Happiness = Painted Toenails

It's a little ironic that I'm writing this post on one of the coldest days of this month so far, but I'm excited that it has been warm enough at other times this month to bring out my flip flops and bare toes from their winter hibernation! And of course with their re-appearance comes the desire for some colorful adornment. I had planned to take care of this early last week but just never got around to it. So when I was in Maryland this past weekend visiting friends and family, and my four-year-old cousin wanted to paint my toenails I figured, why not? Though she regularly has colorful finger and toe nails, thanks to her mom, I don't think she actually does much of the painting. I was aware of this going into it, but they are toenails after all. No one is looking at them that closely. (Believe me. No one wants to get close to my stinky gross feet.) Aside from my having to wipe away some drips and globs, she actually did a decent job with only a little help. And I was pretty amused and pleased with her (totally self-sufficient) choice of two alternating colors. Now whenever I look at my feet I'm reminded of my favorite four-year-old and I smile.

Signs of Spring

Eating More Simply

Several of my bloggy friends have been writing lately about eating more "real" food, as in food that is either bought and eaten as is (fruit, vegetables) and food that isn't processed and pre-packaged. I think it would be very difficult to get rid of all processed foods from my life, and that's not what they're doing either, but it isn't hard to make a few changes here and there. Some of it is just realizing I actually can make some of things I buy in the store, like granola. So that's what I made! I recently purchased the More-with-Less and Simply in Season cookbooks from the Mennonite community.






More-with-Less basically does what the title says, and gives a lot of "real" food recipes. That's where I got my granola recipe. There are a few different granola recipes in the book so I looked at them and adapted them to my tastes. It was VERY easy to make, and as someone who doesn't really love baking/cooking, I like easy! I'll likely experiment with different ingredients in the future, but for this batch, I did the following:

Preheat oven to 325
Mix together in large bowl:
4 c. rolled oats
1 c. wheat germ
1 c. sliced almonds
1 c. sunflower seeds
Bring to a boil:
1 c. honey
1/2 c. oil
1 T cinnamon
Pour honey mixture over dry ingredients and mix thoroughly. Spread on 2 greased cookie sheets. Bake about 30 minutes, stirring often. (*I stirred every 10 minutes, and ended up only baking for about 25 minutes.) Watch closely toward the end, not allowing the granola to become too dark. Allow to cool, then break into chunks.

This made a batch probably about the equivalent in size of two of the boxes I would buy in the store, and I still have leftovers of all the ingredients for future batches. I have raisins, and bought some dried cranberries, but didn't include them in the mix because I figure those are things I can add in as I eat it. It's tasty, easy, better for me, and (I'm pretty sure) more economical.

I look forward to trying out making my own yogurt next! I'm also hoping to try some of the spring recipes in the Simply in Season book. The idea for this book is also probably obvious by the title, it's focusing recipes around produce that's in season. Some of the produce in season in spring that I especially enjoy are strawberries, lettuce/spinach/greens, peas, and mushrooms. Do you have any favorite recipes that highlight spring produce?

P is for Productive

For the first time in a while, I had a whole weekend free! Add to that, the weather was gorgeous here in Philly so that helped put me in a good mood. And my roommate was away for part of the weekend so I even had the house to myself for a bit (I love my roommie, but every now and then it's nice to be alone.) All this added up to my being very productive, especially around the house. The things I accomplished included: dusting, organizing/filing some papers, cleaning the kitchen and bathroom, laundry, cleaning off the porch and the furniture out there, planting some lettuce in a "window box" for on the porch, making some birthday cards, running 10 miles (3 on Friday, 7 on Saturday), walking to church, playing some basketball, reading for classes, and making granola. The weekend was capped off Sunday evening with chicken and potatoes cooked on the grill on our back deck. I'm thankful for times that I can get things done and feel like I accomplished something, and still do things for myself that I enjoy, and spend some time outside.

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.
  

Gettin' Dirty

I apologize that I haven't posted in a while. I honestly haven't had much to write about that I thought would be interesting to read.

This is a picture of the raised garden beds that are now part of my internship church's property. It's very exciting. :) Church members can use the beds for growing vegetables, and whatever is leftover or not wanted will be given out with other items from our food pantry.





I have never gardened before. We had ample yard space where I grew up, but apparently my parents weren't into it. I was always kind of fascinated by gardening, and thought people who did it were cool, but never really had a desire to try it myself... until this year. I think my Better Homes and Gardens and Martha Stewart Living magazines pushed me over the edge with their articles on gardening in your back yard. So I decided to try it, and with the raised beds there for use, I finally got my hands dirty last weekend and planted some green beans, lettuce, and spinach. I was going to plant some tomatoes also, but someone else already planted several, so I didn't think it was necessary to plant more. And now I just wait and see if anything actually grows!






(Sadie enjoying the sun while I was planting.)

He is risen!

Happy Easter (and spring) to all! Christ is risen! Alleluia!

This was my first time really experiencing Holy Week as someone in pastoral ministry. When I worked as a youth director I didn't really have any extra responsibilities during Holy Week so I was still able to reflect and worship as I had every other year. This year was a little different. But I was determined to still be able to observe Holy Week and worship as I usually would as much as possible. It was a little difficult, because I did have to preach on Maundy Thursday and had many other responsibilities for worship leadership. I knew I would likely be putting in more than 40 hours, so I made sure to take time for myself, and worked a little less during time slots I normally would, because of all the extra time at church toward the end of the week. I think I was pretty successful at performing my leadership tasks and still being able to reflect on the meaning of the days and worship. I hope, whether you had tasks to do or not, that you were able to do the same!