5, 6, 7

I've made a little bit of progress on my list in the last few days. I should be adding at least one more finished book very soon. Over this past weekend I tried my first new recipe of the year: Butternut Squash Risotto. I think it sounds really fancy, but it was actually pretty easy to make. And I honestly wasn't sure whether I would like it, but it was really good. (I realize that picture doesn't make it look super appetizing, but trust me.) It doesn't really work for leftovers though, so next time I'll have to make it when it's not just me.


Also over the weekend, I finally spent a few hours with my sewing machine (and old episodes of Bones on Netflix) and completed 8 blocks of my mystery quilt, which also means I can move on to the next "clue" (which is 8 more different-patterned blocks).


And as you can see from this last picture, I finally got over being intimidated by knitting cables! It's not on my list, but it's trying something new. I found a simple pattern to try as a dishcloth, and its not hard at all! Granted, there are other cable-stitch patterns that are more complicated, but now I'm not so afraid to try them.

Try, Try Again

Today I tried using my breadmaker for the first time to actually bake a loaf of wheat bread. I've used it before, but just to make dough. Unfortunately, something happened and the machine either burned out or blew a fuse or something (still trying to figure that out) and I couldn't finish the baking cycle. It appeared that it had mixed everything together and the dough had risen, and it just needed to be baked. So I tried taking it out of the machine and putting it in the oven to bake. I'm not sure yet whether it worked, I think I have to wait for it to cool to test it. I also started a new knitting pattern today. I have some friends who I need to make some baby gifts for, and I decided to try some new items/patterns instead of making the same stuff I always do. In the (unlikely) chance that they read this, I'll have to wait until they get the gifts to post about them more specifically. These two things I've tried today are very small in the grand scheme of life, but it got me thinking about willingness to try. I think that maybe a big reason so many people are afraid to change or try new things is because of the possibility of failure. Nobody likes to fail, myself included, but if we live our lives out of fear we miss out on endless potential experiences. I think most of us could probably work more at trying new things, large and small.

Whoops!

I realized that today is the last day of February and I haven't posted at all this month! I have thought about posting several times, but I guess I never got motivated enough to write. As for how I filled my time this month, it was pretty much life as usual. Pastoring, trying to spend time with friends when possible, cleaning/organizing, taking care of my dog, going to the gym, reading and knitting. I hosted a Super Bowl party for some friends at the beginning of the month. Even though the Steelers didn't win, it was a good game, and I was glad to be able to play hostess. I also hosted some close friends from seminary for a visit just this past weekend. It was really nice to have visitors in the winter! As for crafty things, I haven't had the sewing machine out in a while, but I'm looking forward to a quilting retreat at the end of March. And in the meantime, I've been able to complete several knitting projects that had been laying around unfinished for a while (one since last spring, yikes). And as for reading, after I finished the Harry Potter series (and subsequently watched all the movies) in the fall, I decided I wanted to read through the Chronicles of Narnia series by CS Lewis. I am sure I have read at least one of the books in the past (when I was much yonger), but I know I haven't read through the whole series, so that's my current reading goal. Health and fitness-wise, I've been pretty consistent about getting to the gym this month (or outside on the few warmer days) and running 3-4 days a week and strength training 1-2 days a week. Now I need to start focusing on increasing my mileage, since I haven't really done any long runs all winter. And finally an update on my home organizing/de-cluttering plan: I've made it through the kitchen, dining room, living room, bathrooms, and 2 bedrooms. I only have 2 spaces left to tackle, but they may be the 2 most difficult: the garage (primarily storage) and the 3rd bedroom/office (also has a closet full of storage). Wish me luck! ;)

Highlights

Here's what has been happening in my life in these last few busy weeks:

• Philly has had a taste of spring! All the snow is gone, and we've had a mixture of some rain and some sunny days. This has helped me get back to a running routine, to start training for the Broad Street Run in May, which is 10 miles.
  
• I was invited back to my internship congregation to preach, and enjoyed visiting with the wonderful people there.
  
• I learned that TWO of my seminary friends are pregnant! This is in addition to my cousin, and my high school friend. All four are due around the end of summer/beginning of fall. Congrats, ladies! You're all in my prayers!
• I'm on break this week, aka "Reading Week". My intention was to be super productive, but I'm also sick, so that will come after I recover a bit more.
  
• I have been assigned to the New Jersey Synod of the ELCA! This synod was one of my top choices, so I'm excited. I think it helps that I'm somewhat familiar with the synod and the people since I did internship there. New Jersey is all I know at this point. I will be in conversation with the Synod staff more about a potential congregation in the coming days.
• I've continued to knit and sew. I've completed two more projects in my sewing class (a bag and a pillow that you can see below), and just have to put the finishing touches on another. Tomorrow is my last class, so I'm excited to see what we'll make. (Also hoping I'm feeling at least a little better by then!) Also, keep an eye out for my next post. I have extra material to make smaller versions of the zippered bag and I'm thinking that since my next post will be my 50th I should do a giveaway.
  

Needling around: Part 2

In addition to my new sewing projects, I am still continuing to knit and crochet. Since I haven't posted about these projects lately I thought I'd share some. I recently finished a hat for myself. I love the bulky yarn I picked for it, and it will make the hat nice and warm. However, it was a little difficult to work with, especially since it was my first project on circular and double-pointed needles. I have some yarn with colors in it that will complement the hat's color, that I plan to make a scarf and mittens from. I'm also still working on a prayer shawl I started a long time ago. It's been a long process because I keep getting bored with it and set it aside for a while, since it needs to be so large. I'm hoping to finish it within the next month though, so I'll update you with a picture once it's finished. The other picture below is of some cotton yarn I found when I was at Michael's buying some sewing supplies. I have lots of this same kind of yarn for making dishcloths, but I thought this color pattern was so pretty I had to buy it. I'm using it currently to try a crocheted dishcloth (I've always knitted them until now).

Winter blues

I am definitely someone who is affected by the weather and sunshine, or lack thereof. I don't think it's quite to the point of a disorder (what's it called, seasonal affective disorder?), but how can my mood not be impacted by the mounds of snow and cold air and very little sun? Yes, I enjoyed the snow a bit, but now I'm annoyed, because I literally am limited to places I can walk to. My car isn't going anywhere anytime soon. Not only has my street not been plowed, but even the more traveled streets in the area are sheets of ice. So I'm antsy. Cause I'm stuck.

Honestly, it should be to my benefit that I'm stuck, because I have some assignments left from my January class that are due later this month. But, I'm lacking motivation. Instead I'm reading for other classes, doing my taxes, knitting (working on a hat for myself, and trying to finish a prayer shawl), and, of course, blogging.

I'm also antsy because Assignment Day looms and draws ever closer. Assignment Day is the day when all those ELCA seminarians who have been approved for ordination and are entering the call process will be assigned to a Region of the country (and then a Synod). And Assignment Day is coming up on Tuesday. I really do trust the process, and I know that God will use me wherever I end up. However, this does not completely alleviate all anxiety, for me, or my classmates. It will all work out, it will. But that doesn't mean it will be easy.

Domestic Diva

This is totally who I've been lately. I've recently baked a banana bread and brownies, and also made a veggie lasagna when I had friends over for dinner the other day. It was my first lasagna, and turned out well. I'm proud of myself. :) My knitting has been going well too, I've made two more hats for little ones and my first set of mittens. I've also made some more dishcloths, including a round one, which I think looks pretty cool (thanks Katy)! I finally made something for myself too. I crocheted a hat from a video I found online, and I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.

My first hat

Yesterday I finished knitting my first hat! I did a very basic pattern, and one that didn't require my using any special double pointed or circular needles... someday I'll graduate to those! ;) Even though it was fairly simple, I'm pretty proud of myself. I can finally make more than just scarves and dishcloths! I made the hat for my little cousin, to match the scarf I just made her, and both are pink. And I actually just learned some basic crochet stitches the other day, so I found a video online that shows you how to crochet flowers, and after some trial and error, I made a cute little pink flower and attached it to the hat. I think it adds a nice little touch.

From snow to sun, and back again!

Following the cold, gray days of last week, we finally had some great weather on Sunday and Monday. Here at the shore it was sunny and in the 50's! I took advantage of the unusual warmth and spent some time outside taking Sadie for a walk and playing catch with her, and breaking out my shorts to go for a run. I think the weather had both of us a little amped up. I'm looking forward to consistently warmer days so I can get back to a regular running schedule (I don't typically run when its in the 30's or less... not a fan of the cold). In the meantime, I've been doing a workout video three days a week. Its by the trainer Jillian from the tv show The Biggest Loser. She's scary on that show and I figured it would motivate me to have her yelling at me. It's going ok so far. I lost a few pounds pretty quickly at the beginning but haven't lost any more since then (I've been using it for about a month now), but I'm hoping that's at least partly because it doesn't just do cardio but also strength training so I'm building muscle. It has three levels of workouts and I'm on level 2. It's hard enough that I'm afraid to see what level 3 will be like, but curiosity may get the better of me one of these days soon.
I knew that warm weather wouldn't last, and today I woke up to snow flurries. There's just a light dusting on the ground right now, but its supposed to snow most of the day so they're predicting up to 4 inches. We'll see what happens. Luckily, I don't have anything scheduled that requires me to drive anywhere today (living next to the church is convenient at times like this). Now those in ministry will know that doesn't meant something can't come up, but at this point I should be able to spend most of the day planning, etc. and working on my mid-year evaluation. We're also doing a baptism today (yay!) for an adult who works on weekends and therefore can't attend Sunday worship.
Other than work today, I'll probably continue working on my two current knitting projects. I'm almost done with a dishcloth, and I'm also working on a scarf for my little cousin. I recently finished the scarf for my mom, so I plan to send that to her this week. (Do you notice a pattern here? At this point in my knitting, I only know how to make scarves and dishcloths!) I also did end up making those cookies last week. It was a mix that came with everything layered in one jar and all I had to add was butter and an egg. They're pretty crazy cookies, cause they have just about everything in them (mini M&Ms, chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, and chopped walnuts), but they're delicious! I also did some scrapbooking with my outside-of-the-church group last night. I'm working on some Christmas layouts, I'll post pictures of them when I've done more later.
Here are pictures of the scarf for my mom, and the crazy cookies!


And oh yeah...

GO STEELERS!!!
Six-time Super Bowl Champs! :)

New Year, New York and (K)nitting

Happy New Year! May God bless you in 2009!

I've been enjoying some time off from my internship. After helping with three Christmas Eve services, I drove from NJ to western PA early Christmas morning. I've spent a week at home at my parents, mostly relaxing, hanging out with family and friends, reading, knitting, and eating more goodies than I should (but, hey, it's the holidays).


This is a picture of one of the dishcloths I knitted my mom for Christmas (thanks, Katy, for the pattern). I decided to make her two of these, since I knew I wouldn't be getting a scarf done for her by Christmas. I am currently working on her scarf though, and hoping to finish up within the next week or two (I don't get all that much time during the day to knit) and then I'll mail it to her. I also bought yarn to make a Steelers-colored scarf for my dad.




This is the first knitting project I ever finished. It's a scarf that I made for my friend Mandy. I worked on it frantically in order to finish it before she came to visit me in Jersey the weekend before Christmas.

Mandy had to make quite the trek out from western PA so I was really grateful for her visit. We had a great time, even though most of the time we just hung around. On Saturday though, we did head up to New York City! Even though it was really cold that day we enjoyed walking around and seeing the sites like the Empire State Building, Macy's, Saks, Radio City Music Hall, St Patrick's Cathedral, Rockefeller Center, and Times Square. We also got reduced-price tickets to see the musical Spring Awakening!




I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas! I know my vacation has gone by way too fast. I will soon be heading back to Jersey and back to the busy intern life. Amongst the busy-ness of ministry, I will try to update my blog as often as I can.

Crafty Creations

I found some ladies in my area to scrapbook with, which has been really great because it's something to do with non-church people (and by that I just mean people who aren't members of my internship congregation), and it's got me scrapping again. I'm several years behind in my scrapbooking, because I haven't had time to do it regularly since I started seminary. So hopefully I can make some progress this year. The following pictures are two of the layouts I made recently.
I have also continued my knitting. I'm making a lot of progress now. Unfortunately, I can't post pictures yet of what I'm making because I'm giving them as Christmas gifts to people who might read this blog. ;) I'll take pictures of my finished products and post them after they're been received as gifts.

New in November

I know I haven't posted in a while so this will just be a general update on what's been going on with me and with my internship.

As you can see in the picture, I recently learned to knit! Several ladies at my internship congregation knit, as do a few of my friends, and they've all been encouraging me to try, so I finally gave in. It was a little slow going at first, because every time I made a mistake I had to wait until I saw the woman who is teaching me so she could fix it. Needless to say, I didn't make much progress for a while. But then she showed me how to fix my mistakes (the little ones, anyway) so things are moving along a little better now. I'm enjoying it so far, but I'm still pretty slow, so I have to be patient. It would be great if I could get a few scarves made before Christmas, but at this point I'll be happy if I can finish just this one! :)

We hosted a community Thanksgiving eve service at my internship congregation, and I was in charge of organizing it. It was not only ecumenical (more than one denomination) but also interfaith (more than one faith). We had clergy from Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, United Church of Christ, Episcopal, Roman Catholic, and Lutheran churches and we had an Imam from an Islamic center. Normally there would have been Jewish representation as well, but the Rabbi was unable to attend. It was awesome to have everyone worshipping together. It was a well-attended service and we received a lot of positive responses.

This was the first Thanksgiving that I did not spend with my family. Though I have a few days off, the drive from the Jersey shore back to Bville (and then to Ohio, where my family usually heads for the holiday) would have been too long to make for just a few days. I miss my family and I'm looking forward to heading home for the week between Christmas and New Years. Since I was an orphan for the day, a friend from my internship congregation invited me to have dinner with her family. We had all the traditional Thanksgiving fare and it was delicious.

Today I decided to brave the crowds and start my Christmas shopping. I waited to head out until about noon, because I figured all the crazy people who got going at 5am would either be leaving or stopping to have lunch by then. Though I did have to park like a mile away in the parking lot, and the mall was definitely busy, it wasn't too bad. The only long line I had to wait in was at my first stop, JCPenney, and I think it was mostly because their big sales were ending at 1pm. The lines at the other stores weren't bad at all, and by the time I left the mall and made it to Target, the crowds were thinning significantly. In addition to several gifts, I also got great deals on a pair of jeans and a couple seasons of "Friends" for myself. I think it was a successful outing.