Finished!

Remember the ten hours of knitting I whipped out during the flight home from Australia? Remember how I hadn't finished that first sock and was afraid that I wouldn't have time to finish it or the matching pair after vacation...

Well guess what!? I finished it! Not just it, but both of them! I would have done this sooner, but I left my knitting bag at my parent's house for a month. Yes, A MONTH! Which, if you were wondering, is why there were so many food related posts in October. Less knitting equals more cooking.

I'll also take a moment to apologize for the less than stellar backdrop of these photos. I finally met up with my parents at the beach cabin and this is when I was able to get my knitting bag and finish up the last bit of toe on the second sock. This is also where I took the pictures. I'm sure you're thinking: well she knit her husband wool socks, surely he must be so ecstatic about this that he'd be willing to wear them all around the cabin to find the perfect backdrop for a picture. Well if you were thinking that, then you were wrong. He was only kind of willing to wear them for a few minutes while I snapped a couple of photos. In his defense, he'd already had socks on and my photo shoot was holding him up from something like food or loading up the car or something manly.

Blake used to give me a really hard time because I'm always making things for other people, but I'd never made anything for him. Well, I started crocheting him a pair of socks about a year and a half ago, before I even started knitting, but less than halfway through crocheting the sock I knew they'd be too small and not very stretchy. It was tedious work to crochet socks and I didn't love the idea of undoing the work, but also couldn't see finishing it. So there it sat, while many other people had their items finished. I did eventually make him a couple of beanies, but I felt like I needed to finish the sock project before I'd really be off the hook.

I kind of doubt he'll wear them, but that's okay. Everyone's first socks turn out a little less than perfect, so it's ideal that he doesn't plan on wearing them too much. The next pair will be better, I'm sure (these are a little saggy in the arches).

Yarn: Kroy Socks by Patons. Weight: super fine (1).
Colorway: Slate Jacquard 

Miraculously, they are pretty close to matching.
A common mishap of first socks is that they are
different sizes or misshapen.

They fit!

Quilts for Uganda

Today was so much fun, I just have to share!

A group from our church is going to Uganda and they want to bring as many as 300 quilts with them! So today a group of women, myself included, got together and quilted our hearts out. It was so organized! Some people were at stations for sewing, some were ironing, some were tying, some were cutting, some were matching backs to quilt fronts and some were measuring batting.

I was so excited by the idea of just sewing all day. In the end I followed one quilt through the whole process and then sewed one more quilt top and finished three other quilts (top/batting/back/edging together).

In total we made about 30 quilts! Some of them aren't very pretty.. either the fabric is a total throw back to the 80s, the corners don't line up, or they were a total hodge podge of fabrics that just needed to get used up (it was all donated). However, some of them were very lovely and done quite nicely. We were laughing because I'm sure that the ones that we think are pretty the folks in Uganda will think are drab, and the ones we think are too bright or rather hideous the folks in Uganda will probably love.

I can't tell you how much fun it was to quilt all day, skip the steps I dislike the most, not worry about what to do with the finished product and to just walk away from the mess (there were other volunteers for cleaning up). I think that quilting is fun, but I don't actually need a quilt right now, nor do I have the space to lay it all out, store the fabric etc, and I don't have all the right tools. So it was great to go enjoy it for a day with little commitment. ;)

Here are some pictures:

The whole group

As the wall says: Layering and Tying

Sewing and Ironing

Here's the quilt I started

and finished! I didn't have to layer it, but I did
tie it later :)

Surrender

The world will tell you to look within yourself, that you have all you need inside to accomplish your dreams and to achieve happiness.

I agree that we humans are powerful creatures. We were, after all, created by a powerful God. Yet, I have found that the more I look within myself for answers, power and happiness the more I .... keep looking.

The real power in our lives comes when we make the choice to surrender. It's a powerful thing to submit all of your being to the One who made you. To harness that power and give the control to Someone who can direct it and make something of it.

Sure I have the capability to create my own destiny, make a difference and strive for happiness, but what a mess I make on my own and what a short, insignificant story I would write.

Our lives here are brief, but my life in eternity is forever. I want to make a difference that lasts beyond time, beyond the world's idea of happiness.

I have the choice to seek myself, or to seek the One that will be found.

I have the choice to struggle in my own strength, or I can surrender wholly to the one that knows my strength best.

I have the choice to be wild and powerful, or to be wildly under the eternal power of Jesus.

My choice has been made. It took me too long to realize I can't serve myself and Him. I finally understand that there's no way to be but all-in.

I SURRENDER my life, for a better one.

100 Reasons

In celebration of my one hundredth post, here are one hundred reasons why I enjoy blogging.
What!? You don't think I can come up with one hundred reasons? Ya, me either. Here goes...

1. Spellchecker. My journal doesn't have it.
2. Digital archiving is great.
3. Searchable personal history.
4. More organized than journals.
5. It's chronological, all in one place.
6. Improves personal history recall. 
7. I like that the audience changes over time.
8. I also like that audience participation is completely optional - no obligation to read a boring post.
9. I understand my thoughts better when I format them for another perspective.
10. Keeps me in touch with friends,
11. and family.
12. I have two rules, 1. write like both no one and everyone is reading it and 2: no complaining. I've deleted more than one post before its publication due to these rules, which helps me identify bad attitudes and turn them around.
13. Typing out, looking up or referencing Bible verses has helped me memorize more of them.
14. I am more aware of my endangered vocabulary.
15. Makes me pay attention to life's details (in case I blog about the event) causing a 'stop-and-smell-the-roses' effect.
16. I'm better about taking pictures of things (in case I blog about it).
17. Fills time when I can't sleep.
18. Justifies the packing of my laptop everywhere.
19. Fills time when I can't knit/crochet/cook (hey, that could be three).
20. Challenges my creativity.
21. Develops my writing skills.
22. When I look for positives to blog about, I find them.
23. Encourages humility, or causes humiliation... one or the other.
24. Gives a testimony to God's changing work on my life.
25. Random is okay.
26. Verbosity is okay (thank goodness!).
27. Taciturnity is okay too, although much less common here. Only with certain topics.
28. Brevity is not required; it is unattainable but nevertheless attempted.
29. Saves my husband from hearing every little inane detail.
30. Gives me a reason to analyze my thoughts (as if I needed one) ;).
31. Keeps me honest and accountable.
32. My blog doesn't nag when I neglect it.
33. Nothing dies when I don't give it attention (unlike my hobbies of gardening and sourdough bread making).
34. Gives me a replacement behavior for checking Facebook.
35. Keeps me from saying too much on Facebook.
36. Helped me understand and learn some HTML.
37. Takes my mind off of work when needed (not while at work though).
38. Gives me a reason to think of 100 reasons why I like blogging (what, it counts!)
39. Gives me a deeper appreciation for the amazing blogs I read, particularly those that post frequently.
40. Heightens my awareness of Internet security/privacy or lack thereof.
41. Keeps me from buying yarn that I don't need, want badly and can't store until I use up what I already have.
42. Gives me a teeny-tiny sense of purpose on my lazy days.
43. Because you can't have too many hobbies. Right?
44. Pushes me to complete thoughts that would otherwise get lost in my mind clutter.
45. Negates the need to purchase special journaling pens/pencils/notebooks etc of which I already have too many and don't use those because, then they'd be gone or used.
46. Much easier editing a blog than pen/cil and paper.
47. I enjoy the occasional feedback on thoughts. 
48. Gives me reason to check my email - in case I get a comment notification.
49. Makes feel in charge because I can change the rules whenever I want. Like now: I think I'll stop this list at fifty.
50. Blog writing is great because it's not for everyone. I used to scoff at it, but now.. look at all the reasons I enjoy it! 

Okay.. not 100, but I'd hate to see number ninety-nine if I'd continued. Anyway, you get the point. Here's to one hundred more posts and continued growth.

Bainbridge Visit

This weekend we had a last minute change in plans and ended up going to Seattle to see a friend and to Bainbridge Island to spend a few nights with my aunt and uncle. It was a fantastic mini-getaway!

Friday night we met Whitney for dinner at a Brazilian restaurant, Amazon Grill, that we've been wanting to try for a long time now. We refer to the style of eating at a Brazilian restaurant as a, "meat parade" because they are known for their special mesquite roasting style, huge meat selection and table-side service. If you order the 'meat parade', actually called Rodízio, the chefs walk around with one of the seventeen styles of meat and offer you slices of it at your table. It was as outstanding as we'd imagined and both agree that our favorite meat was the cheese steak, but they were all delicious. There is also an extensive fruit, veggie and cheese salad bar to balance out all that protein.

After we were stuffed with protein and fully smelling like mesquite, we rolled ourselves made our way toward the ferry and headed over to Bainbridge Island.

Bainbridge Island is just across the sound from Seattle. I lived there during my grad school internships, thanks to the generosity of my aunt and uncle. It is a beautiful location and my aunt and uncle, Sandy and Rodney, are exceptional hosts!

We spent the morning shooting at the Bainbridge Gun Club, ran some errands and then headed down to the water to enjoy the gorgeous Fall weather and the sunset. The men were in charge of appetizers and the women were in charge of dinner. We had such a fantastic time catching up, cooking and enjoying the view. Here are some pictures of the evening:

All bundled up and ready to smell like smoke

The new stairs, my uncle has been
working on for a while now. He carries
the concrete down bag by bag!

The spread that the boys put on. Pretty nice!

The new fire pit.

Feet up, enjoying the fire and the view.

My favorite part of sunset is just before
it sets and everything is washed in yellow.
It seems like all the colors around are
brighter just then.

A perfect evening. 

A view of the Olympics as the sun sets.

Refreshing

Have you ever walked away from an interaction, situation, setting or meal and thought to yourself, "How refreshing!"

I just did and it made me think about the other things that make me feel refreshed.

  Ice cold sparkling water with lime

  A hot shower

  A conversation with someone who understands the simplicity and peace of life with Christ

  A clear, bright day with green grass or trees next to a lake or river

  Plain frozen yogurt with fresh berries

  A light cold breeze on a hot day

  Anything citrus

  Waking up to crisp mountain air surrounded by God's handiwork

  Seeing eye-to-eye or understanding a common history with an acquaintance or stranger

  Lightly vanilla syrup sweetened ice tea

  The world through the eyes and mouths of babes

  Walking through the falling snow with a latte in one hand and my husband in another

  Crawling into fresh, clean, cold, crisp sheets and falling fast asleep


And on that note.. I think I'll try that last one {sigh}... ahh.

How refreshing!

Goodnight!

Soupe Oignon

That's French for onion soup.

On my drive to Pendleton I pass several onion trucks and pass countless more onions that have fallen from the trucks onto the roadside. Every onion I see makes me crave some French Onion Soup. So I finally made some.

Here's the journey:

Ingredients
1/2 cup unsalted butter
4-6 onions, sliced (purchased from a store)
2 garlic cloves, chopped
2 bay leaves
2 fresh thyme sprigs
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 cup red wine, about 1/2 bottle (or chicken/veal stock if you don't cook with alcohol)
3 heaping tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 quarts beef broth
1 baguette, sliced
1/2 pound grated Gruyere

Directions

Prep and slice the onions.

Late Night Scones

I'm back at it with The Great Australian Pumpkin Recipe Book (the GAPRB).

I had some left over pumpkin puree from making ice cream and thought it was time for some pumpkin scones.

I had planned on making these for my monthly SLP meeting. All day I thought about it, a little concerned that I would be up late because I worked in Pendleton tonight. I walked in the door and... completely forgot I was supposed to make them. It wasn't until I was climbing into bed at 11:00 that I remembered. Now, I am better at staying up than I am at getting up... so I opted for making them tonight and going to bed late.

So here I sit, warm, fluffy pumpkin scone in hand at 1:00 am, waiting for them to cool enough to be covered.

Here's the recipe (adapted from the GAPRB and this recipe):


Pumpkin Scones
2 Cups Flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 egg
1 TBS vanilla
½ tsp kosher salt
¼ cup Plus 2 TBS sugar
½ cup ice cold butter cut into small cubes
½ cup chopped pecans save some for the top (optional)
½ cup ice cold pumpkin puree
½ cup of golden raisins (optional)
2 T cinnamon


For the glaze
2 TBS cream/milk
1 cup plus 1 TBS powdered sugar


For the spice drizzle:
1 cup plus 3 Tablespoons powdered sugar
2 Tablespoons milk
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground ginger
1 pinch ground nutmeg
1 pinch ground cloves


Directions:
Cut butter into cubes and refrigerate until ready to use

Sift the flour, salt, baking powder and sugar into a large bowl

Cut the butter into the flour mixture with pastry blender until resembles coarse meal (or use food processor).

It looks powdery, but will hold its shape when squeezed.

In a smaller bowl whisk the pumpkin puree and the egg, and vanilla

My new favorite kitchen gadget. A tiny adjust-a-cup!

I added a little spice to this too - optional.

Add to the dry mixture mixing with a fork (or processor), and stir until just combined.

Careful not to over mix it.

Then gently add the nuts and raisins (if desired).

I made a double batch, so I ended up mixing it in a big bowl.
No nuts for me, just golden raisins.

Pour the dough mix onto a lightly floured board and pat into a 7 inch 1 to 1 ½ inch high disk.

Cut into in half then quarters and then in eights as evenly as possible.

Again, this is a double batch and I made minis.

Place the scones on a baking sheet with sil-pat or parchment paper – this ensures even browning on the bottom.

Bake at 375 degrees for 17 minutes and take them out, it’s easy to over bake them.
If making mini scones – bake for 15 minutes.

Make glaze by combining ingredients.

Brush on plain glaze when they come out of the oven.

Drizzle with spice glaze when they are cool (I put spiced glaze in a zip top bag and snip the corner). See this post about the spice glaze.

Pick the goofiest looking one and test it out for quality!

Mmm. So very, very pumpkin good!

Friendship

This is just me thinking some things through here. A total contradiction to my last post.. because I'm sure I'm not making this simple.

Friendship is something I've never fully understood. I mean, I know that I enjoy a good friendship. I know when a friendship just works and when a friendship takes work, but sometimes I'm not sure why we are friends with the people that we are friends with (not that I question those that I call friend, just the idea in general).

Why do some friendships last forever, and some only through a season? Why do some people have a million friends and others have only a few? What drives people to make friends? What drives people to stay friends?

Specifically, what makes people want to be friends with me? What do I have to offer that someone else can't? I don't say that to be hard on myself, I just often wonder this. Why am I blessed with their friendship, even if just for a season? What did I do to deserve it? Maybe it isn't about deserving?

I'm one of those people that have a {very} few close friends instead of many acquaintances. I value intense friendship - being able to really know a person and to really connect and support each other. This is, to me, why we have friends - to support, encourage, challenge and love one another.

I feel like it isn't easy to make friends. I don't know if this is a gene I'm missing or just my personality, but it is something that I struggle with. It's easy enough to make acquaintances at work that you can share a work friendship with, or make acquaintances though church that you can share accountability and faith with, but sometimes those friendships don't last outside of those environments (and sometimes they do).

I know that there are times when a friend comes in and out of my life by clear design of God. I can look back and see God's purpose in that friendship. I can also see why the friendship moved on, we grew and started that mentoring with other friends etc. This is a hard thing about friendships, but I can see the purpose in it, so it eases the change.

I wonder, though, what is the ingredient that makes a friendship last despite a change in environment, frequency of interaction and stages of life? What is it that makes a friendship really thrive?

Is it chemistry? Is it the right combination of shared interests? Is it mutual shared investment in the friendship? Is it all of those things?

I have no answers really. I never have. I am just thankful for the time I have been given with the friends I have.

Maybe someday I'll wrap my head around this friendship thing.

A Life Made Simple

I tend to make things complicated. I don't like to, but I do. I over think things, I over analyze and we all know I over discuss things (see all previous posts). It's the human part of me. I was laying in bed this morning, thinking about how simple life can be if we let it, and how much more simple my life seems recently. Life in Christ is meant to be simple.

The beauty of a life in Christ is that the older you get, the longer you live for Christ, the more simple life becomes. I can remember a time when I thought that it wasn't so easy to 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind (Matt. 22:37). I've realized though, that the more I try to live this way, the easier it becomes. I think that this is probably because the more I put God first, the better things turn out, it snowballs and the easier life gets. It's simple.

Not that I have it down pat - far, far from it - but it's cool to look back and see the pattern of simplicity that follows the times that I surrender to Jesus and try to put Him first. I was praying this morning about some friends that are experiencing life's struggles, I found myself just wishing for them that they could just surrender their chaos to Jesus. He makes all things new. His yoke is easy and His burden is light (Matt. 11:30). His advice is wholesome. His words are plain (Prov. 8:8-9). He makes life so simple.

That's not to say that life isn't complex. Our bodies, this planet, our social networks, our relationships and our value systems - they are all complex just like the One that created them. That doesn't mean that they have to be complicated though. There is a simple answer.

I like this verse in the KJV because it has a certain ring to it: "Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you" (Matt 6:33). Or in the more modern version: "Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need." NLT.

Life can be so simple.