Inspired.

I watch this and am just amazed. Such talent. Stripped down, beautiful music. Wanted to share.
http://www.ted.com/talks/imogen_heap_wait.html

Life, Truth, and Pictures

I'm loving Des Moines a lot. 

I've made some awesome friends here - we do things like trivia, bike rides, movie nights, worship etc. It's pretty grand.

I've become a somewhat avid bike rider. Most recent addition to my mania are shoes with clips and the special pedals. I've only completely bitten it once. I came away unscathed, other than my pride.

I'm surviving and thriving at work. My team rocks and I'm still alive.

I have a new neighbor. Has allergies - I can hear his sneezes through the walls. It's quite annoying. 

I've made 2 of 3 baby quilts for nieces/nephews on the way. They turned out really well. Pics of the newest below.

I'm finally getting truly plugged in at Church -- recently went to a women's event, have some solid relationships with people around me, and finding ways to serve.

I went on my first "vacation" using paid time off in a long time -- it was so fun and good for my soul. I went with my sister and parents down to Clearwater Beach, Florida.

The Lord continues to blow me away with His provision, timing, humor, and presence in my life.

In short, friends - I'm blessed.

A prayer that is my prayer as of late from my favorite devotional ever -- Valley of Vision:

 The Gospel Way

No human mind could conceive or invent the gospel.
Acting in eternal grace, thou art both its messenger and its message, lived out on earth through infinite compassion, applying thy life to insult, injury, death, that I might be redeemed, ransomed, freed.
Blessed be thou, O Father, for contriving this way, Eternal thanks to thee, O Lamb of God, for opening this way, Praise everlasting to thee, O Holy Spirit, for applying this way to my heart.
Glorious Trinity, impress the gospel on my soul, until its virtue diffuses every faculty; Let it be heard, acknowledged, professed, felt.
Teach me to secure this mighty blessing; Help me to give up every darling lust, to submit heart and life to its command, to have it in my will, controlling my affections, moulding my understanding; to adhere strictly to the rules of true religion, not departing from them in any instance, nor for any advantage in order to escape evil, inconvenience or danger.
Take me to the cross to seek glory from its infamy; Strip me of every pleasing pretence of righteousness by my own doings.
O gracious Redeemer, I have neglected thee too long, often crucified thee, crucified thee afresh by my impenitence, put thee to open shame.
I thank thee for the patience that has borne with me so long, and for the grace that now makes me willing to be thine.
O unite me to thyself with inseparable bonds, that nothing may ever draw me back from thee, my Lord, my Saviour.

And a photo dump to cover the last few months of life...

Connection Group Women.

BIKING FRIEND! And just life friend.

Women's Event for Church

Newest Baby Quilt for my sister's baby!

Bianchi - Italian for AWESOME

I love self portraits.

Glass Case of Emotions.

Sad. To see the end of 180. To say goodbye to the girls I've grown to love.

Proud. Proud of my Older brother. Proud of him for finishing his Seminary classes. Had a blast getting to go to his graduation lunch.

Stressed, but accomplished. Seeing projects come to fruition under my care. Managing crisis situations. Finally starting to understand what I'm doing at work.  Learning to balance the have to do now list and the can wait til later list.

Empty. Painfully aware of how much I need Jesus. Seeing how often I THINK I have things under control, only to see them spiral away again. Those scary idols I thought I was rid of? They still come back. My need for security? My hate of dependence on others? My desire to have control? My elevation of money to the point of danger? Me. Getting in the way again. So good to reminded of my Need of Jesus.

 Longing. Longing for the day when there is no more hunger. No more pain. No more need for people to pack boxes of food for starving people around the world. I was so moved by the experience helping with Meal from the Heartland. The promo video they showed at the beginning before we served made me cry. The statistics of starvation are staggering. It made me ache inside and want so badly to get my niece and nephew HOME from Africa. The girls in the picture are another answer to prayer. Friends from my new Connection Group. The Sarahs.

 Thankful. For answered prayers. A while ago I specifically prayed for at least one friend at work. God provided. Her name is Amy. She is my cube-mate. And she is awesome.

 Delight. In creating new delicious treats. In making something beautiful. In sharing them with others.

The accidentally fabulous night

Leave work. Windows down, sunglasses on, jamming to the radio. 

Trader Joe's stop: sparkling pink lemonade, random produce, wine for sangria

Dinner of leftover quinoa with avocado and chicken.

Leave for new connection group.

Google map fail. I was going to try out a new connection group tonight. After driving around trying to find the "1st street/70th ave" exit for 30 minutes, I finally found the house where the Connection Group was supposed to meet. At that point -- I was going to be 30 minutes late. So, I drove away figuring that NEXT week I'll try it and be able to drive right to it. 

Got home. Decided to make homemade granola. See recipe below adapted from this recipe that my friend Hayden posted on my wall when I moved into my new place. During my aisle wandering at Trader Joe's, I started craving granola that doesn't cost $5 for a tiny box. BONUS: my apartment smells amazing!!

While the granola was baking, I made myself a margarita using my brand new margarita set that I decided that I couldn't live without from Pier 1.  Want to join me? Check out the recipes I used below.

GRANOLA - "best home smell ever" (thanks Hayden)

• 4 cups rolled oats
• 1 cup slivered almonds
• 1/2 cup cashews
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans
• 1 cup flax seed
• 1 cup shredded sweet coconut
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1/8-1/4 cup honey (depends how sweet you want to make it!), I used about 1/8 cup. 
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup dried bing cherries (original recipe suggested raisins. use any dried fruit! get creative.)

Directions

Preheat oven to 250 degrees F.

In a large bowl, combine the oats, nuts, flax seed, coconut, and brown sugar.

In a separate bowl, combine maple syrup, honey, oil, spices and salt. Combine both mixtures and pour onto 2 sheet pans. Cook for 45 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes. After 45 min, increase temperature to 275 - continue baking for 30 minutes still stirring every 15 minutes. Turn off oven, prop open oven door. I left it like that for about 15-20 more minutes so it would get nice and crunchy.

Remove from oven and transfer into a large bowl. Add dried fruit and mix until evenly distributed.  

MARGARITA 
1 oz tequila

1 oz Gran Gala orange liqueur
1 oz sweet and sour mix (or just 1 oz fresh lime juice instead of this for a more tart version)
juice of 1/4 of a lime

Pour Tequila, orange liqueur, and sweet and sour over ice. Add lime juice. Optional: rim glass with lime juice and salt or sugar (I used sugar!). Can be made frozen --blend in blender w/ 3 cups of ice. ENJOY!

 

How is it April?

Oh wait. I KNOW how it's April.

February is a short month - so no explanation needed for no post in February.

Highlights of the month were landing the job I've been waiting and waiting for and my valentine's girl date with my friend Lauren.

March -- well. March just FLEW by. I started my job on February 27th. It has been a whirlwind so far. Like drinking water from a fire hydrant. There's SO much to learn, and everyone is SO BUSY. I'm trying to take as much in as I can. Another highlight of March was hearing that my brother and his wife FINALLY got their referrals for their babies. I will be an aunt! Praying for process to fly by so those babies can be home with their mom and dad.

Things I'm learning:

 - I am a huge perfectionist at work. I HATE not knowing how to do things and HATE having to ask for help or feel like a bother to my co-workers.

 - Community takes time. I had the chance to go to a wedding last weekend for some sweet friends that were in my Ames Connection Group. I hadn't realized that I was lonely living in West Des Moines until I spent time around the people that make me feel the most alive. Leaving felt empty. I'm ready to dig in and find community in WDM.

 -  I've missed traveling. A LOT. I got to go to Orlando for a week for work and LOVED every second of it. I came back exhausted physically, but excited. So ready to travel for FUN or extend a work trip. Exhilarated about the thought.

So. I'm trying really hard at work, but realizing that I can only do what I can do. I cannot set unrealistic expectations for myself to be able to do everything perfectly right away. I need to give myself grace. I need to do my BEST, but not expect to know everything. I'm trying out connection groups at the new church I've been going to. Trying to find the right fit. To find a place where I can do life with people and seek Jesus together.

For now. Seeking Jesus. Trusting in Him day by day. Reminded every time that I panic about work that He is in control. And every time that I start to freak out about the tasks at hand, I'm denying that God's got it under control. Fully and completely.