T.G.I.F.

Spring has sprung!!!!! Ok, that may not be official from a meteorologist's perspective but we have had several sunny days in a row and today it is 70 degrees out (not in the shade of course but still)!!! WHOOOHOOO! I love it! It makes me want to go shopping for spring clothes and sandals and makes being indoors working a bit difficult.

Speaking of shopping I am heading to the mall tomorrow to get some supplies for my explosion book class. I officially have 7 woman signed up to take my class so this weekend I am going to assemble the kits. As I mentioned before I am over 50% done because I cut a lot of things out as I was designing but I do need to get some ribbon (white and pink/brown) and also some more GlueDot-Minis. While I'm at the mall I will also swing into Target and some other shops and get some stuff for the house. They also have a Home Depot out there so I may stop in and price wood for building raised garden beds. We'll see. Greg will be at school so it is my chance to shop and browse. Something he hates! I just hope it is sunny out on Saturday so I can drive in the sun and sing along to the radio. I miss that about commuting by train, the karaoke aspect.

Greg had a major set back in regards to grad school this week. He was informed that he can't do thesis research for credit over the summer (it isn't "technically" offered). Of course that isn't written down anywhere and no one seemed to make the connection when he was planning his schedule during his advising sessions. This really puts a wrench in his plans and puts him in a very difficult position with his current lab. He is going to petition for a special exception but doesn't feel very optimistic about it. If they refuse he may have to suspend his research for the summer and the PI (Principal Investigator aka boss) of the lab he is working in will probably be pretty unhappy about it. Plus some other stuff this week has made him feel really burned out and like he is treading water and not progressing as he would like to. If you feel led, please pray that God would work this out and Greg would see the outcome, no matter what it is, as a positive thing. A break for the summer may be good for him, even if it means being in school longer. Also, prayer for stamina and perseverance would be helpful too. It is hard putting in 12-14 hours day in and day out (including 6-8 hours on Saturdays) and it is beginning to wear on him.

I have had a pretty good week this week. I've been productive at work and I am pretty far ahead on my BSF preparations so I have actually had time to read BOOKS on the train instead of working on my lesson plans. I am currently reading "You: The Owners Manual" which my mom gave me for Christmas. It is a general health book written by the Dr. who was on Oprah a bunch of times with body parts (maybe you saw it). It is ok, so far. He keeps harping about this new medical breakthrough everyone should be using. It's something called "exercise". I don't know, I may need to wait for more research on this before I incorporate it into my life! It is a little scary because there are all these issues that people "over 30" need to be aware of and in a 3 months that is me! My body is apparently going to fall apart on June 24th! Anyway, I am supposed to send the book to Rachel when I am done so I figured I should get going on it. What are YOU reading? Post it in comments (yes all you lurkers, you know who you are!).

Above is a photo that Suzan took of me today in the lab. I am still growing my hair out. It is just long enough to put in a tiny unstable ponytail (I have my parents to thank for my jumbo sized head). For those who haven't seen me in a while here you go! Have a great weekend!

Retreat Notes #2

Here the final 2 sessions from Jean Nystrand's talks.


SESSION THREE

Isaiah 53
The suffering servant

Aim= Adore Jesus, and worship the sovereign one who planned all this.

*A biblical servant- A trusted member of the household. Holds great responsibility and confidences.

I.
The servant exalted
53:13-15

*He will act wise, be exalted, be sprinkled, be disfigured, silence kings.

II.
The servant despised
53:1-3

*Addressed to returned exiles and those who benefit (us).
*Not noticed by the world.
*Passage doesn’t mean Jesus was unattractive, but that he was a regular person.
*Despised, pitiable.
*The people go from failure to recognize him to full rejection.

III.
The servant wounded
53:4-6

*People believed he was cursed.
*Jesus wasn’t just punished; he was doing WORK on the cross.
*He provided healing form sin (this passage does not suggest a promise of physical healing but spiritual healing), spiritual cleansing. Physical healing was NOT purchased for us on the cross. He proved a cure for the disease of sin.
*God treated Jesus as if all sin in history had been committed by him. He was wounded for me.

IV.
The servant cut off
53:7-9

*Jesus was a willing and submission servant.
*Unfair trial, no physical descendants (sorry Da Vinci code, it’s pretty clear here).
*Honored with a rich mans tomb.

V.
God and servant satisfied
53:10-12

*This was God’s plan even before Adam and Eve sinned. IT IS NOT PLAN B!!
*It is the ultimate way to glorify himself.
*It was not Jesus’ perfect life that paid our debt, it was his death.
*Jesus, like a seed, had to die in order to produce fruit.
*God was satisfied and Jesus is exalted.
*He made intercession for me

Principle= He is God the savior.

**We should ponder this not just with emotion but with intellect as well.



SESSION FOUR

Chapters 57-58

Aim=True and acceptable worship flows from a high view of God

I.
God’s Position
57:14-21

*A walk from exile toward God.
*God tells us he is holy and lives in a high and lofty place. His name is holy.
*We should be contrite before him. This means crushed.
*Know in my heart that I am no better than other people.
*Strip away the garbage and know our place before God.
*God didn’t heal because the people had changed but because he chose to. He doesn’t hold grudges. God comforts, restores, and produces joy on our lips.
*The wicked face constant turmoil. Do I envy the wicked and their ways (thinking they have more fun)? When we see God’s view of them how does it change our attitude?

Principle=True worship requires putting God in his rightful place and not adjusting Him to my preferences.

*We need to use God’s word daily to show us how we are putting God and ourselves into wrong positions. Saturate ourselves in scripture.

II.
God’s Complaint
58:1-5

*Addressed to people who need an attitude adjustment. They have a faulty relationship with God. This is a heart issue.
*Problem: Selfish worship, rebellion/sin, thought fasting could twist God’s arm or be “super spiritual”, and unconfessed sin.
*True fasting means constant life of self denial in order to glorify God. They wanted a little outward abstinence but not inward change or self denial.
*We dull our appetite for God when we let too many other distractions in.
*A divided heart compartmentalizes our worship and our work/life.
*Worship should be 24 hours a day, not just Sunday.
*It isn’t enough to just ask God for forgiveness. It there was a relationship that was hurt it must be restored. It takes love, perseverance, and courage. Sin can be dealt with and restoration can happen.

Principle=True worship requires a heart open and obedient to God.

Is my heart divided? (we had a personal evaluation on this topic)
How has my worship been superficial?
What sin is keeping me from true worship?

III.
God’s Desire
58:6-14

*He wants: a compassionate, self denial life style. Blessing comes from self denial, blessing comes from giving, gain life by giving it away. This is the paradox.
*God makes himself available
*God meets outward and inward needs.
*God desires to give me joy.

**The Sabbath:

• The Sabbath frees us from extraneous things to focus wholly on the Lord.
• Trust God to care for you, your work, your home, etc. so you can keep the Sabbath.
• Sabbath practices include; self forgetfulness, self discipline, laying down idols, etc.
• Keeping the Sabbath is a heart issue not a set of rules or restrictions.
• V13 says not to do as I please on the Sabbath.
• Ask what God would want that would separate the day (This may look different for each person).
• Sabbath is a day to enjoy God.
• This will bring him glory.

Principle=True worship brings delight to God and the worshiper.

*True and acceptable worship flows from a high view of God.

Do I call the Sabbath a delight?
Is it a day to do as I please or as God pleases?
Do I speak idol words?

Sunny Day, Everythings A-OK.....

Well it is a beautiful sunny day here in NYC. It was actually 60 degrees when I left the house today so I didn't have to wear my heavy coat! It is often very sunny here in the winter but today it was sunny AND warm. This does so much to put me in a better mood. I am hoping this warm sunny day is the beginning of spring (which officially started on the 20th!).

Before I post another section of the notes from the retreat (another long text post) I thought I would post some photos I just took. One is the view from my office (ignore the really dirty window!). I work on the 7th floor and I am one office away from the corner so I can see in 2 or 3 directions. I can't actually see out my window from where I sit but I get a lot of natural light which is nice.

The second photo is my desk.

Not super exciting stuff but a slice of my day to day life!

Retreat Notes #1

For those who are interested, here are some notes from the teaching portion of the BSF retreat I recently attended. This is not a transcript by any means and often the points may seem a little disjointed. I will try and give you the overall outline of what she talked about and then the points that struck me as well as her principles and some applications. You will need to read the passages to know what I am talking about. It am posting this in several sections because it is so long.

Jean Nystrand, the Director of BSF lectured on select passages from the Book of Isaiah with the overarching question: Who is God, and what difference does it make in how I live my life?

SESSION ONE

I.
The Man, The time, The message

She provided us with an overview of Isaiah, the times he lived in, and his message. She provided a great deal of background info which I won't put here.

* Isaiah has 2 major audiences. Chapters 1-39 are a narrative addressed to his contemporaries, Judah and other nations who were entrenched in sin. This narrative is a warning to the people. Chapters 40-66 are a narrative with a different tone. It is post-judgment and speaks of comfort and redemption.

*Isaiah had a very high view of God. The word LORD appears more than 300 times in his book, "Holy One of Israel" more than 25 times along with many other names for God. It is the longest prophesy in the bible (the second longest book in the bible).

Principle=In times of wickedness and worldly prosperity God has a message for his people.

*Today that message is contained in his word. This is why we study it.

II.
The Issue: Whom do you trust

*The people of that time favored wrong worship of outward appearances but no inward fire or heart for God.
*They favored idolatry, had wrong values favoring materialism.
*There was great oppression of the classes and corruption.
*They had wrong alliances particularly political.
*They had wrong thinking.
*They were not trusting in God.

Principle= God is alive, active, trustworthy, and immutable
Principle=All issues of life hinge on whether we trust in God or in man.

III.
The Vision: His commission
Chapter 6 "God the holy one"

*The Lord is seated in the vision. This denotes his control. He is high and exalted. The length of a train represents one's importance. The Lord's train fills the temple showing his immense importance.
*Angels-Wings covering face denote humility, wings covering feet denote service, and flying shows that the service is ongoing and active.
*Holiness is the central essence of God's character. Holy, Holy, Holy is repeated to emphasize its extreme importance in Hebrew writing (they have no exclamation point).
*Holy-God's holiness shows he is separate from creation, morally perfect.
*How am I viewing God's holiness? Does it line up with scripture?
*”Woe to me”. When Woe is used in the bible judgment is being pronounced. Here Isaiah is identifying himself with the people around him, identifying himself as a sinner. This is his confession.
*The cleansing of the lips indicates a cleansed life. God has made Isaiah a part of His operational solution to the problem.

Principle=Isaiah was not reluctant. He immediately offered himself for service once cleansed.
Principle=Those who glimpse God's holiness and experience his cleansing are willing to answer his call.

***After what God has done for me, how can I say no?

*Isaiah trusted in God not in man.
*Who am I putting my trust in?
*It is ALL about God, not about me.

SESSION TWO

**Before beginning Jean suggested we try using our hymnals during devotions. Using the poetry and wording of the verses to help us verbalize what we feel, confess, or need. I love this idea and had actually been doing this some already but during the retreat I found a couple new hymns with such rich words that I had never noticed before. I realized what a wonderful gift our little hymnals are.

Background:
Chapter 40
*God reveals himself to the modern world through his word. This of course includes the written word but also Jesus, the living word. Hebrews teaches us that Jesus, the living word, is the radiance of God's glory and his exact representation.
*We probably won't fully exhaust the wonders and characters of God even when we are in full glory, he is just too vast and magnificent.
*But the difficulty of knowing God isn't intellectual, it is moral. We don't WANT to know what we know or do what we learn.
*Chapter 40 is the transition point in the book of Isaiah; Transitioning to a message of hope and redemption. The target audience being the captives in Babylon.
*God gives Isaiah insight into God's plan. God sees everything in the NOW because he isn't tied to time like we are.
* This book is symphonic in nature-having interweaving themes. It is not linear (a warning to us as we read it). It is poetic. Poetry is the best way for Isaiah to describe these dynamic ideas but it makes the passages difficult to translate at times.

Aim: All our categories to describe God are inadequate because God is incomparable.

I.
Isaiah's 2nd call
40:1-11

*The judgment has come. The people are devastated. Isaiah's message has changed to one of comfort.
**We see comfort as warm and fuzzy. In Hebrew comfort means STRENGTH. God's comfort is to lend us His strength.
*Isaiah tells the people: They are God's people (his covenant remains intact). They are forgiven, their sins are paid for but they didn't earn it. God will bring them home. We know that their sins are forgiven because Jesus has died on the cross for them. Again, God is not bound by time and he is stating this in the now.
*God's workings are wondrous, far beyond our own.
*Isaiah tells them: God's word is reliable, it stands forever. God is totally adequate; he has strong yet loving and tender arms.

Principle=God is greater than our most impossible task.

Do you need strength? Or tenderness? God has both!
What is your impossible task? Who are you trusting?

II.
Truth about God: Incomprehensible and Unequalled
40:12-26

*The danger wasn't that God would be inadequate for them but that the people would forget who he was.
*v12 Greatness: created the world with a word. Down to the details.
*v13-14 Wisdom: No one teaches God
*v15-17 Power: Big things to us are small to him. Anything I could offer him falls infinitely short.
*v 18-20 The Only: Idolatry is utterly foolish and futile.

*A reminder of idolatry in our day:
Putting anything else first in our hearts is idolatry.
Making God Something he is not. Putting God into our mold.

• God is not a cosmic repair man here to fix our problems.
• God is not a heavenly co-pilot here to assist us in living our lives.
• God is not a celestial Santa here to give us things we want
• God is not an interstellar grandpa whose lap we sit on and tell our problems to.

*v21-24 Not Hidden: God's power compared to man's impotence is amazing.

Principle=When we try to fit God into our categories we become idolaters.

Am I sliding God into my categories? He is incomprehensible and unequaled.

III.
Truth about God - He knows you
40:27-31

*The wrong inference is that God is too great to care. The right inference is he is too great to fail.
*Not only does God have strength and power, he imparts it to his people.
*The definition of Hope is steadfastness, strong. Taking hold of God's comfort.

Principle=God's strength and power are available to those who trust him and not themselves

**We can't know him exhaustibly but we can truly know him.

Scrapbook Update

Well this weekend I really got caught up on a lot of stuff that needed to be done around the house and I got back to my scrapbooking table and pulled together this layout:

I am really pleased with it. I got the idea to convert some of the skiing photos to black and white with a color photo "popping" out of the strip on Monday but didn't have time to make it work until Sunday. I also used some new velvet letter stickers I picked up in Seattle in December. I love them. They have such a lovely texture. I am also really into photo corners right now if you hadn't already noticed.

I also got my scrapbook area tidied back up. I have now completed 20 layouts toward my goal of 52. I am pretty jazzed about that and re-fired up to get some more done this week. I selected the next photos this morning. I would love to complete this album (2003-2004) by the end of April but if it doesn't happen I am still ok with it. I don't want to lose sight of my goal, just one layout a week. But it is fun to dream!

March Garden Update

Ok, I did it! I ordered my seeds for the garden. Actually when I started going through the catalogue reading about all the possibilities I started to get excited about it. Hopefully that excitement will carry through to soil preparation and weeding time! So here it goes, I ordered:

Carrots
Beets
Roma Tomatoes
Zucchini
Yellow Squash
Butterleaf Lettuce
Romaine Lettuce
Mescaline Mix
Slicing Cucumbers
Pickling Cucumbers (really excited to try making pickles!)
Sugar Pumpkins
Watermelon
Basil
Cilantro

Now this doesn't include any of the seeds that we still have from years past (Greg is a diligent seed saver) so there will be other types of tomatoes, spinach, kale, goards, mint (we can't get rid of it!), and other stuff. We are giving up on corn and broccoli and a few other things that just don't seem to do well in our garden's conditions.

Hmmm, when I write it all out like that I wonder if it will all fit in my little garden! I am thinking of growing the herbs and lettuces on the deck though so that will help and we usually grow only one vine of the big stuff like one vine of pumpkin, one vine of watermelon, one fine of goard. The real issue is the lighting. There are fences and tall buildings all around our garden patch so light is limited when the sun isn't directly overhead. I may need to do a sun survey some day when I am home and see which parts get the most shade since I have some plants that will grow in partial shade.

My mom gave us a little greenhouse last year for seed starting that we keep on the deck so soon I will start germinating and get my little seedlings going in the greenhouse. Next I need to read through our organic gardening books and come up with a timeline.

No pictures since sadly the garden looks exactly the same but without the snow. Still soaking wet and icky looking.

I'm Back!

Yes, I made it to and from Hershey in one piece. I actually took an extra day off work yesterday to recover from the trip. Sunday we got back to town at 3 pm but Greg dragged me off to a museum before church, then we ushered at church (it was our week), and then the communion team had a dinner after church for team building and fellowship (we had a great time) but all that made me one tired and worn out cookie! I didn't get home until 10:30 pm.

The retreat was fantastic. I would say it was much better than my last one (this was number 3 by the way!) and that was partly due to my awesome roomie Alice. She was easy to get along with, in fact a little too easy since we sat up till 1 am on Saturday night chatting and sharing some stuff. Good thing there was mandatory morning silence times or we would never have made it to class! Thanks Alice for being so great!

This year I volunteered to usher (along with many other woman from our class) and it turned out to be a great experience. I was a little skeptical since I usher at church and it can be a real thankless and difficult job. People in Manhattan are very self centered and unwilling to sit where we ask them to (one guy yelled at me last Sunday, AT CHURCH!!!!!). But the BSF leaders were a pleasure to serve. There was no comparison to my other usher job. They were all smiles and hellos, gracious to move when asked, willing to go wherever we directed them just for the opportunity to have a seat. I usually had my entire section filled (EVERY seat) in under 15 minutes because they were all on time and I was then able to sit and enjoy the singing. At church ushers don't sit because we seat people up to the last 5 minutes of the service (yeah, they are late and rude!). As a BSF usher I was assigned a really great section in the middle front, right in front of the podium so I had a great view the entire time.

The bible teaching was great. We studied selected chapters from the book of Isaiah. I will post some points and principles later for those who are interested. The best thing I think was Jane Roach's doctrine presentation on the glory of God. It was awesome. I can see why she is the director of the training division. There were presentations from all the division heads but there have been 2 new positions created since the last retreat. Director of Domestic Operations and Director of International Operations. The Domestic Director, Candy Staggs, is our old Area Team leader and so it was really fun to see her in her new job, so perfectly suited for her. It was like knowing a BSF celebrity. The most encouraging speaker was the International Director, Dr. Chuck. It was really cool to see a man on the directors staff first of all and it was so encouraging and also humbling to hear about BSF classes in other parts of the world. In areas where class members are traveling miles and miles on foot to study God's word in a language that isn't their first, in classes that don't even have reliable electricity, in areas where bibles are hard to come by, in countries where Christian's are heavily persecuted, and on and on. It was convicting when I think about how often I complain about have to teach after a long day, or if our students have to share a space and don't get their own room. We have it so good in our class and in our country. We also got to hear about all the prayer groups that have been praying for YEARS for classes to start in their city and about new pilot classes that have started including the newest class in Jerusalem where ex-patriots, Christian Palestinians, and Messianic Jews are studying side by side in that evening woman's class. He also had some encouraging things to say to the men's classes (greatly outnumbered by the woman's and in some cases on the brink of being cancelled for lack of attendance). It made the ladies in our class realize that we need to be praying for the Men's NYC class to restart. Dr. Chuck's talk moved me to tears, changed my attitude, and helped me set some goals for the remainder of the year. He was awesome.

I always love the singing at retreat. We get the chance to sing many songs we never tackle in our classes and I walked away with a couple new favorites. On the last day we sang It Is Well With My Soul and our whole row was crying. This is a hymn we sing all the time, no problem but when we got to the verse that says:

"My sin,
oh the bliss of this glorious thought,
my sin not in part but the whole,
is nailed to the cross,
and I bear it no more,
praise the Lord, praise the Lord oh my soul"

And then 1,300 voices strong sing the chorus and I don't think I have ever heard a hymn sung with such joy and in such a powerful way. Wow! A great way to end the retreat!

The food was the only part that wasn't great. The vegan option was generally lettuce or roasted veggies. One day I did get some white rice and on another day pasta with my veggies which isn't really nutritionally sound so I was glad I brought other provisions. But the table conversations made up for the poor food choices. Plus there were twizzlers in the gift shop so I couldn't complain too much ;)

Anyway, I could go on and on but I will take a break for now. It is good to be home with Greg and be able to sleep until 7:30 am again instead of 6 am. I hope you all had a nice weekend!

It's Friday!!

Ok, it is actually Thursday but it is Friday to me. I am traveling to Hershey Pennsylvania tomorrow for a BSF leaders retreat. Yes, it is the home of chocolate. The irony is that I don't eat Hershey's chocolate because they put icky milk solids in it. Oh well. The lodge/convention center we are staying at is very cheesy. Each room is named after chocolate or chocolate products (the chocolate ballroom, confection hall, cocoa suites, the Hershey grill) . The rooms have what looks like striped wall paper until you get really close and see that it is actually Hershey's kisses that make up the stripes. The pillowcases also have kisses printed on them lightly. And when the maid cleans your room she leaves Hershey's miniatures on your pillow. Pretty funny. As you can tell I went to the place for the last retreat.

Anyway, I am looking forward to a break from work, tv, phone, etc., a chance to get to know some of the other BSFers better during the 7 hour bus ride, the "lively" paced BSF hymns (BSFers you know what I am talking about!), and solid bible teaching. Oh and the eating! All we do at this thing is listen, sing and eat yet I am always so exhausted during it.

I am a little nervous about the food. I requested special meat and dairy free meals but you never know how that will be interpreted. I stopped at Whole Foods on my way to work this morning and got some essentials. I picked up the little individual mini soymilk drink boxes (great for adding to oatmeal in the morning, which they will probably have), Lara bars and a couple new brands of snack bars I have never tried that look yummy (heavy in nuts for protein and fat to keep hunger at bay), 3 vegan cookies in case my dessert is fruit which is never dessert to me, and I will take along some peanut butter, maybe some tortillas (if I can get them away from Greg!), and some other snacks we have in the house. That should keep me happy between meals or instead of meals if necessary. I have to pack up my stuff tonight so I will be ready to go in the morning. Look out denim jumpers! Here I come, jumper-less!

The only thing I am NOT looking forward to is being away from Greg. I have missed him so much lately with all his late evenings in the lab. The weekends are when we usually get to hang out and catch up. I asked him what he would do when I was gone and he said he would study for his midterm. I said he would probably order a pizza with cheese and eat all the things I don't bring in the house anymore and his reply was "oh, that is a great idea", his eyes perking up! We are soooo different! The first thing I would have done is have ice cream for dinner if he left town and he just doesn't think about food that way. Hence his skinny little butt!

If you were concerned about our heating situation (and of course you should be!) you can stop worrying. When I got home last night the house was toasty warm (and I woke up twice in the night from being too hot. Just like old times!)

I think this is the first week that I won't meet my scrapbooking goal unfortunately but I am OK with it. I will just plow ahead next week.

Have a great weekend!

Scrapbook Update

Well, I returned home last night to find out that there was a problem with the boiler and we had no heat in the building! It was 64 degrees in the house at sundown and yikes, it got a lot colder as the evening went on because we had high winds and low temps last night. I was forced to bake Greg cookies for warmth! (Maybe HE sabotaged the boiler!?) The landlord responded right away but couldn't get anyone to come out and look at it until today. It's funny because I slept SOOOO well last night. Our bedroom is usually way too hot because we are right above the boiler room and last night the room was so much cooler I think it helped me sleep better. Unfortunately though, it is hard to get up in the morning when the room is so cold!

So, I got the photos in the explosion book and got it photographed. Without further ado:

I am so very pleased with this little book! It turned out even better than the little one I made for Tiffani because I added all the little embellishments. There are photo corners at the beginning and end, paper flowers on the cover and inside, a metal flower, a tiny metal rimmed tag on the cover, and several snippets of ribbon. I especially love the way the ribbon pokes out the sides when the book is closed. I am giving this one to Greg's mom for Mother's day so I put pictures of Greg as a baby, a boy, and a man and had a place for him to write a note to his mom. She doesn't do "the computer" so the surprise won't be ruined. The only thing I will change for the class is I will use a thinner ribbon to tie their books closed. The only white ribbon I had at home was pretty wide and hard to tie around such a small book (2"x2"). If you would like to make a book like this you can find the instructions here. There is a link to the PDF instructions. I just scaled it down to the size I wanted.

Happy Anniversary!

Sorry for the delay in posting! I couldn't get the scanner to work yesterday and then for some reason Blogger wouldn't upload properly for most of today. Last Sunday (03/12/06) Greg and I celebrated the 12th anniversary of our first date! Yes, 12 years ago Greg got up the courage in our high school physics class to ask me out on a date and I said "it's about time!". We went bowling at Cascade Lanes and then to the MC Escher exhibit at Seattle Center. We were so nervous we hardly spoke during the date and bowled what must have been the 2 fastest games in the history of the sport (and well at an art show you don't have to talk, just look).

We didn't do anything special to commemorate the 12 year mark. We just spent the day at home together enjoying each others company. With Greg working full time and going to school at night he isn't home much and I have been missing him so when he asked what I wanted to do on our big day I requested that we sit on the couch together and do nothing!

I love you Greg! I feel blessed to have known you for the last 12 years and as you pointed out, in another 5 years we will have known each other as long as we didn't know each other!

PS-Tiff, thanks for the photo collage suggestion on your blog. I love the way it turned out!

Congratulations!

Well I found out this morning that my dear friend Katie is going to be a mommy this fall!

CONGRATULATIONS KATIE!!!

You know when you spill the beans to a blogger you will be blogged! But don't worry, no one but you and my mom (and tiff!) actually read this thing. I am so excited for you and would love to be right there with you but Greg made me promise not to get pregnant during his thesis work (or his head would explode and you know I hate to clean!). I stumbled across a new magazine yesterday called Mothering Magazine. You should check it out. It has lots of info in there that is a little less mainstream and not corporate driven. I spent over an hour yesterday reading about the circumcision issue on their site. Why you ask? Because I like to waste as much time on things that don't apply to me as possible. Plus I got into a discussion about it with a co-worker and so I guess the topic was still on my mind when I stumbled across it. Anyway, congratulations and keep me up to date on your situation. Also, don't worry about the trailer issue! It is only when your trailer is in a park that the line has been crossed!

Well today I was going to post the quotes I decided to use for the Mother's Day Explosion Book so this turns out to be a very appropriate time to do it. I had room for 5 quotes and here they are:

"No gift to your mother can ever equal her gift to you - Life."

"God made you my mother; love made you my friend."

"MOM is WOW upside down."

"Mothering is a work of heart."

"A mother holds your hand for awhile and your heart forever."

Obviously I had to keep them short so they would fit in a 2" triangle. Last night I got all the paper work done. The quotes are in and the colors are set. I just have to decide on embellishments and make the cover and it will be done. I expect to have it completed by Sunday and will count it as layout 19. Then I will show it to the BSF ladies and see how many want to sign up for the class. I will probably charge $2-3 to cover my cost which has been minimal so far. I have actually been cutting some things out in 10s as I go so that I won't have to do it later. I don't anticipate more than 9 people showing up. The class is only open to Children's Leaders anyway and there are only 10 of us total.

Have a happy Friday!!

Explosion Book Colors

Here are some little letters I decoupaged for my scrapbook space. I love looking at them when I work or just when I walk down the hall. Well they have inspired the explosion book I am designing to teach to the BSF ladies. I have a lot of this paper still and I just love the pink/brown combo so I have decided our books will be the same. I began working on the sample last night. We are going to make Mother's Day books. I learned from the last teaching experience that I gave the women too many choices. They spent most of the night agonizing over all the paper I brought trying to decide what to do. This time I am going to do it more like a stamp camp (remember those!). We will work from a kit that is exactly like my sample. Then if they want they can take the idea and recreate it at home in endless themes, sizes, colors and styles. That way I think the class will go faster and smoother. I can't find a photo of the explosion book I made for Tiffani but here it is at TwoPeas. Ok, I have to find some good Mother Quotes on the internet to include in the book.

And don't worry mom, this won't spoil your Mother's Day because I have something different planned for you! BWAHAHHHAAAAA!

Scrapbook Update

This is the first week in 2006 when I didn't quite meet my goal. By the time the weekend rolled around I had not done one single thing toward a new layout. Yikes! On Saturday I was gone most of the day to a craft party where I taught a bunch of BSF ladies how to knit and then in the evening we had John and Aimee over for dinner and a movie. (I also had another migraine on Saturday which I am still trying to figure out, my second in 2 weeks! HMMMM). So Sunday I sat down to work but didn't finish the page until Monday night after BSF.

When I mentioned that I wouldn't meet my goal everyone said, "but you're ahead of schedule!". Well I can't use that as an excuse because I know me very well and before I know it I will be behind because I kept telling myself that I was so far ahead! I am trying to focus on the present weekly goal and not the past accomplishments or mistakes (good strategy for all types of goals!). So I plowed ahead and tried to keep it simple. Here is what I came up with for a layout featuring a trip to Olana (A historic house in the Hudson River Valley).
Embellishments include patterned paper and letter stickers. Not really fancy but done. Nice clean lines which I really like but I do want to use up my hoarded supplies and this layout didn't help much. Layout 18.

The BSF ladies have asked me to teach a class on making explosion albums (like the one I made you Tiff). I taught a class on it before to 9 woman and had a lot of fun. It will help me use up some of my backlog of supplies too since I will use a lot of paper and embellishments for the class. It should be fun. So my next layout may be a sample explosion book for the class.

It's Here!

Over the last couple years I have been making a concerted effort to "accessorize" my wardrobe more by collecting AND wearing more jewelry. You can tell you don't wear jewelry often enough when your boss sees you wearing earrings (at the age of 27) and says "oh, did you get your ears pierced?" What? Well she actually said that on 3 separate occasions! Well with all my jewelry collecting and wearing my little jewelry box that I have had since I was a little girl was beginning to look like this:

Too many necklaces (my favorite thing to collect) all laid on top hiding the rings and ear rings below and an over stuffed bracelet holder. Not to mention the other pieces that were to bulky to fit in the box at all and are strewn all over the bedroom.

Well, I began drooling over the beautiful and roomy leather jewelry boxes at Hold Everything over a year ago. They are so expensive I just couldn't bring myself to spend that much money on a box! Well recently they were having a sale on jewelry boxes. So I went in and picked out the box I wanted (well the one I could afford), a chocolate brown medium sized box. I walked it up to the counter in glee, so excited to finally get the box I had been drooling over. Sadly I was informed that the brown boxes were not on sale. Only the ugly green, neon pink, ugly red, and easily soiled white boxes were on sale (though I defy you to find a single sign in that store that suggested the brown boxes weren't included in the sale!). I was so mad I just walked away.

Refusing to give up I tried plan B and found the boxes I wanted on eBay. It took 2 auctions but I finally won one! That was on January 31st. There were some issues with the seller not shipping in a timely manner (my first time bidding on eBay and I have a problem!) and my box didn't arrive to the house until March 4th, in fact we had to drive to Queens to pick it up! But I am not complaining because I got some of my money back for my trouble. In the end I got the large size box (retail price $190) for $80. Still pretty pricey but I love it. When I open the lid I hear choirs singing. It is SOOOOO nice to see all my jewelry clearly, no jumbled mess, no hidden items, and I still have space to grow because the box is substantially bigger than the old one. Here is the after shot!

definitely worth the wait!

Taxes, taxes and more taxes!!!!!

I know everyone likes to complain about their taxes but let me cheer you up a little bit by showing why YOU are lucky you only pay the tax you do. Here in the Big Apple we pay:

FEDERAL TAX
STATE TAX
CITY TAX
and almost 9% SALES TAX

That is right, 4 kinds of tax!!!!! I have no idea why we put up with this but we do. I have been feeling a little blah this week. Perhaps because it is so cold and it snowed AGAIN yesterday and I am just really ready for winter to be over, I don't know. So I decided to send myself deeper into a funk by doing my taxes yesterday. Well, I am giddy with excitement because we are getting a refund! Yes, a refund! And it is a big one. We were actually able to itemize deductions this year despite our lack of a house or a baby. I never thought it could happen to me!!! Now we can get the yacht I always dreamed of! Oh wait, it isn't free money, it is our hard earned money the government has been hoarding from us interest free. I guess I shouldn't blow it on a boat. Oh well.

Well, it brightened my day none the less. If you don't hear from me after this it is because I grossly misinterpreted the idiot promps on TurboTax and have been thrown into IRS jail because I actually owed gobs of money. Or because I took my refund and decided to fly someplace where the weather guy doesn't get excited when he says it is going to be a warm 34 degrees today!

Happy tax preparations!

Pizza Time

Here it is, posted for my mom. The recipe for Valentine's Day Vegan Pizza (or any day for that matter).

Pizza Dough

I love this dough, it always turns out great and you can substitute half the flour with whole wheat pastry flour without sacrificing texture.

1 pkg. Active dry yeast
1 c. Warm water
2-1/4 t. Granulated sugar or honey or agave nectar for vegans
2T. Olive Oil
2 t. Salt
2-3/4 c. Bread flour (bread flour has more gluten in it and makes a stretchier dough)

I do all the steps directly into my KitchenAid mixer:
1. Dissolve yeast in warm water then add in sugar and oil. Let sit a couple minutes so yeast can wake up have a snack and make a few bubbles.
2. Add salt and flour.
3. Put the bread hook into the mixer and mix until a ball forms.
4. Turn out onto a floured surface and kneed for 5 min.
5. Transfer to a greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap (put plastic right onto the dough so a crust doesn't form), let rise 90 minutes on the counter.
6. Divide into 2 balls and pat into 2 12-inch circles.
7. For thin crust fill and bake now. For thick crust allow dough to rise 30-45 minutes more.
8. Top and bake at 425 for 20-25 minutes and then let stand 5 minutes before slicing.

Tips: I usually kneed the dough in my mixer for 5 minutes on the lowest setting. (This only works if you get a good ball. If the ball is too small or won't stick to the hook it won't really kneed.) Then I pull the dough out, spray the mixing bowl with oil spray and put the ball back in. This way I have one less dirty dish and no floured counter to clean.

I sometimes make the dough in the morning (it really doesn't take long at all) and put the whole thing in the fridge to rise. The rising is slowed way down. Then just pull the dough out in the evening and let it finish rising at room temp for 30-40 minutes.

Sometimes we use one half of the dough one night and then put the other half wrapped in plastic wrap and in a zip lock bag in the fridge for the next night. Or I make both pizzas and we eat one cold for lunch the next day.

If you make this with no cheese it won't take as long to cook so keep an eye on it and pull it out when everything is lightly browned including the bottom of the crust.

Toppings

Of course the possibilities are endless. For our pizzas pictured above we used:

Tomato sauce-I take a can of tomato sauce and add a couple tablespoons of "Italian Seasoning Blend". I try and buy organic tomato sauce or non-organic without all the sugar and fake stuff added. This tastes just as good as going to the trouble of making sauce from scratch but it is way easier.

Sliced olives, store bought dairy free pesto (it is the stuff in the tube on the shelf in the Italian food section), fungus for Greg.

And the best tofu ricotta ever! We sort of spread small chunks around the pizzas.

Basil - Tofu Ricotta

This recipe comes from Vegan with a Vengeance. A cookbook written by a punk girl in Brooklyn who has a cable access vegan cooking show. So far it has some tasty stuff but this recipe has blown us away. We have made vegan ricotta before but this stuff is pretty great. It has a creamy cheesy flavor. It tastes best if you make it in advance and let the flavors meld so if possible make it the day or morning before you will need it. It isn't necessary but it makes it even better!

1 pound firm tofu - pressed
2 t. lemon juice
1 clove garlic minced or pressed
1/4 t. salt
Dash of pepper
Handful of fresh basil leaves, finely chopped (about 10) I have used dried and it still tastes pretty good. Just eyeball.
2 t. olive oil
1/4 c. nutritional yeast (that yellow flaky stuff Mom!)

1. In a bowl mush up the tofu with your hands till crumbly.
2. Add lemon juice, garlic, salt, pepper, and basil. Mush with hands some more. Mush till it has a ricotta consistency. This will take 2-5 minutes. This is fun!!!
3. Add the olive oil, and stir with a FORK. It is too sticky at this point to still use your hands.
4. Add the nutritional yeast and mix together well with the fork.
5. Cover and refrigerate until you use it.

We use this to make manicotti and stuffed shells too. It is great!