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!
Oh how I love love love The Silver Chair!
ReplyDelete