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.