small bites.

i was talking with a friend about being a foodie, and when i started thinking about what i've eaten today, it made me laugh:

-homemade granola bar (because i can't work out on an empty stomach)
-greek yogurt with honey (because protein + carb is the best post-workout snack!)
-slice of leftover pizza (because i didn't want to be hungry while out running errands)
-two pita chips (because i forgot to take my vitamins with breakfast, and skipped the learn-how-to-swallow-pills-with-water part of my life)
-one bite of cranberry orange scone (trader joes breakfast sample)
-one bite of bologonese sauce with toasted bread (trader joes lunch sample)
-one each of three different kinds of ravioli (costco samples with katy)
-one bite of teriyaki chicken (ditto)
-one bite of hot dog (ditto)
-one bite of grilled cheese (ditto)
-12 oz. latte (at $1.10, you just can't turn it down!)
-three (heaping) bites of homemade lasagna (cleaning out the refrigerator)
-one strawberry (had to make sure they were good, right?)
-two clementines (snack)

then on to dinner, at the tuxedos and tennis shoes catering company semi-annual open house, where things started to get really fancy:

-2 oz. of cab sav wine, taster
-one bite sized baby burger on brioche with blue cheese and caramelized onion
-one tiny mugfull of tomato basil soup with bite sized grilled cheese wedge
-one bacon wrapped almond stuffed date
-two petite crab cakes with ginger plum sauce
-assortment of blue/brie/aged cheeses with rustic crackers
-bite of curried chicken satay on a stick
-bite of cuban mojo sandwich (spicy pork!)
-quarter sized bite of vegetarian spring roll with thai dipping sauce
-quarter sized bite of pork dim sum with sweet and sour sauce
-puff pastry straw with parmesan
-smoked mozzarella and kalamata olive "pizzetta" (went back for seconds here too- one of my favorites)
-one bite of new potato stuffed with pancetta, asiago, and sundried tomato
-two bites of roasted garlic and rosemary mashed potatoes
-one bite of orzo with assorted veggies
-couple of green beans with lemon and feta
-three balsalmic glazed mushrooms
-2 oz. chardonnay, taster
-two bites of apple fennel salad
-two bites of roasted carrots with garlic
-two bites of winter beets with roasted apple and blue cheese
-three bites of green salad with dried fruit and pumpkin seeds
-three bites of proscuitto and pea risotto
-two bites of beef with horseradish maple sauce
-two bites of cedar planked salmon with dill sauce
-one (whole) mocha chip cookie
-one (whole) old fashioned chocolate chip cookie
-one (half) sugar cookie

see what i mean???

needless to say, i'm STUFFED. both with lots of tasty bites of fancy food, and lots of fun catering ideas. it certainly not a normal day by any means, but for the foodie in me that likes to taste everything, it sure was a fun one!

 little james gillebo, getting some quality snuggle time with craig.

love,

tracey

a bigger story.

today feels like summertime. the sun is blazing, the sky is a beautiful blue. it's hard to believe that two weeks ago we were all hibernating under 9 inches of snow, and today i'm sitting in my backyard without a coat!

not a cloud in the sky.

mountains in every direction.

yes please!

couldn't pass up the opportunity to sit outside and read. after all, didn't the newspaper recently say we only get 78 sunny days a year?

in other news, i've been reading the bible through chronologically since january 1st. i started a bible in a year plan in january 2010 and enjoyed it quite a bit because it led me through parts of the bible that i don't naturally gravitate toward. i didn't grow up studying the bible, so i get pretty fuzzy when it comes to biblical history, hence why i decided to read it through chronologically. since the bible is out of order with respect to time, i figured it would help me to pull together the big picture in a more complete sense. well, so far i've only read genesis, job, and the first few chapters of exodus, but it's been so neat to (a) see the things i picked up on and the notes that i've made in the past, and (b) see that the more i read and study it, the more i am able to see the faithfulness of God in his big picture plan for his creation.

what has been most on my mind lately is that He provided for his people in ways that they couldn't have seen or known ahead of time. they obeyed in faith, sometimes even with grumbling, and he was faithful to provide, because he had a plan. this has been a lesson for me, as i always want to see how i can provide for myself, a sinful mentality rooted in idolizing security. this idea is one that has been coming up in more than one area of my life, and it plays itself out in my desire to control. whether that's my schedule, time, money, or those around me, it's all rooted in a lack of faith that even when my life is spinning out of control and i am powerless to reign it in to a place where i feel comfortably in charge, God is ALWAYS faithful to provide, even if it's in ways or times that i would never have expected. 

and the best part is, his provision isn't just to meet our needs. it certainly does do that, but it's also part of a much bigger purpose and plan. as i've been reading through genesis, i've seen how God didn't just save joseph from a cistern in the desert so that he wouldn't die there. being kidnapped by his brothers and sold as a slave into egypt wasn't an accident, but rather part of the plan, though who knows if joseph was thinking that at the time. God saved him in that way at that time so that, in turn, the entire nation of israel could be saved from 7 years of famine. and then he continued to act on his promise, leading his people out of slavery in egypt "by a strong hand" so that they could continue to live out his purposes for his glory. and that's where i am now, in exodus 15.

in the same sense, i am where i am for a purpose, and i am part of a bigger plan. life isn't about living in comfort or with status. joseph lived as a slave for much of his life, unable to see the bigger picture until it unfolded before his eyes. Jesus came and lived a life that wasn't glamorous, and ultimately was murdered for speaking truth that inconvenienced people from the selfish purposes they so deeply desired. again, all for a purpose. Jesus died not simply so that we would be able to gain salvation (thought that in itself is magnificent), but that we can live as part of His plan. that we would be filled with the Holy Spirit, enabling us to know the Father in a very personal way. that we would be consistently refined and made more in his likeness. and to enable us to seek and obey the very things he asks of us.

i'm thankful that He doesn't just leave us in our mess. he takes it, and rather than just clean it up and move on, he shows us that He is enough even if things are always messy. because there is a bigger plan, and i'm humbled to be a part of it.

love,

tracey

like it's 1999.

once upon a time (2 weeks ago), i dressed up in 90's clothes, ate some old-school 90's snacks, sang along to some 90's music, and danced the night away like it was 1999.

happy birthday dana!

everyone went all out!

jenny.

this could be in a yearbook.

ring pops!

roomie love.

macarena!

sillies.

love,

tracey

for now and for later.

i love having roommates, because we get to have spontaneous gospel-centered conversations as part of everyday life.

this morning was roomie breakfast at 6am, and we were all quite a bit more chipper than usual because there was a 4 inch thick blanket of snow on the ground that wasn't there last night. (it's not often that i gasp when i open the door.) as usual, it was encouraging to get a snapshot glimpse into each of our lives, something that certainly doesn't happen without the intentionality to make it so, because there are days when i don't see some of my roommates at all! which makes me doubly thankful that we all get up at 6am on wednesdays to eat together.

today, since we're snowed in and all, we relaxed a little more and talked a little longer. more than anything, i think i appreciate the fact that we constantly have the opportunity to remind each other that we serve a sovereign God, and we cannot be outside of his will. that we are filled with the Holy Spirit, and that He is good to reveal the Father's will to us when we are humbly seeking it. that we are loved in bigger ways than we can perceive, and that there is so much freedom in the fact that we serve a God with a bigger purpose than our happiness.

"for what great nation is there that has a god so near to them as the Lord our God is to us, whenever we call upon him?" deut. 4:7

"with him are strength and sound wisdom; the deceived and the deceiver are his." job 12:16

"for the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer." 1 peter 3:12

"if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given to him." james 1:5

not only did Jesus come to bear the consequence for our sins and give us eternal life in the future, but also to enable us to live in freedom now, empowered by the Holy Spirit that gives us the ability and the desire to walk out the life that we are called to.

time to go throw some snowballs :)

love,
tracey

winter wonderland.

a series of disconnected thoughts:

it snowed today! quite a bit. getting home from church was an adventure to say the least, but once dana and i made it safely (with the help of a couple of her strong friends who helped push us around a stalled car), i put on the snow boots and went walking in the winter wonderland.

today started the real marriage sermon series at mars hill, and church was PACKED. the book is currently #1 on the new york times best seller list. i've almost finished reading it, and i'm really looking forward to the series. something that stuck out to me today: it's not about marriage, it's about testimony, in which marriage is one part of a bigger story of God's transforming and redeeming grace.

i have a new pandora station: peter bradley adams.

i had chili in a mug for dinner as i watched huge snowflakes fall from the sky.

today in children's ministry we talked about the trinity, and how just as God exists as three eternal persons in perfect community together, we too are designed to be in relationship, as we are created in God's image. relationships of all kinds are hard, but incredibly refining, and God gives us the Holy Spirit to empower us to love well those who we are in relationship with.

if it wasn't 10pm, i would be upstairs baking something to satisfy my sweet tooth craving.

early morning coffee is my favorite.

that's all for now.

love,
tracey

family photos.

the other day i had the pleasure of taking some family photos for the lovely gillebo family! they're such a fun trio, and so photogenic that it makes my job a piece of cake :) check them out!

what a fun job, to get to watch people be in love and capture it on camera :)

love,

tracey

ransom lane reed.

on january 4th i got to photograph the birth of ransom lane reed, and it was one of the neatest things i think i've ever been a part of. birth is such a miracle!

this is the first time i've gotten to watch a baby grow and develop from start to finish- from the time the reeds first found out they were pregnant to the very day he was born! it was neat to be a part of the process- to see how our bodies are created to grow and develop in a way that protects and nourishes a baby, that it knows exactly when the time comes to give birth, and exactly how to do it. it was pretty amazing to see him come out so perfectly formed, already knowing how to nurse and who to snuggle up to. he's so tiny and precious, and i'm thankful to be able to have been a part of the very first few hours of his life!

family here to help!

1:35pm: welcome to this world, little guy.

newborn exam- happy and healthy! 8.6 pounds, 21 inches long.

a knot in the cord that never tightens, just slides. by design, not coincidence.

tired, happy, and a little surreal.

close friends came over after a while to meet the brand new reed! we had a glass of a wine called ransom and cut into a happy birthday ransom ice cream cake.

he is TINY compared to 6 month old james. destined to be best friends.

finally.

love,

tracey