Humbling, forgotten quote

"The single greatest cause of atheism in the world today is Christians who acknowledge Jesus with their lips, then walk out the door, and deny him by their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable."
-Fr. Brennan Manning

lunch break ramblings 2/13/13

A few students from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School are going to Israel for Spring Break. I decided today that Aaron and I really need to go on this trip one of the [many, many] years we're here. Also on the list of places to travel:

• New Zealand
• Australia
• United Kingdom
• Switzerland
• India
• Mexico
• Italy
• Oregon

Also, Rory shared this with me on Facebook, so I share it with you. 

<"

lunch break ramblings 2/12/13

Today I'm feeling a bit awkward and seeing some dumb yet benign mistakes surface around me in my financial aid counseling duties of the semester. If I was the host of a show this morning, I would have probably acted much like the following:


Ah, well. 

<"

2013 and what-not

It's January 2013, puppies and kitties. A year has passed yet again; I'm now a little older, a little wiser, and full with ambitious strategies to "make myself a better/more well-rounded/less dorky person". Unless dorkiness is a good thing? Is that something people are aspiring to now? If so, then I hope the completion of my goals will make me a more dorky person. Unless, of course, I become overwhelmingly dorky, and let that overshadow the "better" or "well-rounded" part of the person who I want to be. Nevermind. I just want to be good, knowledgeable, and approachable (which may involve me being a tad dorky). And then gain some sweet skills. No arguing with that, right? Right.

ANYway, 2012. What happened in our lives that year? Some stuff happened. Some stuff didn't happen. Let's review the stuff that happened:

• Epic Garden 2012 was attempted and, overall, I'd call it a success. For never having a green thumb which I could call my own before this point, I was able to learn about and facilitate the growth of some wonderfully healthy vegetable plants from seed to fruit development. I would change an awful lot in the season ahead (which really would just involve better planning on my part), but generally I am happy with how it all turned out. 
• In April I was able to spend a long spring break weekend in the great City of New York with my best friends from college. My hope is that this will be an annual trip, not exclusive to New York necessarily. 
• We were able to host a lot of people in our home over the year from family members to dear friends from Grove City College. One of my best friends, Megan, got married in August and my house was full of GCC people and I never wanted them to leave. 
• Speaking of weddings, it was a big summer for the Dean and Rapsas families. My brother got married to an old friend of mine from church camp in July, and a week later Aaron's brother got married to his wonderful Ashley. 
• In November I changed jobs from working as the Administrative Assistant (I preferred the title "Gatekeeper", but I was the only one on board with that) at a pediatric therapeutic clinic and day school to becoming a Financial Aid Counselor at a graduate school. I am thrilled in my new position (One reason = Business cards!).
• Aaron and I renewed our house lease for the next two years. I love me the security in that.
• Aaron became his favorite professor's graduate assistant, and is getting more on track in preparing to apply for doctoral programs in fall 2013.
• We continued to get more solidified in our church's Life Group and become better friends with the fantastic and goofy young adults in our church community.

Etc Etc Etc. So now I'm at the start of the journey through 2013, looking ahead at all of the forks in the road, deer crossing signs, and No Passing Zones that lay before me. Though I may have just lost sight of the metaphor, I know by looking at my Evernote docs and Pinterest boards that I have lofty ambitions for 2013, so much so that I've allowed myself to extend the "deadline", so to speak, to my 30th birthday (July 15th, 2016. I think?). I'll share a few now, a few later. So here are some:

• Read a classic book every month until my 30th birthday. This equals to 42 books. Side note: I already finished my first month's book! The Great Gatsby was a super quick read, and I just came back from the library with A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway. Aaron asked if I was going to wait until February before starting my next book... though tempting (I could totally use the time to further my drumming abilities in Rock Band--Lego Edition), I decided to keep chugging along in case one of the books on my list is a particularly slow read (I'm looking at you, Dostoevsky, no matter how unjustified!).

• Read through the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation. The reading plans that take you through the Bible in a year have always been somewhat intimidating to me, even though I pride myself in being a quick reader, since I try to read this more intentionally than, say, The Great Gatsby. 3 years seems much more my pacing for this particular goal.
• Learn how to appreciate poetry. I have no idea how to read or compose poetry. at. all. I like Rudyard Kipling because his poetry rhymes. I like songs. I like Dr. Seuss. I don't understand poetry meters, and I couldn't separate a masterpiece of a poem from a poorly-written one. 
• Start running. My main reason for not attempting this yet has been a whiny "but I don't have running shoes! Or workout clothes!" Or ENDURANCE. A friend of mine has wanted to start a running club, so that would be a good entry point. But I want to start running since it's one of the more accessible forms of exercise, and because I have an unhealthy love of sitting.
• Be more intentional about my higher education goals. I want to go back to school and get my Masters degree. In what? In everything. And that's the problem. I want to hammer out my interests, my skills, my career goals and figure this whole thing out, even if, in the end, I realize that graduate school is not for me.
• Learn how to sew. I got a Sewing for Dum-Dum Heads type of book for Christmas. First I need to learn how to sew all the buttons back onto my winter coat. Then I want to learn how to make skirts because I can never find any that I like. Then I want to make and give stuffed animals. 

Etc. Etc.!

So that's a start. I hope to make it a point to track my progress on these resolutions and introduce others once a month. Until then!

<"

Random Thought About God

Goodness. The new Mumford and Sons album is wonderful.

You know what else is wonderful? The people God chose to surround us with here in Illinois. This week in particular was a rough one for me, and I found myself somewhat perturbed at the Almighty Creator of the universe for not answering a prayer the way I thought necessary for this time and place in my life. Not a prayer of safety or health, mind you, but a prayer outlining and begging for a preference. And when it didn't go my way, I got angry. Which I'm sure isn't wrong per se, but when I think of it in the grand scheme of things, it makes my request seem minute and even silly. Despite its seeming insignificance in light of, say, world hunger and countries ravaged by civil war, God chooses to still care about the disappointments that I face. That we all face. And in my experience he chooses to show his care through people. My friends here, who found out about the way God answered my prayer, showered me with love and encouragement this latter half of the week with kind words and goofy youtube videos, and it's not just telling about how awesome they are, but also how involved God wants to be in all the aspects of my life. He's not just my Savior or my Lord or even my Doctor, but also the Friend that knows me better than I know myself, who remembers me and forgives me when I so constantly forget about him. My friends' goodness to me is a beautiful shadow of these relational aspects of Jesus, who loves me wholly and isn't around to merely be a hero, or to boss me around, or to tell me to stop whining and grow up (though I definitely need to be told that more often than I'd like to admit).

Anyhow, it's been a while. Hopefully I'll get my act together and post regularly, especially since it took me forever to draw that pangolin in the first place!

<"   

It's a bird! It's a plane!

No, it's......

SUPER PANCAKE!!

A half-successful attempt at making crepe-style pancakes (à la this)! It's half successful in that the amount of batter I had was meant to make about six 8"-9" pancakes but I only ended up with two edible ones. The demise of the other four was the result of poor heat distribution on the part of the pan and general amateur skill level on the part of the cook. NEVERTHELESS, the two pancakes that made the cut were not only cooked properly without burnination, but were also extremely tasty and filling. And it was a hit with the husband, which is always a good thing.

This contains vanilla yogurt, nut and dried raspberry granola, fresh strawberries and raspberries, and a whole lotta love.

Weekly Menu: May 6-May 12

It's been a super long time since we've made pizza, and I'm sad to say that I haven't ever made pizza dough from scratch. I plan on changing this sorry fact this week, with the help of one of my most excellent Alton Brown Good Eats books.

Sunday: Breakfast for Dinner (crepe style buttermilk pancakes with berries and vanilla yogurt?!? Inspired by an episode of Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives that I half-watched yesterday)
Monday: French Onion Soup, crock pot styles
Tuesday: Balsamic Chicken with Pasta
Wednesday: night off--Mexican restaurant with friends
Thursday: TV Night with awesome people! Lots and lots of baked Chicken Macaroni and Cheese
Friday: Pizza
Saturday: the proverbial Left-Over Night :)