Intentionally April

10 May

image from liferearranged.com

Wow! May just snuck in there, and before I know it I’ll be celebrating my anniversary! All that to say, I’m waaaaaay overdue for how my one little word went for April. March’s update on  is a bit overdue. If you want to see how 2012 is going so far, January’s wrap-up is here, February is here, March is right here. How did April go? Let’s see, shall we?

Pursuing the Lord’s heart like I did when I first loved Him.

Better. I’m reading His word more, praying more, and as I mentioned yesterday, relying on the hope He has promised exclusively.

Moving into a season of greater spiritual and emotional intimacy with my husband.

We’re finally working on the spiritual intimacy part. We’ve started a nightly devotional, and A is the one taking the lead in making sure we do it every night. It’s been a nice change, reading together and praying together more. I’m hoping it sticks.

Making the most of the relationships I have, and taking time to nurture them.

I’ve had to make some hard choices this month. Volunteering versus time with A, girls’ night out versus date night. For the most part, I’ve been pretty selfish in my choices. I’ve been having a rough time this month, so I’ve been choosing to have time with friends who fill me up, who have my back, who see me and love me. I like to think it’s not all one way, I’ve had a better emotional connection with some of my friends than I’ve had in months. So I’m happy with this one.

Tackling some of the harder things on The List, especially the ones that scare me.

Well, sunscreen is crossed off. Yay! Only 23 more to go.

Having more people over for dinner, and not letting time/stress/money get in the way of my love of being a hostess.

We had a couple of old friends over, so I got my hostess in, while being able to feel very homey. Comfort with entertaining; love it.

Buying locally as much as possible.

Easier than ever now that California is producing asparagus, and peppers, and tomatoes, and avocados, and broccoli, and oranges, and limes, and lemons, and beans, and peas, and corn. Oh my gosh, the corn!!! I was allergic, and now I’m not, and I am making up for more than nine years of being off of the cob and polenta and chips and salsa…it is a time of veggie plenty, my friends, and I intend to live it up.

Finding fun, creative ways to get together with friends that don’t revolve around food.

Working out, going for a six-mile walk with girlfriends and lots and lots of dogs in Monterey, catch-up dates with former high school students…it’s been a full, blessed month.

Reading challenging, empowering, quality books instead of solely feeding my brain a mental fast food diet of chick-lit.

I started re-reading Animal Vagetible Miracle for the fourth time, bought and read the whole You Grow Girl book series in prep for planting my own veggie container garden, and am working my way through Local Flavors by Deborah Madison. Lots of non fiction, foodie goodness going on right now!

Putting my health first and making the time to exercise.

Still averaging 3.4 times at the gym per week (according to my handy-dandy Club One tracker) and I’m doing Tone It Up workouts on my non-gym days. Still haven’t lost an ounce, but I have high hopes that when A and I get through this rough season that will change.

If you had a resolution or a word for 2012, how’s it going? I’d love to hear! Leave a comment or link to a blog post you’ve written on this below.

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What’s Saving My Life Right Now

9 May

Last night our worship service was on Romans and The Gravity of Grace. My favorite book from the Bible. I know it so well, and yet sometimes I am surprised by how new the words can sound when I need them most.

If God is for us, who can be against us?

My friend Katie wrote on her blog this week about what is saving her life right now. It’s a great read, go over and take a look. Go ahead, I’ll wait.

Wasn’t that great? What would the world be like if we asked “what is saving your life?” instead of “how are you?” It got me thinking about how I would answer. How would I answer, now, when I need a little bit of saving?

Right now I’m holding onto hope, which we are promised does not disappoint. God promises that going through suffering will produce perseverance, which produces character, which leads to hope, which will not put us to shame. I’ve been through this before, all four stages, time and time again. So I know that His promise is good, just like Him. So when I find myself in one of those states, I can have hope. Because I know it is coming. Suffering produced hope, as promised, and that’s what I hold on to when the struggle still has hold of me.

His word is good, just as He is good.

“And we boast in the hope   of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings,   because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope   does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.”

“I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay  and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit,   groan   inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all.   Who hopes for what they already have? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.”

“What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died —more than that, who was raised to life —is at the right hand of God   and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written:

For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God  that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Amen.

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How To’s-day, Literally.

8 May

Few things drive me crazier than seeing a ‘to’ where a ‘too’ should be. Or a ‘two’ for a ‘to,’ or a ‘too’ for a….you get the idea. I’m anal about very few things in life, but this in one of them. So for today’s How Tuesday I’m going to share the tricks my freshman english teacher taught us to tell the difference between the homophones and always know which to use.  (Yes, freshman year. All this genius is the product of the California public school system after all.) Let’s start with the simplest:

Two

The concept: This  spelling means the number 2.

The rule: If you can replace ‘two’ with ‘2’ and the sentence still makes sense, then it’s the right use of ‘two.’

Examples:
“Honey? Would you please get me two (2) advil from the cupboard? My head is killing me!”
“I always have to give my two (2) dogs their own chew toys, or they get jealous of each other.”

The funny thing that made the concept stick: The bottom of the ‘w’ has 2 points. That means this ‘two’ is a number. Ta da!

Too

The concept: This spelling has two (2!) uses. It is used to indicate excess, or as a synonym for ‘also.’

The rule: In general, if you can replace too with ‘also’ and the sentence still makes sense, it’s the too you should be using. Also, any time you’re talking about too many or too much, this is the too you want.

Examples:
“Make me a margarita, too (also), please.”
“I ate waaaay too much at brunch. I’ll have to do an extra 30 minutes of cardio tonight!”

The funny thing that made the concept stick: Well, there’s the also trick, which always works for me but I also think about how a child would whine a sentence: “I wanna go tooooooooo!” The too gets drawn out, with lots of ‘ooo’s’ which is why it’s spelled with two (2) o’s.
This is also the too that means too much. Look at the word. It has too many o’s. It’s excessive, it’s too much; does it really need that many o’s? Yes! Because it means too many or too much.

To

The concept: This is usually the hardest to to get. But the explanation for how to use it is simple, which fits, because at only two (2) letters, it’s the simplest to to type. You use this to as a preposition or an infinitive. It’s a very versatile to.

The rule: Basically it always comes before a noun (person, place, thing, or idea) or a verb (action, state, or relation).

Examples:
“I’m going to the store (noun) so I can make ratatouille tonight.”
“We don’t need to leave (verb) for Avengers an hour before it starts. It’s playing just down the street.”

The funny thing that made the concept stick: Honestly? Just memorize how to use the other forms of to correctly, and use this for everything else. This is the go-to to, pretty much your safest option because it’s so versatile.

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Learning to Be A Bad Mamma Jamma

2 May

hehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehe

I stood there, on the rubberized floor mat, trying to ignore the sweat that threatened to drip down my brow. Dripping sweat is so not hot. My shirt proclaimed, “Pretty Fast isn’t Good Enough.” It’s part of my ‘fake it ’till you make it’ series of shirts. (Also in the series, “Born to Run.” Because I’m not, really, but I want to be and I love the song.) But it wasn’t living up to its motivational job that day.

I watched as Trainer Kenny scanned the available weights and picked out each for my new regimen of strength training. 12.5, 15, 20 pounds…he picked up each, looked at me, and picked up the next weight higher. My eyes bugged out the further right he went. Surely he doesn’t expect me to pick up that?!?

Trainer Kenny picked up the 30 pound barbel like it was nothing. “We’re going to learn a new exercise today: Deadlifts!” He said cheerfully, as he let the weight go with an audible *thunk* on the bouncy floorboards. What now? Whada huh? Are they called that because they killed the last person you tried this on? These were the thoughts racing through my head as I looked at the dead-weight laying at my feet. Lift this? I have a hard time carrying more than one gallon of milk into the house, and you want me to lift that? You’re kidding, right?

He wasn’t.

So I lifted it. And other weights as I went through the series of exercises Trainer Kenny had come up with for me to make me feel like a bad a$$. I was lifting weights, and I was a bad mamma-jamma.

Since I took up with Trainer Kenny and his wacky (read: non-lazy) philosophy of working out, I’ve done things I didn’t believe I could do. Nothing crazy, but I’ve gone from a girl who was afraid to push herself to a woman determined, motivated, empowered to explore the reaches of her strength. To not just take the 15 reps if I feel I can do 20. To ask to do a full plank until I collapse. It’s strange. It’s the opposite of comfortable. But it’s worth it.

It’s not always fun, but it’s always rewarding.I learned something this week. I’m capable of more than I think. Unlike most of my life where I’m happy to take on a challenge, push myself beyond what is comfortable, when it comes to physical fitness I’ve shied away from pushing myself. I’ve chosen ignorance over health, weakness over achievement. And I deserve better.

I am so grateful for Kenny’s expertise. He thinks I can do more than I can, and therefore I do. I am so used to being self-motivated, self-driven, self-actualized, but sometimes – when I’m out of my depth – I need someone to believe I can do more than I think I can and push me. My eyes bugged out as he pulled bigger and bigger weights for my rowers, my chalice squats, my…I don’t even know what they’re called, but they were hard! I did more than I thought I could this week, and I felt more powerful pushing through and owning the modicum of strength I’ve achieved in that last two months. Weights have so often been the exclusive domain of the big, the built, the manly; if an athletic girl (never mind an overweight, big, curvy and fabulous girl) dared to infringe on their sacred ground, they were greeted with scorn, derision, condemnation; I know, I’ve seen it. So I’ve never gone there. But with Kenny by my side, I was going to try. And I rocked it, 31 BMI and all.

The takeaway? I can do more than I thought I could. You can do more than you could. Maybe, like me, you needed someone to tell you, someone to believe in you, believe that you could do it. You can. I can. We can. We are more than our lazy-butt couch-sitting selves want to think we are. If you can’t believe in yourself, get someone wh believes in you to push you. Untill you believe it yourself. Because you can do it.

You can lift a weight the size of your head. And rock it.

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How Tuesday – Peanut Butter Pretzel Bites

1 May

Also known as the greatest thing I ever brought to a party.

I first found this recipe on pinterest, but it originated from Two Tiny Kitchens. I made this a few weeks ago on a Friday where I had a knitting night and a baby shower I had to bring something to. Which means I made a boatload. And how many did I bring home? Zero. That’s how good they were. You know how you bring food to a gathering sometimes and try to give away the leftovers and you can tell people take them reluctantly to be polite? Yeah, I didn’t even have to ask. People asked me. That’s right baby, from now on I will only be making peanut butter pretzel bites to take to soirees.  These are ridiculously easy to make. The hardest part is the assembly, but only because it takes a million years when you’re making 100 of them.

A few notes on the recipe:

  • If I were to do them over again I would put the melted chocolate into a piping bag and drizzle it over the bites. Dipping them in chocolate as the original recipe calls for left a big hunk of chocolate to bite into. I think a generous drizzle of chocolate over the whole pretzel would have tasted better, as the chocolate flavor would have been evenly distributed, and would have been easier to eat.
  • The original recipe says that the amount of sugar you’ll need may vary. I really found this to be the case. I think it has more to do with the type of peanut butter you use than anything else. I used an all-natural peanut butter that was just peanuts and salt, so there was a lot of peanut oil in it, making it pretty soft. The sugar acts like a thickening agent, so I’ll tell you how much I used, but know that you may use more or less depending on your peanut butter. The consistency is what you’re looking for more than anything.
  • These are in no way good for you. But they are amazing.

On to the recipe. As I mentioned before, this made about 100 bites, so if you want to make less you might want to half it, or follow the amounts noted in the original recipe.

Ingredients
4 cups creamy peanut butter
8 tablespoons (1 stick) softened unsalted butter
3 cups powdered sugar
3 cups brown sugar
Large bag of pretzels
2 bags semi-sweet chocolate chips

Mix peanut butter and butter together in a large bowl. Slowly mix in sugars, checking consistency as you go. You’re looking for the peanut butter mixture to become dry enough to roll into balls without sticking to your hands. Scoop out a heaping teaspoon of filling and form it into a ball, then sandwich it gently between two pretzels.

Lay out the pretzels on a baking pan lined with a silpat or parchment paper to avoid sticking. I made so many that I had to get creative with how I laid them out. A girl only has so many baking pans.

Put the pretzels in the freezer for at least half an hour to get them cold enough for the chocolate to set.

Once they’re chilled, melt the chocolate chips in the microwave, stirring until smooth. Dip each pretzel into the chocolate (or drizzle with a piping bag) and lay them back on the cookie sheet. Put the dipped pretzels back in the freezer until the chocolate is totally set, and store them in the fridge until you’re ready to serve up the peanutey chocolatey goodness. Stand back, and watch people go nuts.

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