Job 2:5-6
But stretch out Your hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will surely curse You to Your face!"
And the LORD said to Satan, "Behold, he is in your hand, but spare his life."
This is true of many, that when things don't go their way, when they are afflicted with a deadly disease, they turn their backs on the Lord, saying He isn't real or if He is, He is not a loving God.
Lord, I know people that have deep hurts that are suffering from health issues. I pray that they will continue to rely on You, that they will not curse You, but bless You, praise You and glorify Your name in all things.
God is in control "but spare his life," Satan is only allowed to do what God says he may. No man can die before his time. Satan insisted that God stretch out His hand against Job, but instead God gave Satan permission to do so. Does God stretch out His hand against anyone, or only just allow Satan? Does He only stretch out His hand (against someone) in judgement?
Lord, give me faith please to trust You through the times when I don't understand who You are or what You are doing.
Job 2:3-4
Thursday, July 25, 2013
Monday, July 8, 2013
50. Fire
Hope you all had a nice weekend; I'm just starting mine now. I ended up with three days off so I'm going to visit my sister who recently moved about 3 hours away.
But, I thought I'd post my sketch for the week, or actually month now.
This week's word was fire.
Strangely, the only fire idea that popped into my head was totally out of season.
Started with the fireplace and drew the window with the little hands pressed against it, but all I could imagine at that moment was a sad little kid looking in the window at an empty place with a fire, and that didn't sound nice at all, so I set it aside. Later, when looking at it again I felt the urge to have the child sticking his tongue out, so I drew him, and then had to decide what he was sticking his tongue out at. Decided there had to be someone who didn't want to play outside, but stay in by the fire.
Don't forget to check out OakMoonStudio for more.
But, I thought I'd post my sketch for the week, or actually month now.
This week's word was fire.
Strangely, the only fire idea that popped into my head was totally out of season.
Started with the fireplace and drew the window with the little hands pressed against it, but all I could imagine at that moment was a sad little kid looking in the window at an empty place with a fire, and that didn't sound nice at all, so I set it aside. Later, when looking at it again I felt the urge to have the child sticking his tongue out, so I drew him, and then had to decide what he was sticking his tongue out at. Decided there had to be someone who didn't want to play outside, but stay in by the fire.
Friday, June 21, 2013
49. Heart Art
A lot of people don't know that I draw. It's not their fault, I don't brag about it, I'm not that good. I don't really talk about it because I'm rarely actually working on something. Although, because one friend bugged me enough, I posted a whole album of art on facebook and occasionally I update it when I draw something new.
But since I rarely draw, there is hardly ever something new to post.
A couple weeks ago though, I stumbled across an idea and kind of kicked myself into drawing again, and though I have had so many other projects at the moment that I haven't been able to finish the whole picture, I know what I want to draw.
It seems to me that I rotate my hobbies, that is, I'll do something for a while then get bored with it and get distracted with another one for a while. Well, I want to keep the drawing hobby around for a little longer, I could use more practice. But, to practice I need something to draw... and the main reason I don't draw is because I don't know what to draw.
A lovely lady and wonderful artist I know, Beth, posted on facebook that a blog she follows, Oak Moon Studio, had decided to do a weekly word sketch link party thing.
Cool, I can join in and someone else will suggest words/ideas... but I still have to sit down and draw.
So, it's been going on for a couple weeks and I still haven't joined in, but this week the word is heart, and because I actually drew some things that included hearts, I figured that I should post at least one of them...
Now, the reason I was drawing things with hearts this week has to do with a secret project my Mom gave me, so I can't post most of them just in case any ladies from church are reading my blog, at least, not yet. This picture may or may not have anything to do with the finished idea though and it's only a part of an idea, so it's safe to post.
I did sketch one picture while thinking about what to draw with hearts. I think my mind was remembering last week's word too- circus.
When I was in college I took Basic Design (in black and white and in color, with the same teacher) and my teacher wouldn't let us use hearts. She said they were overdone. And, I generally would agree with her... though I did sneak in one or two (see left) when I was really out of ideas, I just didn't use them for any final drafts. She probably wouldn't like it if she found out that my dishes have hearts on them. (I didn't pick them out... but I like them anyway.)
And just for fun, because I sorted through some old drawings, here's a few others that include hearts. I don't recall what was up with the girl's on the left. I designed the dress on the right, along with a lot more back in junior high/ high school. If you look close you can see this was labeled #262.
But since I rarely draw, there is hardly ever something new to post.
A couple weeks ago though, I stumbled across an idea and kind of kicked myself into drawing again, and though I have had so many other projects at the moment that I haven't been able to finish the whole picture, I know what I want to draw.
It seems to me that I rotate my hobbies, that is, I'll do something for a while then get bored with it and get distracted with another one for a while. Well, I want to keep the drawing hobby around for a little longer, I could use more practice. But, to practice I need something to draw... and the main reason I don't draw is because I don't know what to draw.
A lovely lady and wonderful artist I know, Beth, posted on facebook that a blog she follows, Oak Moon Studio, had decided to do a weekly word sketch link party thing.
Cool, I can join in and someone else will suggest words/ideas... but I still have to sit down and draw.
So, it's been going on for a couple weeks and I still haven't joined in, but this week the word is heart, and because I actually drew some things that included hearts, I figured that I should post at least one of them...
Now, the reason I was drawing things with hearts this week has to do with a secret project my Mom gave me, so I can't post most of them just in case any ladies from church are reading my blog, at least, not yet. This picture may or may not have anything to do with the finished idea though and it's only a part of an idea, so it's safe to post.
 |
| I really should take pictures during the day with better lighting.... especially since I draw so lightly. |
I did sketch one picture while thinking about what to draw with hearts. I think my mind was remembering last week's word too- circus.
When I was in college I took Basic Design (in black and white and in color, with the same teacher) and my teacher wouldn't let us use hearts. She said they were overdone. And, I generally would agree with her... though I did sneak in one or two (see left) when I was really out of ideas, I just didn't use them for any final drafts. She probably wouldn't like it if she found out that my dishes have hearts on them. (I didn't pick them out... but I like them anyway.)
And just for fun, because I sorted through some old drawings, here's a few others that include hearts. I don't recall what was up with the girl's on the left. I designed the dress on the right, along with a lot more back in junior high/ high school. If you look close you can see this was labeled #262.
If you really love hearts, be sure to check out Beth's art work, where she hides them beautifully in almost everything, and her other blog and her sister's blog, where you can see hearts that most eyes miss.
And be sure to check out Oak Moon Studios.
Tuesday, June 11, 2013
48. Sweet Potato Salad
I rarely cook.
I don't usually find cooking fun and I hate cleaning up... but mostly I just don't like deciding what to eat. But, occasionally... well.
We had a potluck Sunday after church since it was our annual meeting and of course everyone is always starving after that.
And for once I actually made something.
Well, two somethings that is. I made chocolate cobbler because I had the link saved and it looked good (and was good)... but this story isn't about that. (Yes there's a recipe here for sweet potato salad, if you've read the title and that's what you want, but you're going to have to go to the end to get to it... and why not read the story on the way down?)
I had time (well, not as much time as it took, it would have been nice to go to bed earlier, but what can I say, I seem to like cooking in the middle of the night best.)
But I wasn't sure what to make. What did I have?
All that came to mind was that I had three sweet potatoes.
What can I make with sweet potatoes? I've only made a couple things.
This sweet potato and black bean chili by Food Wishes. From this recipe I learned that it's pretty simple to just chop up a sweet potato and bake "fries", so I've done that a couple times now. I also learned that I needed decent knives... because it wasn't very easy to chop a sweet potato up with the knife I was using. So, I bought nicer knives... and that's helped me cook more. Chopping things up with a knife that cuts is almost fun!
I've also made jerk sweet potato by Sorted Food (and sweet potato quesadilla, also by them), though using ingredients I had, so no star anise or lime... but I did learn that lemon goes interestingly well with sweet potato.
But I didn't want to bother with trying to keep the chili warm, and though it didn't cross my mind to try the other recipes I don't think they would have worked well for a potluck.
Then I wondered if there was such a thing as sweet potato salad. This was partly because of a conversation with a customer at work that day who had been unable to find radishes to go in her (regular) potato salad. I hadn't ever heard of radishes in potato salad, but it sounded interesting, so the idea of potato salad was stuck in the back of my head.
So, I looked it up online, and there is such a thing as sweet potato salad... but there were so many versions!
In fact, if you want to check them out, here's the one's I looked at:
http://www.skinnytaste.com/2013/03/kumara-sweet-potato-tandoori-salad.html
apple cider vinegar, red onion, baby spinach, honey, cumin-- but don't like curry
http://www.marthastewart.com/315818/chilled-sweet-potato-salad
orange zest, scallion
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/recipe?id=9865284
lime juice, cilantro, red onion
http://www.lastingredient.com/2013/05/06/sweet-potato-salad/
red onion, garlic, lime, cilantro- didn't feel like adding black beans (this time)
http://www.dallasnews.com/lifestyles/food-wine/food-wine-headlines/20130521-tablita-side-dish-roasted-sweet-potato-and-avocado-salad.ece
cumin, cayenne, red onion, garlic- don't think avocado sound right
http://www.babble.com/best-recipes/a-lighter-take-on-german-potato-salad/
honey, red onions, mentioned mustard- actually a regular potato salad
http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/recipe/roasted-sweet-potato-salad
red onion, cinnamon, honey, radishes
http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Sweet-Potato-Salad-2
http://www.mnn.com/food/recipes/stories/sweet-potato-salad
garlic, cumin, cayenne, lemon juice, cilantro
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Grilled-Sweet-Potato-Salad-14174
cumin, scallion, lime, coriander (cilantro)
http://www.rachaelrayshow.com/food/recipes/art-smiths-sweet-potato-salad-cumin-and-cilantro/
cilantro, lime, lemon, cumin, red onion, celery
http://kitchen-parade-veggieventure.blogspot.com/2012/11/simple-sweet-potato-potato-salad-recipe.html
red onion, celery, honey (or maple syrup)- the maple syrup and cranberries weren't quite right
As you can see, I marked where the ingredients I used (or similar ones) were suggested (plus a few I didn't like but that you might).
Now, this is how I made the salad, but not necessarily how it should be made... so, I'm basically including the recipe twice. First, you can read the details of how and why I did some things (and laugh at me for taking so long to make something simple) and then I'll put the actual ingredients and simplified directions highlighted at the end.
I started with running to the store around midnight to pick up a few ingredients I decided I wanted in the salad but didn't have.
When I got home I cut 2 sweet potatoes into cubes, coated them with olive oil, minced garlic, and spices. Put them in the oven, almost forgot to stir them so the edges were overcooked slightly. Pulled them out when they were as tender as I wanted them.
While they were cooking I chopped up the vegetables (really thin because I don't really like crunchy stuff in regular potato salad, so though I thought it'd be better with sweet potato, I wanted it chopped small).
I poured around a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar in a bowl, zested half a lemon and half a lime and then juiced half of each and added some honey because it seemed right since both vinegar and citrus seem ...acidic or tart... and a couple recipes mentioned it.
The honey I have at the moment is weird, well, it's not weird in a bad way, it's called spun honey and it's, like, purposefully precrystallized. (I bought it because it's in a tub and since my honey normally ends up crystallizing before I use it, it's really hard to get out of a squeeze bottle.) Anyway, I heated it up so it would be runny like honey and then put it in, but as soon as it hit the cold juice and cider it hardened. So I'm not sure how much I actually added and since I added the cinnamon at the same time, I don't know how much of that either. Something less than a teaspoon. Just, to taste I guess.
Around this time I decided I wanted to use the third sweet potato, so I stuck it in the oven with the olive oil and spices (but didn't add more garlic).
I put the chopped vegetables in the fridge and spread the sweet potato cubes out to cool.
I wilted a couple handfuls of spinach on the stove with butter (too much butter really, I ended up using a paper towel to try and get rid of some butter) and then chopped it thinly and spread it out to cool with the sweet potato.
After the potato and spinach was mostly cooled I put it in the fridge in a separate container from the vegetables, then decided to add the dressing to it and stuck it back in the fridge for the night.
In the morning I mixed them all together and decided that since the dressing had pretty much soaked in and wouldn't coat the veggies too that I'd make a little more, so I put some more apple cider vinegar, the other half of the lemon and a bit more honey in a bowl with some salt and pepper, tasted it and decided it was still missing something. Tested a piece with miracle whip and a piece with mustard and decided miracle whip was the way to go. I added somewhere between a teaspoon and a tablespoon, just enough to barely coat everything when mixed with the other dressing ingredients. Then I hand stirred the veggies, the sweet potato and the dressing all together to make sure there wasn't so much that it would be runny.
Stuck it back in the fridge for about a half hour until I left for church. I just set it on the counter, so I don't know if they refrigerated it more or not.
The reason I actually wrote up this whole blog post in the first place was because a couple ladies actually liked it so much that they wanted the recipe.
Great!
Wait... then I had to remember what I put in it.... uhoh!
Luckily I had the day off so I could spend time thinking about it (and cleaning up the kitchen). I looked through my grocery sack and through my spices, wrote down the details of what I did, and I hope I remembered everything. I actually didn't remember about the vinegar until a couple hours after I thought I remembered everything, and the cinnamon I forgot about until around 10 or 11 at night.
But, here is what I estimate to be the recipe (or at least, what I plan to do if/when I make it again) Sorry that there isn't specific measurements on some things.:
2-3 sweet potatoes
enough olive oil to coat
1-2 cloves minced garlic
spices (cayenne, ground mustard, cumin)
couple handfuls spinach leaves
2 stalks celery
4-5 small radishes
1/3 cucumber
1/4 red onion
green onions
cilantro
1 lemon juiced
1/2 lime juiced
zest of half a lemon and half a lime
apple cider vinegar (maybe 4 teaspoons?)
honey (less than a tablespoon?)
cinnamon (less than a teaspoon?)
touch of salt and pepper
about 1 tbsp miracle whip
Coat the sweet potatoes in olive oil and spices. Spread out on cookie sheets. Bake at 400-425 degrees for 25-35 minutes, stirring once or twice, until tender.
Wilt spinach in pan. Lay out to cool then chop and mix with sweet potatoes. Store in the fridge.
Chop the vegetables and store in the fridge in a separate container (at least until the sweet potatoes are fully cooled, but I would wait until you are ready to add all of the dressing).
If you aren't serving it until the next day, I would mix together the dressing ingredients except the miracle whip. Mix half of the dressing with the sweet potatoes to soak in. Then, maybe an hour or two before serving, mix the other half of the dressing with the miracle whip and mix everything together.
But you can try it whatever way you want!
If you make it, enjoy and please tell me about it!
I don't usually find cooking fun and I hate cleaning up... but mostly I just don't like deciding what to eat. But, occasionally... well.
We had a potluck Sunday after church since it was our annual meeting and of course everyone is always starving after that.
And for once I actually made something.
Well, two somethings that is. I made chocolate cobbler because I had the link saved and it looked good (and was good)... but this story isn't about that. (Yes there's a recipe here for sweet potato salad, if you've read the title and that's what you want, but you're going to have to go to the end to get to it... and why not read the story on the way down?)
I had time (well, not as much time as it took, it would have been nice to go to bed earlier, but what can I say, I seem to like cooking in the middle of the night best.)
But I wasn't sure what to make. What did I have?
All that came to mind was that I had three sweet potatoes.
What can I make with sweet potatoes? I've only made a couple things.
This sweet potato and black bean chili by Food Wishes. From this recipe I learned that it's pretty simple to just chop up a sweet potato and bake "fries", so I've done that a couple times now. I also learned that I needed decent knives... because it wasn't very easy to chop a sweet potato up with the knife I was using. So, I bought nicer knives... and that's helped me cook more. Chopping things up with a knife that cuts is almost fun!
I've also made jerk sweet potato by Sorted Food (and sweet potato quesadilla, also by them), though using ingredients I had, so no star anise or lime... but I did learn that lemon goes interestingly well with sweet potato.But I didn't want to bother with trying to keep the chili warm, and though it didn't cross my mind to try the other recipes I don't think they would have worked well for a potluck.
Then I wondered if there was such a thing as sweet potato salad. This was partly because of a conversation with a customer at work that day who had been unable to find radishes to go in her (regular) potato salad. I hadn't ever heard of radishes in potato salad, but it sounded interesting, so the idea of potato salad was stuck in the back of my head.
So, I looked it up online, and there is such a thing as sweet potato salad... but there were so many versions!
In fact, if you want to check them out, here's the one's I looked at:
http://www.skinnytaste.com/2013/03/kumara-sweet-potato-tandoori-salad.html
apple cider vinegar, red onion, baby spinach, honey, cumin-- but don't like curry
http://www.marthastewart.com/315818/chilled-sweet-potato-salad
orange zest, scallion
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/recipe?id=9865284
lime juice, cilantro, red onion
http://www.lastingredient.com/2013/05/06/sweet-potato-salad/
red onion, garlic, lime, cilantro- didn't feel like adding black beans (this time)
http://www.dallasnews.com/lifestyles/food-wine/food-wine-headlines/20130521-tablita-side-dish-roasted-sweet-potato-and-avocado-salad.ece
cumin, cayenne, red onion, garlic- don't think avocado sound right
http://www.babble.com/best-recipes/a-lighter-take-on-german-potato-salad/
honey, red onions, mentioned mustard- actually a regular potato salad
http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/recipe/roasted-sweet-potato-salad
red onion, cinnamon, honey, radishes
http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Sweet-Potato-Salad-2
http://www.mnn.com/food/recipes/stories/sweet-potato-salad
garlic, cumin, cayenne, lemon juice, cilantro
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Grilled-Sweet-Potato-Salad-14174
cumin, scallion, lime, coriander (cilantro)
http://www.rachaelrayshow.com/food/recipes/art-smiths-sweet-potato-salad-cumin-and-cilantro/
cilantro, lime, lemon, cumin, red onion, celery
http://kitchen-parade-veggieventure.blogspot.com/2012/11/simple-sweet-potato-potato-salad-recipe.html
red onion, celery, honey (or maple syrup)- the maple syrup and cranberries weren't quite right
As you can see, I marked where the ingredients I used (or similar ones) were suggested (plus a few I didn't like but that you might).
Now, this is how I made the salad, but not necessarily how it should be made... so, I'm basically including the recipe twice. First, you can read the details of how and why I did some things (and laugh at me for taking so long to make something simple) and then I'll put the actual ingredients and simplified directions highlighted at the end.
I started with running to the store around midnight to pick up a few ingredients I decided I wanted in the salad but didn't have.
When I got home I cut 2 sweet potatoes into cubes, coated them with olive oil, minced garlic, and spices. Put them in the oven, almost forgot to stir them so the edges were overcooked slightly. Pulled them out when they were as tender as I wanted them.
While they were cooking I chopped up the vegetables (really thin because I don't really like crunchy stuff in regular potato salad, so though I thought it'd be better with sweet potato, I wanted it chopped small).
I poured around a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar in a bowl, zested half a lemon and half a lime and then juiced half of each and added some honey because it seemed right since both vinegar and citrus seem ...acidic or tart... and a couple recipes mentioned it.
The honey I have at the moment is weird, well, it's not weird in a bad way, it's called spun honey and it's, like, purposefully precrystallized. (I bought it because it's in a tub and since my honey normally ends up crystallizing before I use it, it's really hard to get out of a squeeze bottle.) Anyway, I heated it up so it would be runny like honey and then put it in, but as soon as it hit the cold juice and cider it hardened. So I'm not sure how much I actually added and since I added the cinnamon at the same time, I don't know how much of that either. Something less than a teaspoon. Just, to taste I guess.
Around this time I decided I wanted to use the third sweet potato, so I stuck it in the oven with the olive oil and spices (but didn't add more garlic).
I put the chopped vegetables in the fridge and spread the sweet potato cubes out to cool.
I wilted a couple handfuls of spinach on the stove with butter (too much butter really, I ended up using a paper towel to try and get rid of some butter) and then chopped it thinly and spread it out to cool with the sweet potato.
After the potato and spinach was mostly cooled I put it in the fridge in a separate container from the vegetables, then decided to add the dressing to it and stuck it back in the fridge for the night.
In the morning I mixed them all together and decided that since the dressing had pretty much soaked in and wouldn't coat the veggies too that I'd make a little more, so I put some more apple cider vinegar, the other half of the lemon and a bit more honey in a bowl with some salt and pepper, tasted it and decided it was still missing something. Tested a piece with miracle whip and a piece with mustard and decided miracle whip was the way to go. I added somewhere between a teaspoon and a tablespoon, just enough to barely coat everything when mixed with the other dressing ingredients. Then I hand stirred the veggies, the sweet potato and the dressing all together to make sure there wasn't so much that it would be runny.
Stuck it back in the fridge for about a half hour until I left for church. I just set it on the counter, so I don't know if they refrigerated it more or not.
The reason I actually wrote up this whole blog post in the first place was because a couple ladies actually liked it so much that they wanted the recipe.
Great!
Wait... then I had to remember what I put in it.... uhoh!
Luckily I had the day off so I could spend time thinking about it (and cleaning up the kitchen). I looked through my grocery sack and through my spices, wrote down the details of what I did, and I hope I remembered everything. I actually didn't remember about the vinegar until a couple hours after I thought I remembered everything, and the cinnamon I forgot about until around 10 or 11 at night.
But, here is what I estimate to be the recipe (or at least, what I plan to do if/when I make it again) Sorry that there isn't specific measurements on some things.:
2-3 sweet potatoes
enough olive oil to coat
1-2 cloves minced garlic
spices (cayenne, ground mustard, cumin)
couple handfuls spinach leaves
2 stalks celery
4-5 small radishes
1/3 cucumber
1/4 red onion
green onions
cilantro
1 lemon juiced
1/2 lime juiced
zest of half a lemon and half a lime
apple cider vinegar (maybe 4 teaspoons?)
honey (less than a tablespoon?)
cinnamon (less than a teaspoon?)
touch of salt and pepper
about 1 tbsp miracle whip
Coat the sweet potatoes in olive oil and spices. Spread out on cookie sheets. Bake at 400-425 degrees for 25-35 minutes, stirring once or twice, until tender.
Wilt spinach in pan. Lay out to cool then chop and mix with sweet potatoes. Store in the fridge.
Chop the vegetables and store in the fridge in a separate container (at least until the sweet potatoes are fully cooled, but I would wait until you are ready to add all of the dressing).
If you aren't serving it until the next day, I would mix together the dressing ingredients except the miracle whip. Mix half of the dressing with the sweet potatoes to soak in. Then, maybe an hour or two before serving, mix the other half of the dressing with the miracle whip and mix everything together.
But you can try it whatever way you want!
If you make it, enjoy and please tell me about it!
Monday, April 29, 2013
47. Job 2:3-4
Job 2:3-4
Then the LORD said to Satan, "Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil? And still he holds fast to his integrity, although you incited Me against him, to destroy him without cause."
So Satan answered the LORD and said, "Skin for skin! Yes, all that a man has he will give for his life."
Job is still upright in God's eyes, he still held fast to his integrity.
Lord may I be like Job, still holding tight to you when things aren't going the way I expect. After all, there is none like You.
Satan is king of excuses, he says, oh sure, Job still holds on, but that's because it was just family and possessions, no, what a human really cares about is himself.
Lord, if I ever have such a disease or such as is about to come upon Job, help me to remember to always put You first in my mind. There is no need to fear death, because with such death comes eternal life with You. I pray that I would not give all I have if it would save my life, especially if it means denying You. Blessed be the name of the Lord!
Job 2:1-2 Job 2:5-6
Then the LORD said to Satan, "Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil? And still he holds fast to his integrity, although you incited Me against him, to destroy him without cause."
So Satan answered the LORD and said, "Skin for skin! Yes, all that a man has he will give for his life."
Job is still upright in God's eyes, he still held fast to his integrity.
Lord may I be like Job, still holding tight to you when things aren't going the way I expect. After all, there is none like You.
Satan is king of excuses, he says, oh sure, Job still holds on, but that's because it was just family and possessions, no, what a human really cares about is himself.
Lord, if I ever have such a disease or such as is about to come upon Job, help me to remember to always put You first in my mind. There is no need to fear death, because with such death comes eternal life with You. I pray that I would not give all I have if it would save my life, especially if it means denying You. Blessed be the name of the Lord!
Job 2:1-2 Job 2:5-6
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
46. Camp NanoWrimo
So, I'm trying Camp NaNoWrimo this April. I started to try it one other year but wasn't in to my story enough to really work at it, but I've a story to write this time.
I'm so forgetful, I realized that I never told you I won NaNoWriMo back in November (that is, I reached over 50,000 words, yay!) It's hard for me to write that much, I'm not a wordy person, and that makes it even more satisfying to reach the goal.
However, by the end of November I realized that my story wanted to be a trilogy... and that the story I was writing was actually the second, at least chronologically.
So, this month I'm working on the prequel so that I can figure out some motivations of secondary characters in order to be able to finish Eventually. I'm still thinking that if I ever finish the stories I'll publish Eventually first. If I do the prequel first it gives away too much of the secondary characters past, plus the main characters in the prequel and sequel are different than in Eventually.
One of the nice things about Camp is that we can now choose our own goals. 50,000 is much too high for me to aim for more than once a year, so I went with 30,000. Still a high goal for me, in fact I'm behind by about 5000 words at the moment, but I caught up a lot from how behind I was earlier today.
So, I thought I'd give you a bonus scene from Eventually. This happens about a third of the way through the story:
~*~
The pirate captain was leaning off the bow of his ship, watching them carefully. Evan felt his presence before he saw him, but was startled anyway when he realized that a huge ship had appeared out of nowhere. He held tightly to Adelaide’s arm which caused her to start. She began to ask what was wrong, but as Evan began to reassure her that all was well, the pirate spoke.
“Ahoy there ye landlubbers! How fares the lady fair?”
Saturday, December 29, 2012
45. Job 2:1-2
Job 2:1-2
Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan came also among them to present himself before the Lord.
And the Lord said to Satan, "From where do you come?"
Satan answered the Lord and said, "From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking back and forth on it."
So there are more than one of these days in which the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord. I wonder how many there are, and how often they happen, and why? Are these sons of God angels? The amplified Bible version thinks so. God still makes Himself sound clueless by asking where Satan has been while Satan still sounds like he has a patience problem, or ADD or something, all that walking back and forth.
Well, Lord God, we know You are the smartest and wisest one of all, Wisdom Himself, but it's quite possible Satan is an impatient one. Thank You Father for protecting us from being stomped upon as Satan walks to and for. Thank You that even though You know every little thing about us already, you don't mind repetition, in fact, You would love to hear us tell You everything. Lord, please give me the words to be able to talk with You, in the privacy of home or in Bible study, but also to always remember to glorify You.
Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan came also among them to present himself before the Lord.
And the Lord said to Satan, "From where do you come?"
Satan answered the Lord and said, "From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking back and forth on it."
So there are more than one of these days in which the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord. I wonder how many there are, and how often they happen, and why? Are these sons of God angels? The amplified Bible version thinks so. God still makes Himself sound clueless by asking where Satan has been while Satan still sounds like he has a patience problem, or ADD or something, all that walking back and forth.
Well, Lord God, we know You are the smartest and wisest one of all, Wisdom Himself, but it's quite possible Satan is an impatient one. Thank You Father for protecting us from being stomped upon as Satan walks to and for. Thank You that even though You know every little thing about us already, you don't mind repetition, in fact, You would love to hear us tell You everything. Lord, please give me the words to be able to talk with You, in the privacy of home or in Bible study, but also to always remember to glorify You.
Saturday, November 24, 2012
44. November Again
It's November again... which means I'm so busy writing (Yay NaNoWriMo!) that I don't get anything I should done... even if I'm behind on my word count. Sadly, yes, I'm behind this year, however I'm over 30,000 which is better than I've done any other year except when I won two years ago. I still have hope of winning (if only I would focus...). Because I'm so nice, I'll give you a small excerpt from my story... I'm thinking this might be the prologue. If it isn't, it's a flashback scene. The Evan in this part, at about age 6, is the main character for a story I'm calling Eventually and this scene hints toward why.
“He’s a cute kid, ain't he ma?”
Evan stood, face pressed against the glass of the taffy shop, eyes open wide and mouth pressed, open, against the glass, as if any second someone would pop a piece of candy in, he was ready.
~*~
“He’s a cute kid, ain't he ma?”
Evan stood, face pressed against the glass of the taffy shop, eyes open wide and mouth pressed, open, against the glass, as if any second someone would pop a piece of candy in, he was ready.
Monday, October 8, 2012
43. Job 1:20-22
Job 1:20-22
Then Job arose, tore his robe, and shaved his head; and he fell to the ground and worshiped. And he said: "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return there. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; Blessed be the name of the Lord."
In all this Job did not sin nor charge God with wrong.
Although Job mourned, he worshiped. Although he cried out in sorrow, he cried out praise.
Instead of complaints, Lord, I wish I was as grateful and, well, joyful in a sense, as Job. I roll easily through life's ups and downs, but I don't thank You or bless Your name through it all. I've also had my share of complaints. I'm not sure that I'm purposely ungrateful, but Lord, I want to thank You now for everything You've ever done for me, though I remember it or not. Above all I wish that worshiping You was the top on my list of priorities instead of whatever is, or appears to be.
God I know, at least most of me knows, that all things work out for good for those that love You and are called according to Your purpose. I pray that includes me, but mostly I pray that I can love You more and more, that my heart will forever long to do Your will and to serve You. Take my heart and make it Yours.
Then Job arose, tore his robe, and shaved his head; and he fell to the ground and worshiped. And he said: "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return there. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; Blessed be the name of the Lord."
In all this Job did not sin nor charge God with wrong.
Although Job mourned, he worshiped. Although he cried out in sorrow, he cried out praise.
Instead of complaints, Lord, I wish I was as grateful and, well, joyful in a sense, as Job. I roll easily through life's ups and downs, but I don't thank You or bless Your name through it all. I've also had my share of complaints. I'm not sure that I'm purposely ungrateful, but Lord, I want to thank You now for everything You've ever done for me, though I remember it or not. Above all I wish that worshiping You was the top on my list of priorities instead of whatever is, or appears to be.
God I know, at least most of me knows, that all things work out for good for those that love You and are called according to Your purpose. I pray that includes me, but mostly I pray that I can love You more and more, that my heart will forever long to do Your will and to serve You. Take my heart and make it Yours.
<---Job 1:17-19 Job 2:1-2--->
Monday, October 1, 2012
42. More Excitement Than Normal
Well, I had been doing pretty well at posting this year, but I appear to have slacked off recently... or, not so recently being as my last post was halfway through the summer. The main reason for this... my summer was crazier than normal. Sure, compared to some people my summer was still boring... but for me it was pretty stressful, but worth it in the end.
However, I just can't seem to write about it all at once, so you're getting a three-part summer update. Now, anybody who actually knows me knows all about my updates, but I suppose I might share some thoughts they haven't heard... but for you who might just happen by... well, you probably won't remember to come back to see my updates anyway...
So, coming soon (hopefully!) a new post!
However, I just can't seem to write about it all at once, so you're getting a three-part summer update. Now, anybody who actually knows me knows all about my updates, but I suppose I might share some thoughts they haven't heard... but for you who might just happen by... well, you probably won't remember to come back to see my updates anyway...
So, coming soon (hopefully!) a new post!
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
41. Job 1:17-19
Job 1:17-19
While he was still speaking, another also came and said, "The Chaldeans formed three bands, raided the camels and took them away, yes, and killed the servants with the edge of the sword; and I alone have escaped to tell you!"
While he was still speaking, another also came and said, "Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother's house, and suddenly a great wind came from across the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell on the young people, and they are dead; and I alone have escaped to tell you!"
So why did the Chaldeans form three bands specifically? Why not two or four?
Sheep seem to be different from oxen, donkeys and camels. Why were the sheep wiped out and the rest were just stolen?
I think I shall never let my children party without me, it just isn't safe. I hope they aren't wine drinkers.
This wind reminds me of a tornado perhaps, or of a hurricane like in Florida. Who is God testing at the moment? Death can sneak upon you quickly.
Lord, is St. Helen's going to blow? Will an earthquake to end all earthquakes hit us here on the west coast as a super gigantic hurricane finishes off the east? Or is this just one of those interesting times on our lives?
God, I pray for the safety of those involved on either coast, that less lives would be lost and, above all, that somehow You would be glorified in all of this.
(Not sure if there was some big disaster happening when I wrote this or what, I should have put dates on the entries.)
While he was still speaking, another also came and said, "The Chaldeans formed three bands, raided the camels and took them away, yes, and killed the servants with the edge of the sword; and I alone have escaped to tell you!"
While he was still speaking, another also came and said, "Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother's house, and suddenly a great wind came from across the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell on the young people, and they are dead; and I alone have escaped to tell you!"
So why did the Chaldeans form three bands specifically? Why not two or four?
Sheep seem to be different from oxen, donkeys and camels. Why were the sheep wiped out and the rest were just stolen?
I think I shall never let my children party without me, it just isn't safe. I hope they aren't wine drinkers.
This wind reminds me of a tornado perhaps, or of a hurricane like in Florida. Who is God testing at the moment? Death can sneak upon you quickly.
Lord, is St. Helen's going to blow? Will an earthquake to end all earthquakes hit us here on the west coast as a super gigantic hurricane finishes off the east? Or is this just one of those interesting times on our lives?
God, I pray for the safety of those involved on either coast, that less lives would be lost and, above all, that somehow You would be glorified in all of this.
(Not sure if there was some big disaster happening when I wrote this or what, I should have put dates on the entries.)
<-- Job 1:16 Job 1:20-22-->
Wednesday, July 4, 2012
40. What Am I Forgetting?
I do this, every so often, where, for at least a couple weeks on end I feel like I'm forgetting something. Instead of going to sleep I'll pace back and forth between websites: Facebook, Google reader, Pinterest.. so on... like I'm forgetting to check something. And yet, there's nothing that needs checking and everything is usually the same as when I left it last. I'm not sure what I'm looking for, some kind of sign from heaven, an acknowledgement of my existence on earth?
Whatever it is that I'm looking for and not finding, I know it's unlikely to be found online. Maybe it's a way of processing things I need to figure out, trying to find answers I won't find anywhere else either...
I should really close the computer and go to sleep....
I should really seek answers from God...
Whatever it is that I'm looking for and not finding, I know it's unlikely to be found online. Maybe it's a way of processing things I need to figure out, trying to find answers I won't find anywhere else either...
I should really close the computer and go to sleep....
I should really seek answers from God...
Thursday, June 28, 2012
39. Job 1:16
Job 1:16
While he was still speaking, another also came and said, "The fire of God fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants, and consumed them; and I alone have escaped to tell you!"
The fire of God, perhaps lightening? There is that ball of fire type that could possibly be worse, or was it something beyond what I have seen or heard of?
This seems like a rather scary way for the sheep and servants to go, even worse than being raided and carried away. How did the one servant manage to escape? I still wonder. Well, obviously God left a witness to tell what had happened, but did the servant hide, did he just happen across it all in the middle or did the fire just leap right over him?
I suppose he could be severely injured.
Lord, I would not want such things to happen to my family, my cats, and if I had servants, them also. If I had to lose it all, I hope it would be in a way less painful to them all, please. God, I am nothing to brag about, Satan probably doesn't even care about testing me, and in some ways that is great... But still God, make me into an upright person like Job and mold me more and more like You.
While he was still speaking, another also came and said, "The fire of God fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants, and consumed them; and I alone have escaped to tell you!"
The fire of God, perhaps lightening? There is that ball of fire type that could possibly be worse, or was it something beyond what I have seen or heard of?
This seems like a rather scary way for the sheep and servants to go, even worse than being raided and carried away. How did the one servant manage to escape? I still wonder. Well, obviously God left a witness to tell what had happened, but did the servant hide, did he just happen across it all in the middle or did the fire just leap right over him?
I suppose he could be severely injured.
Lord, I would not want such things to happen to my family, my cats, and if I had servants, them also. If I had to lose it all, I hope it would be in a way less painful to them all, please. God, I am nothing to brag about, Satan probably doesn't even care about testing me, and in some ways that is great... But still God, make me into an upright person like Job and mold me more and more like You.
<-- Job 1:13-15 Job 1:17-19 -->
Monday, June 18, 2012
38. My "Interesting" Hobbies
Our church is in the process of updating their picture directory. No big deal. However, along with the picture and address they ask what your hobbies are. Which led to me posting this on Facebook:
Of course people then asked what those "interesting" hobbies are, which I knew someone probably would. I figured I'd give a simple answer, but then the more I thought about it, the more I felt the need to explain everything. It's silly. But, also too long for a Facebook post.
Now, nobody on Facebook seemed to care what I actually put (my "boring" hobbies). It's the same thing I put in the last picture directory.
Not actually boring to do (most of the time, in my opinion anyway), but a bit boring sounding. They could be elaborated on to make them appear more interesting. (Well, there wasn't a whole lot of room on the form, but assuming we have a whole page to ourselves as in the past, I could have added more on the back.)
Examples I could have put: For writing- Nanowrimo. Or that I prefer to write and read fiction. Or that I usually draw on paper with a pencil, paint with acrylics, draw on myself and write on paper with a pen.
So, to my hobbies- some of these my blog knows about, some my friends, some maybe just my mom.
*I have three different handwriting styles, though I generally write in my normal sloppy one.
I also have a specific calligraphy font I combined together. (Which I used when addressing my sister's wedding invitations.)
*I watch Kdramas. I started mid-May last year and have watched around 30 so far. (For those who worry, Korean TV shows are usually about 16-20 episodes and don't come back the next year. Plus, I'm not quite as addicted as I used to be.) There's quite a few on Hulu, but I usually watch them on DramaFever.
I like watching TV or movies with subtitles on, even if the show is in English. I hate to miss anything.
*Ealon. I have my own code language. It's been in process since around 5th grade. I added a second layer of rules in college to make it a bit harder. I write notes in it all the time, most of the time in cursive, but I have a ... font... for it too.
*As the friend taking the photos for the directory put it when we were talking about what to write down- "How about "body art?" I'm sure that would make people wonder. No, I'm not into tattoos and piercings.
I usually call it a bad habit, but I draw on myself when my hands get bored. Most often designs like the flower/snowflake at the top of the blog. [Edit: removed, maybe I'll add it here later] Other times flowers like in this picture.
Either that or I scribble on paper. It feels very satisfying until the end when I realize there is still no picture. :(
That's it for the big strange ones, but here's a few that are more random, less common, more habit than hobby:
*Is hugging a hobby?
*Rearranging my room? (For example.)
*I redecorate people's houses in my mind.
*Not so often anymore, but especially back in high school I'd make up clothing designs from things I found in the room. (I'm housesitting, but maybe I'll add a pic when I get back home.)
*I make up pie recipes. Sadly, I kind of just throw ingredients together, so I can't ever make them exactly the same again. (And I much prefer baking over cooking.)
*I used to walk in circles around the college quad when I got bored. Most of my exercise is still walking. I miss having a good place to walk in circles.
*My fingers have a left over habit of finger-spelling everything from when I took ASL. I'll find myself finger-spelling to songs in church, conversations I'm listening to, and even sometimes with the subtitles on kdramas. I'm most likely to sign along to songs while I'm driving, but I don't know enough words. (If I was any good at conversations I'd probably learn more ASL. Actually, I'd probably learn more languages. They're interesting. But what's the use in learning them if I'm not going to use them anyway?")
*Now that I finally have a camera again, photography is fun.
*Occasionally, I'll crochet, knit, or sew something.
*I wrote lots of song lyrics while vacuuming in college. I'd just sing to myself and if I caught a line I liked, I'd sing it over and over 'til I could write it down. It's kind of weird to have songs you made up yourself stuck in your head.
*I like cataloging my books. I usually keep my books in alphabetical order (sometimes divided by type, depending on how my bookshelves are arranged that the moment.) I tried to keep a card file of all the books I had while growing up; it didn't work as well as I wanted. Now days I use LibraryThing. You can see what books I own (and some I've read) here.
I mean, nobody really wants to hear about my favorite Kdramas and I'm not opinionated enough to say which books I like best and why. And, as you may have noticed, all of my hobbies can be done by myself.
If only I could get paid for writing notes only I can read or for scribbling...
Anyhow, for those who haven't noticed yet, I have a blog just to prove how uninteresting I really am by trying to point out the "interesting" parts of me. Maybe I'm afraid people will expect me to be interesting all of the time if I show I might actually be interesting some of the time.
"Tried to figure out my hobbies for the new church picture directory. Went with the simple boring ones, because the "interesting" ones would make me sound more interesting, or at least weirder, than I actually am."
Of course people then asked what those "interesting" hobbies are, which I knew someone probably would. I figured I'd give a simple answer, but then the more I thought about it, the more I felt the need to explain everything. It's silly. But, also too long for a Facebook post.
Now, nobody on Facebook seemed to care what I actually put (my "boring" hobbies). It's the same thing I put in the last picture directory.
Not actually boring to do (most of the time, in my opinion anyway), but a bit boring sounding. They could be elaborated on to make them appear more interesting. (Well, there wasn't a whole lot of room on the form, but assuming we have a whole page to ourselves as in the past, I could have added more on the back.)
Examples I could have put: For writing- Nanowrimo. Or that I prefer to write and read fiction. Or that I usually draw on paper with a pencil, paint with acrylics, draw on myself and write on paper with a pen.
So, to my hobbies- some of these my blog knows about, some my friends, some maybe just my mom.
*I have three different handwriting styles, though I generally write in my normal sloppy one.
 |
| My handwriting. Not so oddly, when I'm not being sloppy, the print does sometimes resemble my mom's. |
 |
| I consider this Jil's handwriting, just because I have to label it something. It tends to be rounder and neater. |
 |
| One of my old coworker's called this my serial killer handwriting. |
I also have a specific calligraphy font I combined together. (Which I used when addressing my sister's wedding invitations.)
 |
| Don't have a calligraphy pen with me, it'd look cooler that way. |
*I watch Kdramas. I started mid-May last year and have watched around 30 so far. (For those who worry, Korean TV shows are usually about 16-20 episodes and don't come back the next year. Plus, I'm not quite as addicted as I used to be.) There's quite a few on Hulu, but I usually watch them on DramaFever.
I like watching TV or movies with subtitles on, even if the show is in English. I hate to miss anything.
 |
| Ealon The name of the code doesn't actually mean anything in the code , but to explain it would give a hint to uncoding things. |
*As the friend taking the photos for the directory put it when we were talking about what to write down- "How about "body art?" I'm sure that would make people wonder. No, I'm not into tattoos and piercings.
I usually call it a bad habit, but I draw on myself when my hands get bored. Most often designs like the flower/snowflake at the top of the blog. [Edit: removed, maybe I'll add it here later] Other times flowers like in this picture.
Either that or I scribble on paper. It feels very satisfying until the end when I realize there is still no picture. :(
That's it for the big strange ones, but here's a few that are more random, less common, more habit than hobby:
*Is hugging a hobby?
*Rearranging my room? (For example.)
*I redecorate people's houses in my mind.
*Not so often anymore, but especially back in high school I'd make up clothing designs from things I found in the room. (I'm housesitting, but maybe I'll add a pic when I get back home.)
*I make up pie recipes. Sadly, I kind of just throw ingredients together, so I can't ever make them exactly the same again. (And I much prefer baking over cooking.)
 |
| Raspberry Lemonade Frozen Pie for Easter |
*I used to walk in circles around the college quad when I got bored. Most of my exercise is still walking. I miss having a good place to walk in circles.
*My fingers have a left over habit of finger-spelling everything from when I took ASL. I'll find myself finger-spelling to songs in church, conversations I'm listening to, and even sometimes with the subtitles on kdramas. I'm most likely to sign along to songs while I'm driving, but I don't know enough words. (If I was any good at conversations I'd probably learn more ASL. Actually, I'd probably learn more languages. They're interesting. But what's the use in learning them if I'm not going to use them anyway?")
*Now that I finally have a camera again, photography is fun.
 |
| A picture! Of a squirrel, at the park, if you couldn't figure that out. |
*Occasionally, I'll crochet, knit, or sew something.
*I wrote lots of song lyrics while vacuuming in college. I'd just sing to myself and if I caught a line I liked, I'd sing it over and over 'til I could write it down. It's kind of weird to have songs you made up yourself stuck in your head.
*I like cataloging my books. I usually keep my books in alphabetical order (sometimes divided by type, depending on how my bookshelves are arranged that the moment.) I tried to keep a card file of all the books I had while growing up; it didn't work as well as I wanted. Now days I use LibraryThing. You can see what books I own (and some I've read) here.
I think part of what makes one feel boring, in spite of such "interesting" hobbies, is not sharing them with anyone.
I mean, nobody really wants to hear about my favorite Kdramas and I'm not opinionated enough to say which books I like best and why. And, as you may have noticed, all of my hobbies can be done by myself.
If only I could get paid for writing notes only I can read or for scribbling...
Anyhow, for those who haven't noticed yet, I have a blog just to prove how uninteresting I really am by trying to point out the "interesting" parts of me. Maybe I'm afraid people will expect me to be interesting all of the time if I show I might actually be interesting some of the time.
I'm thankful people don't usually think I'm as boring as I feel I am
What are your hobbies and which ones do you normally not tell people about because they are hard to explain or you worry people will think you're strange?
Sunday, June 10, 2012
37. Job 1:13-15
Job 1: 13-15
Now there was a day when his sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother's house; and a messenger came to Job and said, "The oxen were plowing and the donkeys feeding beside them, when the Sabeans raided them and took them away--indeed they have killed the servants with the edge of the sword; and I alone have escaped to tell you!"
His sons and daughters were paying no mind to real life, they were off eating and drinking again. Even the best of men's children can turn out wrong. God uses men, or allows men to be used by Satan, to go about changing things on the earth. The oxen and donkeys going about their business and suddenly they are taken away. They are lucky, in a way, to just be taken and not killed as the servants. How come is there only one man left, could there be no more? Don't two make a proper witness?
Lord, thank you that all my possessions are Yours (and even selfishly, that You have not taken them from me.). As Richard reminded me, sometimes it is best to get rid of the things you hold dearest. God, what is the thing I need most to move farther from my heart to give more space to You? I am not much of a giving person, but if I ought to give something away, push me toward it. Thanks for all You have given me.
Now there was a day when his sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother's house; and a messenger came to Job and said, "The oxen were plowing and the donkeys feeding beside them, when the Sabeans raided them and took them away--indeed they have killed the servants with the edge of the sword; and I alone have escaped to tell you!"
His sons and daughters were paying no mind to real life, they were off eating and drinking again. Even the best of men's children can turn out wrong. God uses men, or allows men to be used by Satan, to go about changing things on the earth. The oxen and donkeys going about their business and suddenly they are taken away. They are lucky, in a way, to just be taken and not killed as the servants. How come is there only one man left, could there be no more? Don't two make a proper witness?
Lord, thank you that all my possessions are Yours (and even selfishly, that You have not taken them from me.). As Richard reminded me, sometimes it is best to get rid of the things you hold dearest. God, what is the thing I need most to move farther from my heart to give more space to You? I am not much of a giving person, but if I ought to give something away, push me toward it. Thanks for all You have given me.
Monday, May 14, 2012
36. Somewhere to Start and Something to Do
Most anyone that knows me could tell you I never do anything exciting (if I did, wouldn't I blog more?) Even my last fortune cookie realized this. It told me to "Do something unusual tomorrow". I mostly failed.
And as content as I generally am with being boring, on occasion, I would like to do something more than just watch TV or read a book.
However, I can never think of things to do.
(Cleaning is not fun, so let's pretend you didn't want to suggest it).
So then, I go back to doing useless things that make me wonder what use I am.
I came across this project somewhere, the goal of it being to help kids have fun picking out chores. Anyway, it sounded cool, I need to do more cleaning and who doesn't like to have more fun?
(We'll ignore the fact I'm not a kid, nor do I have any.)
And for those of you who might care, I've also seen date night ones. (Unfortunately they don't apply to me either.)
After I cut out all the pieces and painted a bunch of sticks, I realized that I don't have the majority of the rooms she had, nor do I need to clean the same things she listed.
But.
It worked out okay because I also realized that more than cleaning, I needed a way to decide on "fun" things to do.
(After all, if I would just do FlyLady's weekly home blessing and daily tasks, everything would get cleaned fine. Plus, dailyfeats is helpful in motivation.)
I had thought about trying to make papers to match hers, but because I ended up not using her papers, I wrote on the sticks.
As I was saying at the beginning of this post, if I'm not sure what to do, I usually don't do anything at all. If I have lots of things I need to get done, I procrastinate because I don't know where to start. If I have nothing to get done, I do nothing because I don't know what to start with.
So, my project became instead, somewhere to start and something to do.
I divided my sticks into four catagories, sorted like so:
(Folk Art Acrylic Paint)
Metallic Antique Copper- monthly/yearly chores (wash car, make appointments, vacuum upholstery)
Metallic Ice Blue- "fun" things that need planning ahead or are too noisy to do in the middle of the night. (text a friend, sew, go to the park, work on photo album (because it's at my parents house), play piano (I don't have a piano, but I'm regularly at places that have one.))
Champagne- "fun" things I can do any time (finish a craft, paint nails, write children's book, memorize verses, take a nap/relax (I hate naps, so we'll see how obedient I would be if I draw that))
Lastly on the putting together of this project, I had to find a container. I used the white mug while working on the project, but it didn't seem it would be large enough, and I wanted something prettier. I looked at a couple vases and such at the store, but nothing caught my eye.
Then, at some point, I remembered this pot just sitting in the cupboard under my sink. Mom let me have it a couple years ago. It isn't great for plants because it doesn't have any drainage holes, but I really like the .... (pattern, dye job, glazes? I can't pinpoint the word I want, I reserve the right to edit this later without notice). I think someone I know made it, but I can't remember who. It goes well with the placemat it is currently sitting next to (or on, in this picture).
So, the whole truth, I've been working on this blog post for about a month. (Told you I was slow.) The day I worked on this project last, these are also some of the things I worked on (I didn't pull them out randomly, I picked the sticks I'd done that day or planned to work on already.):
However, I can never think of things to do.
(Cleaning is not fun, so let's pretend you didn't want to suggest it).
So then, I go back to doing useless things that make me wonder what use I am.
My goal, therefore: To figure out something to do without making a decision and/or without attempting to come up with something to make a decision on.
I came across this project somewhere, the goal of it being to help kids have fun picking out chores. Anyway, it sounded cool, I need to do more cleaning and who doesn't like to have more fun?
(We'll ignore the fact I'm not a kid, nor do I have any.)
And for those of you who might care, I've also seen date night ones. (Unfortunately they don't apply to me either.)
After I cut out all the pieces and painted a bunch of sticks, I realized that I don't have the majority of the rooms she had, nor do I need to clean the same things she listed.
But.It worked out okay because I also realized that more than cleaning, I needed a way to decide on "fun" things to do.
(After all, if I would just do FlyLady's weekly home blessing and daily tasks, everything would get cleaned fine. Plus, dailyfeats is helpful in motivation.)
I had thought about trying to make papers to match hers, but because I ended up not using her papers, I wrote on the sticks.
As I was saying at the beginning of this post, if I'm not sure what to do, I usually don't do anything at all. If I have lots of things I need to get done, I procrastinate because I don't know where to start. If I have nothing to get done, I do nothing because I don't know what to start with.
So, my project became instead, somewhere to start and something to do.
(Folk Art Acrylic Paint)
Metallic Antique Copper- monthly/yearly chores (wash car, make appointments, vacuum upholstery)
Antique Gold- weekly chores (clip coupons, clean out fridge, clean out car)
Champagne- "fun" things I can do any time (finish a craft, paint nails, write children's book, memorize verses, take a nap/relax (I hate naps, so we'll see how obedient I would be if I draw that))
Any other ideas to write on the sticks (especially in the fun categories!) are welcome.
Lastly on the putting together of this project, I had to find a container. I used the white mug while working on the project, but it didn't seem it would be large enough, and I wanted something prettier. I looked at a couple vases and such at the store, but nothing caught my eye.
Then, at some point, I remembered this pot just sitting in the cupboard under my sink. Mom let me have it a couple years ago. It isn't great for plants because it doesn't have any drainage holes, but I really like the .... (pattern, dye job, glazes? I can't pinpoint the word I want, I reserve the right to edit this later without notice). I think someone I know made it, but I can't remember who. It goes well with the placemat it is currently sitting next to (or on, in this picture).
So, the whole truth, I've been working on this blog post for about a month. (Told you I was slow.) The day I worked on this project last, these are also some of the things I worked on (I didn't pull them out randomly, I picked the sticks I'd done that day or planned to work on already.):
I didn't really finish the craft, since there are always more ideas I can put on the sticks, in which case more sticks need to be painted, but I finished writing all the ideas I had so far, I put them in the nice container, and I started the blog post. That's close enough for me.
Nor did I actually empty my email inbox, but from 1000 down to 300 on multiple email addresses is also close enough.
As for cookies....
All mine!
(Sorry... they're long gone now.)
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
35. Thanks
Just a few things on my mind recently that seem like they should be shared. That is, I'm never grateful enough, and even when I am I rarely express it. I'm not sure why I never think to post things on Facebook right away, but then it seems silly to post about something the day after it happened. I should also tell people I'm grateful more often (I work every year on Thank You cards after Christmas, and yet I never finish them. I finished about half of them this year.)
So, since these things have been building up in my mind, I figured why not post them here, where it's less silly that the thanks are slightly stale (especially because next to nobody reads my blog). I've posted things I'm thankful for once in the past, and that list was quite enjoyable to come up with. I doubt I will ever write such a long list, but maybe if I practice being thankful.... I like Kari Patterson's sweet Week's End with Thanks posts (example). But, here's my list for this (month?), that I should be/ am thankful for. Or, praising God for.
1. I am so tired of my car. Okay, that doesn't start out right, and from the context you'll see in a moment, I actually am not trying to make a pun either. To be technical, it's not my car, it's my parent's car which they have let me use without payment to them. For this I am incredibly grateful (not that you would ever know it because I might complain about the car a lot.) However, the poor thing is getting older and having problems with more things (oil, transmission fluid, coolant all leak, I'm not fond of the gas mileage, seat belt doesn't latch in its own slot, and so on.) Thankfully, it runs.
Last month it was not running well. The car was beginning to shake. As per my usual, I avoided doing anything about it because I didn't know exactly what to do. Was the engine about to blow up on me? Not that I could tell by looking (and no, I really couldn't tell anything by looking.) Was it the tires? At quick glance, not that I could see. So it was getting worse.
I am quite grateful, then, to the gentleman who pulled up beside me as I parked at work one day who told me that my tires were shaking. This certainly wasn't something I wanted to hear! However, it narrowed down the problem. I think the guy actually followed me just to tell me because it seems like he left right away, he might not have been going shopping.
I called my dad after I got home and he looked at my tires the next day. Sure enough, much more obvious to his eyes than mine, the belt had slipped on my front passenger tire and there were wires sticking out (it's possible the wires were hidden or not sticking out when I looked, because I'm sure I would have seen them at least). I am probably most grateful to my Dad for then calling around to find places that had used tires. (Because I really don't want to buy more new tires for a car I want to get rid of. I don't have $120 dollars, and since the other front tire is getting worn too, $240.)
I was off the next day, so Dad met me at the tire shop and checked out the used tires they had at the moment. There was only one decent one, unfortunately, so my other front tire has to wait a little longer. (It's getting cracks along the side, should really remember to drive carefully.) But, yay! One less problem to worry about. And driving the car home felt so strange, I'd forgotten what it was like to drive without the steering wheel shaking.
Well, that could have been it's own post, couldn't it? And if I'd written it when it happened, almost a month ago, it could have been. But, today it isn't.
2. My sister came and visited me during spring break. Gem is working as a teachers assistant, so she had time off that week, and we haven't really visited since before she got married (in September). She moved about 45 minutes away. (Not terrible, but there is nothing besides her out that direction to see.) It's okay, we at least see her a couple more times a year than holidays. They visit our church (her home church) occasionally, or come for special events when they can. Sadly, they come for dinner with the parents sometimes when I'm working. (Edit- She was even randomly at the parents house when I went there for dinner before Awana.) Anyhow, Gem and I end up fighting if we spend too much time together, so it's not huge that we don't hang out a lot. We text occasionally.
But, it was great to sit and visit with her about things. I admit, we did probably talk about the baby quite a bit. (She's pregnant, due September. I'm gonna be an aunt, yay!) And decorating/ organizing things. She borrowed a couple movies since they don't have tv and don't really have internet so they can't watch tv online like I do. She was disappointed that I hadn't made her peanut butter cookies like she'd been hinting earlier in the week. Problem is, none of us are really sure what recipe I used to use, so they can't copy my skill (and neither can I.)
Wow, I really didn't think I was going to elaborate on all of these quite this much. I must be in some sort of chatty mood today?
3. Movie night with my cousin and his girlfriend, who I quite like. Watched a couple movies and they made a yummy dinner (chicken, salad, greek frozen yogurt for dessert). Saw where my cousin lives for the first time; though he intends to move to Portland soon.
Even the night was good because on my way there I stopped at Goodwill to look, well, I can't remember what exactly I was looking for, but I found a couple things that were pretty well perfect. You'll see them in a couple posts "coming soon".
4. That my organizing as of recent has been quite helpful! It is really great when more items have a spot, it's a lot easier to put things away that way, you know? Yes, maybe the room staying cleaner has been influenced by me working on a not very messy project (finally really working on transferring my money information from the old computer to the new one... which is over two years old now?), but I had a day off last week where I realized I didn't need to clean anything. That was quite nice.
5. My roommate invited me to have dinner with her one night. Meatballs, noodles and asparagus. Quite good. And, for a strange turn of things, we both sat at the table for dinner and talked about a couple things. (Including how we're both content living here and uncontent at the same time.)
6. A friend on Facebook, after realizing per my organizing photographs that if I have lots of art supplies I probably have some art to go with it, requested that I show said art. So, for her, I took lots of photos and posted them on Facebook. It was nice to show people a bit of proof that I do have some artistic talent... I'm just lacking creative inspiration. Okay, so most of my artwork is old, so maybe I don't have any talent anymore, and you random people here shan't get to see more of it right now (except the snowflake/flower thing that currently sits at the top of this blog, if it's still here when you read this.)
7. I finished taxes and get money back from both federal and state, yay!
8. Most recent, had a wonderful Resurrection Sunday. (Well, would have been wonderful if I didn't have to go to work before dessert.) Our choir did a great job, one of their best ever. (My parents are both in there. I don't sing in choir, partly 'cause I don't sing wonderfully, although my Aunt who sat next to me and doesn't regularly attend church so she doesn't know the songs said I sang well, so that was nice. Anyway, but mostly because I have to work when choir practices.)
The day was gorgeous! (Back to rainy days again now.)
Dinner was at my parents house with lots of delicious food. I brought rolls and a dessert (Mom said it was good, hopefully other people agreed. They saved some dessert for me, hopefully I remember to get it tonight!). I made the dessert up again. Of all foods, I like experimenting with pies the best. This was raspberry something. A bit cheesecake, a bit chiffon (jello and whipped cream). And I prefer making the graham cracker crust myself.
And, I should not forget to make known that I am grateful beyond words for what my Lord has done for me!
Thanks for reading.
So, since these things have been building up in my mind, I figured why not post them here, where it's less silly that the thanks are slightly stale (especially because next to nobody reads my blog). I've posted things I'm thankful for once in the past, and that list was quite enjoyable to come up with. I doubt I will ever write such a long list, but maybe if I practice being thankful.... I like Kari Patterson's sweet Week's End with Thanks posts (example). But, here's my list for this (month?), that I should be/ am thankful for. Or, praising God for.
1. I am so tired of my car. Okay, that doesn't start out right, and from the context you'll see in a moment, I actually am not trying to make a pun either. To be technical, it's not my car, it's my parent's car which they have let me use without payment to them. For this I am incredibly grateful (not that you would ever know it because I might complain about the car a lot.) However, the poor thing is getting older and having problems with more things (oil, transmission fluid, coolant all leak, I'm not fond of the gas mileage, seat belt doesn't latch in its own slot, and so on.) Thankfully, it runs.
Last month it was not running well. The car was beginning to shake. As per my usual, I avoided doing anything about it because I didn't know exactly what to do. Was the engine about to blow up on me? Not that I could tell by looking (and no, I really couldn't tell anything by looking.) Was it the tires? At quick glance, not that I could see. So it was getting worse.
I am quite grateful, then, to the gentleman who pulled up beside me as I parked at work one day who told me that my tires were shaking. This certainly wasn't something I wanted to hear! However, it narrowed down the problem. I think the guy actually followed me just to tell me because it seems like he left right away, he might not have been going shopping.
I called my dad after I got home and he looked at my tires the next day. Sure enough, much more obvious to his eyes than mine, the belt had slipped on my front passenger tire and there were wires sticking out (it's possible the wires were hidden or not sticking out when I looked, because I'm sure I would have seen them at least). I am probably most grateful to my Dad for then calling around to find places that had used tires. (Because I really don't want to buy more new tires for a car I want to get rid of. I don't have $120 dollars, and since the other front tire is getting worn too, $240.)
I was off the next day, so Dad met me at the tire shop and checked out the used tires they had at the moment. There was only one decent one, unfortunately, so my other front tire has to wait a little longer. (It's getting cracks along the side, should really remember to drive carefully.) But, yay! One less problem to worry about. And driving the car home felt so strange, I'd forgotten what it was like to drive without the steering wheel shaking.
Well, that could have been it's own post, couldn't it? And if I'd written it when it happened, almost a month ago, it could have been. But, today it isn't.
2. My sister came and visited me during spring break. Gem is working as a teachers assistant, so she had time off that week, and we haven't really visited since before she got married (in September). She moved about 45 minutes away. (Not terrible, but there is nothing besides her out that direction to see.) It's okay, we at least see her a couple more times a year than holidays. They visit our church (her home church) occasionally, or come for special events when they can. Sadly, they come for dinner with the parents sometimes when I'm working. (Edit- She was even randomly at the parents house when I went there for dinner before Awana.) Anyhow, Gem and I end up fighting if we spend too much time together, so it's not huge that we don't hang out a lot. We text occasionally.
But, it was great to sit and visit with her about things. I admit, we did probably talk about the baby quite a bit. (She's pregnant, due September. I'm gonna be an aunt, yay!) And decorating/ organizing things. She borrowed a couple movies since they don't have tv and don't really have internet so they can't watch tv online like I do. She was disappointed that I hadn't made her peanut butter cookies like she'd been hinting earlier in the week. Problem is, none of us are really sure what recipe I used to use, so they can't copy my skill (and neither can I.)
Wow, I really didn't think I was going to elaborate on all of these quite this much. I must be in some sort of chatty mood today?
3. Movie night with my cousin and his girlfriend, who I quite like. Watched a couple movies and they made a yummy dinner (chicken, salad, greek frozen yogurt for dessert). Saw where my cousin lives for the first time; though he intends to move to Portland soon.
Even the night was good because on my way there I stopped at Goodwill to look, well, I can't remember what exactly I was looking for, but I found a couple things that were pretty well perfect. You'll see them in a couple posts "coming soon".
4. That my organizing as of recent has been quite helpful! It is really great when more items have a spot, it's a lot easier to put things away that way, you know? Yes, maybe the room staying cleaner has been influenced by me working on a not very messy project (finally really working on transferring my money information from the old computer to the new one... which is over two years old now?), but I had a day off last week where I realized I didn't need to clean anything. That was quite nice.
5. My roommate invited me to have dinner with her one night. Meatballs, noodles and asparagus. Quite good. And, for a strange turn of things, we both sat at the table for dinner and talked about a couple things. (Including how we're both content living here and uncontent at the same time.)
6. A friend on Facebook, after realizing per my organizing photographs that if I have lots of art supplies I probably have some art to go with it, requested that I show said art. So, for her, I took lots of photos and posted them on Facebook. It was nice to show people a bit of proof that I do have some artistic talent... I'm just lacking creative inspiration. Okay, so most of my artwork is old, so maybe I don't have any talent anymore, and you random people here shan't get to see more of it right now (except the snowflake/flower thing that currently sits at the top of this blog, if it's still here when you read this.)
7. I finished taxes and get money back from both federal and state, yay!
8. Most recent, had a wonderful Resurrection Sunday. (Well, would have been wonderful if I didn't have to go to work before dessert.) Our choir did a great job, one of their best ever. (My parents are both in there. I don't sing in choir, partly 'cause I don't sing wonderfully, although my Aunt who sat next to me and doesn't regularly attend church so she doesn't know the songs said I sang well, so that was nice. Anyway, but mostly because I have to work when choir practices.)
The day was gorgeous! (Back to rainy days again now.)
Dinner was at my parents house with lots of delicious food. I brought rolls and a dessert (Mom said it was good, hopefully other people agreed. They saved some dessert for me, hopefully I remember to get it tonight!). I made the dessert up again. Of all foods, I like experimenting with pies the best. This was raspberry something. A bit cheesecake, a bit chiffon (jello and whipped cream). And I prefer making the graham cracker crust myself.
And, I should not forget to make known that I am grateful beyond words for what my Lord has done for me!
Thanks for reading.
Thursday, March 15, 2012
34. Job 1:12
Job 1:12
And the Lord said to Satan, "Behold, all that he has is in your power, only do not lay a hand on his person."
God let Satan control Job's wealth and family. He let Satan destroy all Job loved. It seems incomprehensible that God could allow, much less permit such slaughter to any person. After all isn't He a loving God? Obviously this is one of those things not quite in our reach of mind. It does in a way, however, give quite a bit of comfort to mind, that Satan can only take what he is allowed "only do not lay a hand of his person." Job was protected against the worst, at least for now.
Lord, thank you for the protection we have in You against the evil one. Help me to stand up for You and the things You stand for because, unlike Job, temptation to wander and wonder often begins to get a hold on me. Let me always stick with the fact of Your love.
And the Lord said to Satan, "Behold, all that he has is in your power, only do not lay a hand on his person."
God let Satan control Job's wealth and family. He let Satan destroy all Job loved. It seems incomprehensible that God could allow, much less permit such slaughter to any person. After all isn't He a loving God? Obviously this is one of those things not quite in our reach of mind. It does in a way, however, give quite a bit of comfort to mind, that Satan can only take what he is allowed "only do not lay a hand of his person." Job was protected against the worst, at least for now.
Lord, thank you for the protection we have in You against the evil one. Help me to stand up for You and the things You stand for because, unlike Job, temptation to wander and wonder often begins to get a hold on me. Let me always stick with the fact of Your love.
<-- Job 1:10-11 Job 1:13-15 -->
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
33. Organization- Dresser
So, I'm in an organizing kick. Partly because I ended up reading a couple organizing blogs. I can't remember why. Possibly Pinterest. Or Flylady. Anyway... It really start around Christmas, which those friends of mine on Facebook may remember my pictures of my mess, which I then proceeded to organize as I put things away. (No pictures of things put away, just of the cleaned living room/ kitchen.) Well, if you look at the picture below you can possibly see that I moved the wrapping paper in a bag for it below the lamp in the empty corner between the dresser and a bookshelf.
This is the top of my dresser. Or, that is, was. I had already changed it, but I changed it back just so there could be a before picture of at least one thing.
I'm afraid I haven't fixed the whole thing, just the right side. So, here, have a closeup of what I worked on yesterday.
I know on Facebook I talked about rearranging bookshelves, but I started here.
I actually moved the blue bin to the side a week or two ago. It held address books/ church picture directories, a couple clipboards and and drawing pads. This was better than before I put it up there, where it held old calenders, gift bags, coloring books and other miscellaneous stuff, but you'll have to check back another time to see what I did with it. The candle is a bit out of season, so it was due to be moved anyway. The blue bin at the bottom of the pile holds scrap-booking paper. I don't ever scrapbook (my pictures are all at my parent's house still), but occasionally I use the paper for crafts. I bought some pretty paper back in December that I hadn't put in there because it's such a pain to get in to. So- Goal 1: Change so I can get to scrap-booking paper
The two sideways bins are okay, well, they look kind of messy, but I didn't specifically set out to fix what was in them. One of them holds old church newsletters and the other scraps of drawings. Well, the drawings aren't in there anymore (not that you can tell by the picture), but I'll get to that in a bit. The top bucket holds painting supplies. It's obviously messy looking. I didn't really have a goal there either. On to what I did....
I was thinking about buying drawers that would fit the newsletters and then something else on top, but didn't happen across any in my short look that were the right size (and I didn't really want to spend money), then I happened to remember I had drawers under my bed. One of them was almost empty, it just had some drawings in it and a light box. The other had painting supplies from art class long ago. Perfect! I put the drawing pads in with the light box and added a few more stray craft supplies to the bottom drawer. The scrapbook paper bin went alongside with a few larger canvas.
If you look back at the picture of the whole dresser you'll see the photo laying down on top of the CD player. It's a picture of Mom's side of the family a couple Easter's ago.
The box with books to the side- what replaced the blue bin when I moved it a couple weeks ago. I am gradually getting rid of books, and one of the places to start is giving Mom back books which are technically hers. However, I hate to get rid of books without reading/ rereading them, so as I read them I'm moving them into this box.
So, this is the bottom of my huge bookcase. (It also wasn't part of the bookshelves I talked about rearranging.) If you couldn't tell, it's got some of my bigger drawing paper pads. The pink and blue thing Mom made for me to keep my artwork from school. The case to the side is my computer case, a nice easy to get to spot. I don't have a before pic of this, at various times it's had my sewing machine and typewriter in front of all this stuff, but the before pic would have had puzzles that fell out of the box to the left (stuff to get rid of) when it was in front of the shelf. The blue box I bought for something else that didn't fit like I was hoping, so in the midst of making decisions about what to do with the top of the dresser I happened upon the great idea of putting all the drawings and art work that were in one of the bins from earlier in it. Much easier to drop something in as I'm sorting papers, and at some point I'll organize what's in it better. Hooray! Another perfect thing stumbled across.
And we can always hope that now that more of my art stuff is accessible, I'll use it more...
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
32. 2011
Well, I guess we've verified that I'm no good at blogging... and things have actually happened this fall that I could have blogged about. Like the college group's camping trip that I just barely got to go on. Or that my sister got married (Congratulations!!). Let's see... what else... Dad got laid off, my brother finished college and is looking for a job, my Mom is working with a new teacher. Awana and Bible study (this year we're studying Acts) have started up again. And I'm now addicted to Korean dramas. And maybe I'll practice being a blogger and tell you all about these things... we'll see.
But, all in all, I am still pretty much boring.
However, Nanowrimo has started again! Apparently I never did come back and tell you that I actually won last year! That makes this year a little more exciting, if I won once I can do it again, right? I am less certain about the story I ended up choosing this year. It stalled in the past (yes, I do usually end up writing a story I started long ago, however I rarely have more than five pages written) because I couldn't figure out why the main character left... and therefore, more important to the story, why he goes back.So, there you go... I am still alive after all.
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