The Mothership

So there was this tree... I have seen many of the red ones around town as the leaves changed from their bright green to their vibrant fall foliage. My friend, Micah, pointed it out to me as I was walking with him. Micah: "Look at that TREE! Isn't it just beautiful So fiery!" Me: "It's just standing there saying, 'I'm RED!"" It was just casual conversation, but have you ever noticed how the Lord will speak to you in stanzas...which eventually speaks directly to your heart in a fully formed poem?!?! This was one stanza. Another stanza was just the noticing of each red tree before and after this short conversation. And then another stanza tonight. I attend a Family Group - which is a small group feeling, but it's actually a large group setting.  Tonight my friend, Sarah, spoke on the "Waiting" of the holiday season.  The anticipation of HIS coming and arrival to bring us peace, love, comfort, and all the things he died for, a...

 If you like soup, pumpkin, and curry, this soup is for you. As you know, I’m a fan of one pot meals. So here is another one for our rotation.  It was a cold day today and we had no plans for dinner. My students and I scooped out pumpkins today and I had never baked a pumpkin to use it’s innards before (which is super easy btw). I didn’t want to waste them and I wanted soup.  So here is this concoction!  Recipe: 1/2 large white onion, chopped 3 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped finely 3 celery stalks, peeled and chopped 3 large carrots, peeled and chopped 1 cup of green beans, chopped 1 red pepper, chopped 2 stalks of kale, torn 1/2 cup of frozen peas 1/2 cup of barley 1 can of diced tomatoes, no salt 1 can of pumpkin 1 smoked chicken sausage, chopped 1 large container of vegetable broth 1 tsp. Of honey Water Salt 2 tsp. Of curry powder 1&1/2 tsp. Of paprika *sundried tomatoes would be good but optional *you could substitute 1 cup of quinoa...

Everyone has them... Some show them more than others... Some show more of them than others... Emotions...I have them big and small...and for all the days. Some people process their emotions in different ways - silence, yelling, tantrums, and the most common for me...TEARS.  Big fat ones all the time stroll down my face for happy, sad, compassion, joy, tired, hangry, exhausted, hormonal, angry, embarrassed, scared, nervous, or just processing life... All of these emotions bring the same result...TEARS And you know what, I don't think I'm worse for wear because of them; my tears or my emotions.  I hear from my old self and others, apologies for tears. Apologies for emotions.  And I'm not sure that's the appropriate response. Since when do I need to apologize for the way I feel? Everyone feels differently and it manifests in everyone differently.  It's what we do with the emotions, how we react, that warrant an apology.   I believe a lot of u...

Among most people who are raising smaller humans you can hear a mantra, "I'm just tired..." And I'm not sure that it goes away - encouraging, I know.  When you have an infant you are exhausted because of loss of sleep. And the days can be long. And as they grow older you get more sleep - so to speak. But the days can still be long. And see, I'm thinking there is a culprit at the head of the game of tiredness...the things I find where I am loosing my patience the most... Teachable moments...they draw their weapons and yell " I'll be your huckleberry "...(movie reference) every single time. The amount of opportunities for me to have a teachable moment with my children is exasperating. It’s not just once a day - more like 20 times a day...per child. "Hmmm, I haven't had to teach or model or reinforce anything today." said nary a parent. And that's not to say that I haven't had awesome days filled with wonderful memories ...

 I'm not sure if it is because of my lackadaisical ways through the summer - but man it seems like this summer is eating a whole through our path of normal order and structure.  At the beginning of every summer I always am so relieved to have a free schedule. I feel like Julia Andrews in the Swiss Alps.   My regular mode of planning every event is thrown out the window. As we move through the summer days we seem to leave a wake of forgetfulness and that feeling of perpetual "no responsibility."  It's like I think we are on a really long vacation. I'm good with it, really, but clearly I am not a responsible adult when structure isn't a top priority. Also, I'm convinced the pool has an under-layer of THINGS that have collected...like a whole underworld litered with pretzels, water bottles, clothes, and all the torpedos you could ever dream to dive for...like a scene from Ninja Turtles...you could totally survice if you needed. You might be in "su...

My grandmother was KNOWN for her salsa. My mom and I spent lots of afternoons trying to figure out the secret to her recipe. My mom finally duplicated it...I have not been able to and since this isn’t my mom’s blog, i don’t think i can divulge the secret. I like to make recipes with fresh ingredients that don’t take a lot of time and that are healthy. I try to make things from scratch when I can - especially fresh easy recipes. However, when it comes to salsa there are so many brands and they all do the job for my late night cravings of tortilla chips and the tomatoey goodness. However, a lot of brands can be full of sugar, preservatives, and other ingredients that are just not needed. This recipe takes less than 15 minutes to put together and is always a crowd pleaser. If you gather all the ingredients and use a good chopper or food processor before you begin it takes even less time. I always make one too many trips to the refrigerator. This recipe is written for the food chopper bu...

To my friend whose life has changed since Thanksgiving...hearing your voice speak THAT word... such an ugly word; chemo...cancer. And they both mean the same thing essentially...poison in the body. And yet, might I say, you are NOT changed for the worst. This disease is only that, a disease.  You have NOT let it define you! I will never know a day in your shoes, and nor will I ever pretend to know what your mind, heart, and body have been through. But there are some things you have taught me these past 7 months. You have taught me... there is absolutely NO excuse to not getting my laundry folded...not even the fitted sheets. my excuses for NOT exercising carry no weight...they are just empty words. what humility looks like...accepting and receiving help is not easy - at least I know not for you and me. how smart and clever you are. I knew it before, but the amount of information you keep in your head - even after children and chemo - is astounding. that children are const...