La France me manque

Cold rainy days make me think in French. The reason is because they remind me of France and make me miss that beautiful country. I think that the majority of the days spent there must have been like this (55 and rainy) because this is a recurring thing in my life. Of course, it always seemed like the only time the buses ever went on strike there were the cold rainy days, so I was often walking to school on those days--with the exception of the one time I hitched a ride to school. Probably not the smartest thing I ever did.
I was thinking today about what I learned from the families I stayed with while I was there. Among many lessons, simplicity is one that is always quick to come to my mind. I am under no spell thinking that life there was/is perfect, but it did seem like their lives were more simple in that they just didn't rely on stuff like we do. I don't know if that is because their reliance was manifest in a different way or because they really did rely less than I do here on my material belongings or making sure I get to Target once a week for some new gadget.
Regardless, I love tinking about the time I was able to spend there and all that I learned and the many ways I grew.
Now I am off to enjoy my life here and hang out with some friends for a bit tonight.

sirens in the dungeon

Brandon and I had only been here a few weeks when we first heard the sirens. We were downtown getting my new driver's license and were walking back to the car after a delicious sushi lunch. As if handing over my CA driver's license were no traumatic enough--yes, I did shed a few tears--we suddenly heard this horribly loud, wailing siren coming from who knows where. Now I HATE loud noises, especially unexplained loud noises. My heart was racing, my hands started shaking, and my mind was going straight to all those stories about the Cold War era bomb raid drills. I plugged my ears, looked around, and suddenly felt like I was the only one who could hear the noise. No one else looked scared or even nervous. No one had their ears plugged. I think Brandon may have even been laughing (not at me of course!). We did not find out that day what caused the siren. In fact, we did not figure it out until we were sitting in our dungeon last night.
I started making dinner a little later than usual last night because we had eaten some cookies on our way in the door. I was about 2/3 of the way through cooking my chicken and was just about to get the gravy going when I heard that wailing siren. My heart started beating faster, I turned off the stove, and quickly turned on the TV. My mind was once again in the Cold War. Thankfully, the TV station was not having a commercial break! This was it, a tornado warning. What do we do? I sent Brandon next door to the neighbor's to find out what we were supposed to do, and thankfully no trees were falling over then!! When he came back he said they were going under the stairs and suggested we do the same. Well, with all of the cleaning supplies, stand mixer, crock pot, vaccuum, and who knows what else down there, I thought we might be safer in the dungeon. So, I grabbed our laptop, Brandon got some books and a couple of chairs, and we made our way down there. I was going to sit in a chair, but the combination of dead bugs on the ground and lack of wireless connection added up to me sitting on the wooden stairs. We sat down there for 15 minutes or so, and didn't really hear much other than a light breeze and the wailing siren. (A small tornado--F-0--did touch down not far from us,but no one was hurt even though several buildings were damaged). We finally decided it was safe to go back up around 7:25.
By that time our cookies were no longer keeping us full, so after I packed a few more items to bring down in case of another warning (there was the possiblity of 2 more), I finished making dinner. The rest of the night was--thankfully--rather uneventful. We had dinner and talked about the excitement and God's sovereignty in all of this. Brandon was of course calm throughout the whole process, and I was, of course, not calm. I am so thankful to have a husband who is rooted in his view of God so deeply that even in a time that certainly seemed like a crisis to me that he was able to remain absolutely calm and even laugh about it while it was going on. I thought about it quite a bit more throughout the night, and I hope that next time I will not be as scared. I am so glad to know that in all of this there is a God who is in control and in whom I can trust even for my life here on earth. I am also glad that the siren mystery has been solved.

lead legs

I hit a new milestone this morning. I ran in the Race for the Cure (5K), and this time I ran (jogged) the entire thing! I don't think I have ever ran that long in my entire life. My legs were really sore by the end, but other than that I felt fine. This race was also really different than the last (thousands of participants vs. 50), and there was so much hype all around that it was easier to keep running--or maybe it's because this race was flat! I think I might try a marathon next. Just kidding! I have no aspirations for that. Really though I have enjoyed getting to this point and getting my body in shape and the feeling of being more disciplined. I hope that I can keep this up now that it is getting cold out.
Speaking of getting cold, I am loving the weather. We have turned on our heater, brought the down comforter out of storage, and maybe tomorrow I will start packing up some of our summer clothes.
The only problem with fall is that it makes me want to spend money. I am not sure if it is because the stores are so warm, or the thought of Thanksgiving and Christmas being around the corner, or some other bizarre reason. I just know that I have this urge to go spend all of our money on orange and brown stuff. I guess this is where discipline needs to play in next.
Speaking of discipline, I am off to get some cinnamon toast.

joy in the kitchen

I sat down to write about how thankful for I am for my four day weekend and how I have already had time (today) to make cinnamon rolls for tomorrow's breakfast--there will be no rushing off to work for me!--croutons for salad later in the week, and even some french bread just because I like the French. However, as I was going along with my typing, I realized that my kitchen has really become a place of adventure for me. "How very domestic of you," some may quip. But quip away; I have some of my best moments in the kitchen--although not always the tastiest! Here are just a few shots of some of the joy I've experienced in my kitchen:

Enjoying the stress reliever of being able to knead the bread dough by hand (the hook didn't work too well with the french bread recipe). *Our neighbor made the make-shift countertops for us*

Oh, yes, remember that Green Smoothie from the beginning of the summer? I found the pictures...yum!

The guys doing their part at our 4th of July BBQ:

Randy's birthday cake

I am thankful for having all of the great space, tools, and food for these adventures and hope that many more come! I thank God for his creativiy in giving me more adventures in my kitchen than Iwill ever be able to count (and for giving me the creativity to go through with these adventures)