)

and that's the day in a nutshell!

tomorrow: the REAL step class and some quality coffee shop time.

autumn cookie love.

So many fun adventures to catch you up on before the ones of this upcoming weekend begin! This week has been a bit of flying by the seat of my pants. One thing after another, most days 6 am to midnight. No wonder I haven’t had time to write in a week!

We’ll start with last Saturday. Where else to spend the morning but here?

They have really great coffee, rich and bold. In my opinion, the bolder the better!

I worked hard on my assignments so that I could enjoy the rest of the weekend. I was mostly productive, I had a great seat at a tall table right by a bright (cloudy) window. There was this one little kid who stole the eyes of everyone in the room. Blonde, curly hair. He kept waddling around the room, curiously looking up at everyone with these big blue eyes. He’ll be a heartthrob someday.

That afternoon was the first of many craft parties to come. We made magnets!

Nicole was super excited about the popcorn she made, and consequently, it burned.

Hard at work!

Finished products! I can't figure out how to get the picture to turn, so use your imagination. I think my favorite set is the one on the bottom, made from stamps that i've gotten on letters in the mail!

I never laugh so hard as when I’m with these girls! Before we knew it we had spent 3 hours cutting out little circles from magazines to glue on the back of marbles. And we wondered why we all walked away with sore necks!

Sunday. I just love Sunday. I got to pick Katy and her little sister Lily from the ferry for church, they piled into my car from the rain, hot chocolate in hand. The sermon was about religion; it made me think about my own futile efforts to correct my own flaws in my very first days of being a baby Christian. It’s comical now, I would set goals like “this week I’m going to do 3 patient things.” I’d pick a new character quality each week to work on, as if I could refine each one in a mere 7 days, and by my own human determination alone! I’m thankful that I’ve since come to understand grace, that it is the Lord that changes our hearts, who refines us to desire him and in so doing, purifies our actions as well.

After church the girls made a bee-line to the Vashon ferry, and after frantically purchasing tickets and dropping all my money on the ground, we made it on just in time. What a fun experience! I’m sure it would be quite plain and boring if I took it all the time, but on occasion, the ferry was a treat!

Dorina, Nicole, Linnell

Myself, Katy, Lily

Cold, wet, and beautiful.

It only took about 20 minutes, and when we got there, Katy’s mom picked us up in the minivan :)

By this point it was close to 2, and I, for one, was famished. Okay, not quite, but I WAS very hungry, and couldn’t help snacking on some of the bell peppers I was chopping for our delightful salad.

Grilled chicken, sautéed mushrooms and squash, avocado, red and yellow bell, tomatoes, cucumber, and homemade garlic evoo dressing. I think I had thirds. With some fresh grapes on the side.

Well, it was a good thing I ate a veggie packed healthy lunch, because once the sugar cookies got started, I couldn’t resist.

I was happy to clean up some of the trimmings, making sure to taste them on a regular basis.

What's a cookie party without fun aprons??

They took a while to bake, but we took a while to get ready for them.

The goods.

Strategizing.

Finished products!

Monday was a long day of lots of wasted time, mostly due to miscommunication. Hate it when that happens. Susie and I ended up driving around south park and then sat in traffic for 30 minutes, and then didn’t even get to go where we intended because we got the wrong location. We headed on to the WIC conference, where the rest of the intern were, only to spend the next 30 minutes searching for parking. It was a day of driving in circles. The WIC conference was somewhat interesting, though it would have been moreso had it been applicable to us. There was, however, and awesome lunch. I ate almost every bite. Rice and bean soup, with whole wheat roll, and a caprese sandwich of sorts with a portabella mushroom in the middle. And a cold tortellini salad. Yum yum yum, all that driving in circles was worth it!

Other notable things from the week:

I got a membership to the YMCA so I can work out! It was so cold and windy this week that I finally gave in. And when I went to my first spinning class, my friend Nicole from church was there! What a fun surprise to see a familiar face!

After that, bok choy stir fry.

I saw this recipe in my Real Simple cookbook, and Lori gave me some chicken, so I decided to give it a shot.

Looks good, no?

Turns out, I don’t think I care for bok choy very much. It was a little too slimy for

 my taste…but the chicken and rice were yummy! I took some leftovers for lunch the next day….and of course, after I finished, promptly dropped the container of leftover sauce and rice grains all over the break room floor. I smelled like soy sauce and bok choy for the rest of the day.

Other things to note? This:

Yikes. Problem. Enough said.

Tonight was my first mostly free evening, and the roomies all ate together for the first time. Lori fixed chicken and rice, I made hummus from scratch, and Susie snagged some wine at Trader Joes. It was fun! We talked about our crazy rotations, and Halloween plans. I plan on dressing up as 80’s workout…but seeing as all my dress up clothes and costumes are way down south….we’ll see what I come up with :)

Okay, time to take advantage of an early night to sleep.



"everything should taste like bacon."

To be quite honest, I should be working on my client satisfaction survey analysis right now, but it’s been a long day of work and I get off in 30 minutes…my brain is fried. I’ll use the last bit of time (graciously given to me by my preceptor to work on my objectives) to write instead. I got a chunk of my survey done, though when I think about what I’m writing it comes out in spanglish anyway. Well, mostly English, but with Spanish phrases thrown in. it’s kind of fun! I’ll be sad to switch to a rotation where I don’t speak Spanish all day every day, I don’t want to lose the proficiency that only comes with lots of practice!

This past Sunday after church a bunch of people from my community group went to a little local restaurant called Luna Cafe. I drive by it all the time, and have always wondered if it was any good! Boy was it. I was really hoping for a big fat pancake but we missed the breakfast cut-off by an hour…so a veggie omelet it was. The menu was neat- you basically pick the filling (veggie, meat-lovers, seattle classic) and then the style you want it prepared. I got the traditional, but you could also get a scramble (with all the goodies mixed in, along with hash browns) or a pile, which is all the goodies layered on some hash browns with two fried eggs on top. Zach got the meat lovers pile:

Aka, heart attack in a bowl. I tried a bite though, and it was delicious. At one point I think we got to talking about something relating to meat and vegetarians….all I remember is him making a comment that “the chicken, the cow, and the pig” were all in his one bowl.

And in case that wasn’t enough, you could put some of this on it too….it was on every table:

Because after all, "everything should taste like bacon."

Anyways, the whole group sat outside in the sunshine and planned all kinds of fun things we’re going to do in the upcoming months. We want to rent a cabin in the mountains somewhere and take a weekend vacation. With 15 of us, it looks like it will only be around $30 each! And we can play board games and cook good food and drink peppermint hot chocolate by the fireplace :) And those who want to ski can ski and those who don’t can stay back and read…I really hope we follow through with it. It would be a blast, especially with the company. I appreciate them all quite a lot.

Que mas...

This past Monday we had the day off as interns, which was great because I had a little more time to get caught up on my work. I spent most of the morning here:

At my (unfortunately miniscule) desk, coffee in hand. I went for a little jog around lunchtime and discovered this neat little staircase that takes you right down to the park, though there’s nothing "little" about it. 300 stairs, according to my roommate. From my house it’s an 8 minute run, all downhill, to get to the park. Which obviously means a lot of uphill work to get back home. After that I went to c&p coffee shop, the old antiquey one with mismatched furniture, to sip on a chai latte and read for a bit. After a while a few guys sat down at the table I was at (it’s huge) and started playing board games, which were fun to watch for a little while. They got to talking about the settlers of catan expansion pack…which made me want to play the game again. I’ve only played once, and it’s been almost a year!

I got back to the house just in time to catch my roommate heading out to dinner with our friend across the street. We ended up at a seafood restaurant down on Alki where I had the most delightful Mahi Mahi fish taco with mango salsa and a sweet sauce that I’ve ever had. I savored every bite :)

This week was mostly normal at work. I pretty much took over the dieticians’ schedules, so I’ve been counseling basically from 8-5 daily. I had an appointment in English the other day and it was a piece of cake compared to having to think so hard to talk in Spanish! I met a bunch of girls around my age who are working for AmeriCorps, which was fun. They told me a bit about what they get to do, and how they can buy really nice food with the food stamps that they get as part of their stipend! Because apparently it doesn’t matter if you buy the $1.27 cheap white bread or the $4.59 good and grainy whole wheat bakery bread. I could live with that!

Community group on Tuesday was super great, as usual. It was Westin’s birthday so there were yummies too! There’s a bakery here that makes little tiny cupcakes, you buy them by the dozen and they come in an egg carton. How creative! We all just hung out for a while and talked and laughed, then got to talking about the message from Sunday, which was really a good one. Well, I guess they always are :)

The passage was Luke 11:29-32, and it talks about unbelief. It says that the Queen of the South (Queen of Sheba, see 1 Kings 10:1-13) didn’t believe king Solomon’s power, so she came to see it for herself. And when she saw all that he had and all that he had done and all his wisdom, she believed. She will testify against the generation at hand, the word says, because while she doubted, she saw and then believed, as opposed this generation, which sees greater signs even that that, and yet does not believe. Likewise, the passage says that the Ninevites will also judge this generation because they repented at the teaching of Jonah, who went to them reluctantly (namely, only after being eaten by a fish), and then only preached a half-hearted warning. And yet the people believed, and this generation, though they had the preaching of JESUS, wouldn’t repent. Bubba (one of the pastors) went on to talk about unbelief, and how it doesn’t change the way the Lord views or related to us, but it changes our interactions with him. For example, take any relationship. For a relationship to work, trust must be established and maintained. If one person starts to disbelieve the other, it creates separation, regardless of the attitude of the other person. That one person will be unwilling to be honest, to draw in, to be real. He also explained that just as we practice a sport or a hobby, we can practice the sin of unbelief. And with practice (not even intentional practice, just a recurring presence) this becomes the norm, which is nothing but division and destruction. Our doubt should be put to death by the blood of Jesus, by the cross. After all, what more perfect sign is there? Nicole (wife of the aforementioned meat-lovers Zach) put it well: “if we aren’t actively believing, we are passively disbelieving.”

Bubba also talked about the day of judgment. When we die, we will ALL stand before Jesus and give an account of our lives. We must give an account, every one of us! For the things we have done, both good and bad. For a believer, we will stand before Jesus, with his blood as our only plea. Our sins will be exposed like everyone else, but to the glory of the Lord, we will claim Jesus’ blood over them. For the nonbeliever, their sins will likewise be exposed, every word, every thought, every motive, every action. And with no plea good enough to match the weight of their sins, they will stand condemned. We will all stand before Jesus as sinners. But for the believer, this is a moment of worship and repentance in the face of our Savior.

Needless to say, it was a really challenging and thought-provoking sermon. The next day I was reading in 2 Corinthians and came across v. 5:18 which says “through Christ, God reconciled us to himself.” Did you catch that? Reconciliation requires to parts, both to be in agreement. (Unlike forgiveness, which only requires one.) And God reconciled US to HIMSELF. He did the work of both parts, both my solving the problem of sin (by providing the perfect sacrifice) and by filling us with the Holy Spirit, to draw us to know him and partake in this glorious reconciliation. By no merit of our own.

Those are my current thoughts on that. On Thursday Susie fixed us an awesome dinner, I should have taken a picture so you could see it. Squash/feta/couscous stuffed red bell peppers, all roasted in the oven and perfectly delightful. We ate them while enjoying a glass of merlot, which I snagged at Trader Joes for a very thrifty price. Great little store, that Trader Joes. When I went in I was super hungry and pressed for time….that combination in a grocery store leads to plenty of impulse buys. I limited mine to some unsulphered unsweetened dried mango, one of my favorite treats, and saved the shopping for another time.

And today is Friday! Which means lots of working hard on homework this weekend, interspersed with fun things like magnet-making parties and sugar cookie decorating. I’ll fill the world in on all that when it happens :)

That's all for now!



maple oatmeal scone.

here i am procrastinating. i need to develop lessons plans and a bulletin board on breastfeeding, as well as lesson plans for a staff in-service on the importance of developing an eating schedule in the prevention of childhood obesity. but i can't seem to focus, so i'll work on my odds an ends instead.

i went to alki this morning for a jog- it was the chilliest day yet (43F!). i wore my new leggings and long sleeve running shirt, along with sweatpants and a jacket. i was warm after a couple of miles, but at the start of mile 3 where i turn around the wind was so fierce that it was rough to keep going. well, to me anyway. if there's one thing i just really very much dislike, it's running or biking into the wind. so i alternated sprinting and walking short distances for the second half, because if i walked it, it would have taken me a loooong time.

by the time i got home and got cleaned up it was lunchtime and the sun was out, so after eating some leftover soup (remember the one i had 5 containers of?? still working on those), i headed to a new coffee shop called dubsea. i was actually the only one in there, which is kind of odd for a saturday morning, but fine by me! i grabbed a table and then went to get a coffee (double dry capp), and splurged on a maple oatmeal scone as a treat. well, sure enough, i'm waiting on my drink, talking with the barista who is making it, and when i go to grab it, i pick up the bag with my scone in it from the wrong in and dump it out on the floor instead.

how embarassing.

they replaced it for free, which was very kind of them, and i proceeded to thorougly enjoy the fresh one as i read through 6 or 7 journal articles as part of a project for this rotatoion. i'd read a little, look out the window some, watch the parents with their kids grabbing coffee on the way to the park. then back to reading some. repeat. it was pretty low key and relaxing, and they were playing great music. i've been working on said project for 3 days according to the directions i received from my preceptor, only to find out this afternoon from my director that my preceptor was wrong about it. so now i have to start over....which stinks. that kind of miscommunication is unfortunately pretty common with the setup of the internship, which is really very inefficient. so it's back to the drawing board.

random tidbits:
-i encountered someone last week who had no idea what a calorie was. that's kind of a basic element of regulating your nutrition intake!
-the receptionist at WIC randomly told me "someday you're going to make a great dietitian"- she said it's because i ask lots of questions, i'm organized, and i can hold a non-awkward conversation. haha
-"the gospel of Christ empowers its own implications" -jared wilson

and now, on to being productive.

an old pier.

this week has been a busy one. i started a new rotation on tuesday, i'm now at WIC, which, for all you non-nutrition gurus out there, is a special supplemental nutrition program for pregnant women, infants, and children. basically, since those stages of life are high risk for nutrition deficits, the government created a program that ensures that those who don't have the means to procure sufficient food can obtain it in those times. so, for the past few days i've been observing the WIC dietician, and today took on 5 or 6 clients of my own! the counseling is all in spanish, and basically i get to measure and weigh the kids, talk to the parents about what their kids are eating, make recommendations, and then give them coupons so that they can get the food they need. it went surprisingly well, though my spanish started failing me by the end of the day...tired brain i suppose.

i've made it up to 6.25 miles! twice now.

by the end of it i'm thoroughly exhausted. i run on a trail along the water the whole time. there's about a mile of it where i can actually run up on the concrete retaining wall and watch the water only a few inches beneath me! it's a seriously great place to run. i'll probably stick with 6 for a while before i try to increase any more... i didn't think i was going to make all of it yesterday, but i was on a time schedule and other people were waiting on me. that's good motivation to not wimp out and walk back!

that's the old pier where i stretch at the end of a run- spectacular view, no?

this past weekend was full of fun things- on saturday i met up with dorina and we played bananagrams:

that's my board on the bottom right. the next day she and her husband hosted a barbecue after church at their house and around 15 of us just hung out and talked and played games. there were a few of us who have traveled in europe, so we reminisced together. i made hello dolly's for the occasion, which was a fun excuse to bake! after a while the interns at church came too, so i got to meet several of them. i always hear about them, so it was nice to put some faces with the names!

i started reading a new book too, 'a severe mercy,' by sheldon vanauken. i've only read a few pages, but it's very well written. "what is beauty but something that is responded to with emotion?" (p. 18). he's excellent at painting a picture as he writes, and i appreciate it.

today at lunch i went to a little mexican place called muy macho with three of the dieticians at WIC. we're all quite caucasian and in our 20's, so when we walked into this local mexican joint and ordered everything in spanish we definitely took the waitress by surprise! they're a fun bunch to hang out with, and the food was delicious, as it always it. though personally i prefer the taco truck down the street :)

i've been scouting out service opportunities for my community group- we're hoping to get plugged in with the baby boutique at wellspring family services, where we'll serve one tuesday a month by sorting clothes and donations and helping distribute it to those in need. still in the works.

one of the girls in my cg started this cool new group where anyone who wants to come together and learn a new skill can come and teach something that they know to the rest of the group! the first meeting is next weekend, and we're making magnets. but there are people who know all kinds of things coming, from cooking to crafting to little lost arts. how creative!

i've had some fun encounters at starbucks lately, all at the same one. the other day i was sitting there reading my bible at a table near the cream and sugar and a guy looked over at me and said "is that a bible bible? like, a real bible?" to which i said yes. and then he said "i swept the curses in the bible category on jeapordy last night, the last one was jezebel and nobody knew it but me!" and off he went, coffee in hand. then, hardly 5 minutes later, another man comes up and says "you're studying your word. i love to see people studying their word." we talked for a few minutes, as it turns out, he's involved in an after school outreach program for at-risk kids in the area, another cool service opportunity that would be neat to get involved in. it was neat though, just by reading my bible, totally minding my own business, opportunities still present themselves to represent the gospel and be encouraged by other believers. i feel like i've had several opportunities to do so lately, as we should. "wake up from your drunken stupor, as is right, and do not go on sinning. for some have no knowledge of God. i say this to your shame." 1 cor. 15:34

and i'll end with that.

las verduras y los frijoles.

oh boy, it's about time i updated the world on my adventures here in seattle! some noteworthy events as of late:

on saturday night i met up with my friend emily, who also happens to be from texas, to make some oatmeal walnut fresh blueberry banana pancakes (nonfat!) at my house. they were absolutely delightful, as always. i could make them on a weekly basis. we talked about the fact that we encounter lots of opportunities to be spontaneous and adventurous, but those kinds of things just aren't quite the same by yourself. at which point we realized that we should take advantage of each other's company and go do something fun! we decided to explore the piers. photos are better than sentences, so i'll let them do the talking:

(one of the ferries coming in)

(the view from the point of one of the piers)

(there really was an old-fashioned carousel there!)

(aquarium by night...someday i'll actually go inside!)

(there we are!)

it was an evening of spontaneity and good conversation, and lots of the smell of fresh fried fish. next time we won't make pancakes first!

the first saturday of the month is apparently code for "garage sale" because all weekend there were signs on almost every corner. i started off the day with a run at alki, then hit up all the sales on the way back home. i bought a neat little mug (so now i have one i can call my own), as well as these two gadgets for decorating:



an old film camera and an old video recorder, both of which actually work! well, at least according to the man who sold them to me for $2 apiece. whether or not they would actually run film and take pictures, i don't know, but the motors do run! they now sit on the only shelf in my room, along with other fun and unique odds and ends. (most of which i acquired at other garage sales, actually)

that afternoon i discovered my new favorite coffee shop: c&p coffee company.

it's the kind of coffee shop where everything is vintage and no two pieces of furniture quite match, yet they all coordinate to give it an "old-house-gone-antique-mall" feel. it was open and bright, and the coffee was delicious. i was sitting right by the window, which was old-fashinoed and rustic. i just had a plain latte, simple and quaint. up here in seattle there is a 4th size of drink, the short, which isn't very popular down south. generally you can get a short latte for around $2.50, which sounds much nicer than the over $3 "tall" down south. i responded to a lot of emails and did some reading, just enjoying the ambiance.

on sunday after church dorina and i went to blue-c sushi, which was great! more for the experience than the sushi itself, which was good, but not the best i've ever had. let me just explain, all the seats have access to this long conveyor belt that wraps all the way around the store. and on said conveyor belt are all sorts of delightful sushi creations just calling your name! they are color coded, each color plate represents a different price, and you just pull them off as you see what you want! it's a fun idea. (although i cringe to think about what my food bacteriology professor might say about the microbiological safety of the system....but hey, i didn't get sick!)

we've been having the most beautiful weather up here, and i've been fully taking advantage. on monday i went on a jog, 4.8 miles! and today (wednesday) i did 5.2 along alki in 43 minutes! working my way up! for what, i'm not sure. but it sure feels good. all you out there who think you're not into running, i dare you to step onto the trail that goes along alki beach. it's so beautiful there, you'll be running before you know it. it just does that, there's always so much to see you can't help it. 

monday nights are my cooking nights, and this past monday, i made heather's soup. it's packed full of yummy veggies and chicken, black beans and cilantro, and so healthy! but it's a hard recipe to cut in half, which means....

lot's of leftovers! even after susie and i ate it for dinner. looks like i'll be having soup for lunch for a couple days, and then again in a few weeks :)

yesterday we gave our nutrition presentations in spanish to the two classes of 4-year olds. see?

we taught them all about the food pyramid. we painted that, and they colored the foods to stick on it. the first one of the day was a little rough...but the second one was MUCH better. granted, we didn't color pictures in that lesson, we played with racecars. so, by default, it was set up to dominate from the beginning.

and tuesday night was life group, always a highlight. we got to talking about one point that has been making me think.. it says in luke 11 "even you who are evil know how to give good gifts." nick then asked the group what they thought about the fact that the bible just stated that we were evil, and most people agreed with the statement. when you look at the pattern of our lives, we sin! we desire sinful things instinctively. but at the same time, it doesn't really make sense to me that we could be evil as redeemed believers, because if that were the case, wouldn't it be impossible for the Lord to be in relationship with us? the Holy Spirit couldn't dwell in us if we were evil. (that's my first thought anyway, i haven't looked up scripture to think through it completely yet.) but there is a distinction between our hearts being evil and our flesh being evil. we talked a little bit about this idea at camp, that we are saints who sometimes sin rather than sinners saved by grace. yes, we are sinners, and yes, we are saved by grace, but "sinner" isn't our identity. as redeemed believers, we are given a new identity, that of being "a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His own possession, that [we] may proclaim the excellencies of Him who called [us] out of darkness and into His marvelous light" (1 peter 2:9). the Lord replaces our hearts of stone with ones of flesh (ez. 36:26), and we are His. and while these are just words, we take words to heart, which is why we do things like memorize scripture. the identity by which we define ourselves makes a huge difference. so these are the thoughts running through my head, not fully composed, but i thought i'd share them anyway.

also, i finished a book! the silver chair, 6th of 7 in the chronicles of narnia by c.s. lewis. i particularly liked this paragraph: "but first remember, remember, remember the signs. say them to yourself when you wake in the morning and when you lie down at night, and when you wake up in the night. and whatever strange things may happen to you, let nothing turn your mind from following the signs. and secondly, i give you a warning. here on the mountain i have spoken to you clearly; i will not often do so down in narnia. here on the mountain, the air is clear and your mind is clear; as you drop down into narnia, the air will thicken. take great care that it does not confuse your mind. and the signs which you have learned here will not look at all as you expect them to look, when you meet them there. that is why it is so important to know them by heart and pay no attention to appearances. remember the signs and believe the signs. nothing else matters." so many biblically grounded ideas in that paragraph alone, written as part of a fiction novel to children in gradeschool! thank you, c.s. lewis, for reminding of simple truth.

okay, it's getting late, and i'm tired. i'll post adventures as they come!

community.

today was a day of grand adventure, starting off as any good day should...with a cup of coffee and some time to read.

the fruit parfaits were a messy spanglish success. i think. when you put me in front of a crowd, sometimes i have no idea what i'm saying. but, everyone made a parfait and hopefully understood that fruit makes a tasty healthy snack! at the end of it all, there was a ton left over, which conveniently, since food can't be reserved, we got to keep! so there are 4 lovely little ziploc baggies in my refrigerator stuffed with fresh mango, kiwi, strawberries, and blueberries. anyone for blueberry banana pancakes tomorrow morning??

here we are, doing our finest work:

on the playground in the sunshine, of course! it's much easier to think when your fingers and toes aren't frozen.

oh yeah...and see what was in the break room AGAIN this morning??

dangerous i tell you...something of the sort every day!! i'm guilty of the damage to that cinnamon apple one on the right, and susie tackled the chocolate one. the lemon one, i can gladly say, was not our doing.

we left early today so i could make it downtown for another ct on my wrist- hopefully it's FINALLY healed. we'll see soon enough i suppose.

going downtown never fails to spark some adventure in me, i just love it. everything is so interesting to look at, it's amazing that i ever make it from point A to point B while looking around AND trying to navigate. i decided that, since i was already half way across town, i'd take madison street clear across to the water on the other side. the neighborhoods on that side of town are NICE! beautiful houses with green lawns and huge, yellow-leafed trees. madison park was quaint, there were lots of moms there who had clearly just picked their kids up from school, taken them to the bakery across the street, and set them loose on the playground to run off the sugar. i wandered around for a while (after i tackled the "back in angle parking only" with absolute success), until it was time to head back to avoid the atrocious seattle rush hour traffic.

on my way back i drove through the campus of seattle university and found a little street that i absolutely have to go back to with my better camera. i think it's the building of an art gallery, but for one short little block, it feels like a scene out of a movie with old stone buildings and trees galore. soon, before the leaves all disappear, i'll go back to admire!

i also ended up driving along the piers, and pioneer square, which is likewise similar to a scene from a movie. another site to re-visit soon with the cannon, with people sitting on benches in their stylish winter-wear reading newspapers and books as yellow leaves compliment the red bricks at their feet.

finally, back home. i met up with dorina and we saw the movie You Again, which was predictable as expected, but worth a few hearty laughs for sure. we got an auntie anne's cinnamon sugar pretzel on the way in, which was perfectly delightful, as always.

shifting gears.

this past tuesday in doctrine class (the membership class for mars hill) we talked about revelation, as in how the Lord reveals himself to us. firstly through general revelation (such as nature) and common grace (such as rain), and secondly through specific revelation (such as dreams and visions) and saving grace (self explanatory). but one point that really stuck out to me was that we, as a people, are wired for communication. as we drive down streets littered with signs about this and that, it's obvious that people are trying to communicate. and with communication comes community, in which we were designed to live. thank goodness for the church, which embodies this community, and not the shallow and transient one that society defines. it provides the framework to develop and sustain it, to maintain and persist. this deep community is something we seek, and as we seek it, we are communicating with all that we do.

i'm not quite sure how exactly to put the ideas together in my head to form a cohesive thought...i seem to have lost my train. tired. but i do know that i appreciate good, solid, truth exhibiting community. so, maybe i'll come back to this idea at another time.

for now, i think i might go make a mini fruit parfait and call it a night!