Food for Thought

Desiring God's recent blog post about how to make God known at work really got me thinking. 

Graduating from a Christian high school and college, I'd been in a non-secular world for more than half my life.  One thing that was difficult for me to grasp as I decided on what kind of job I wanted was how to merge my personal faith with a mainstream job. 

This week we have several new faces around our office.  We don't know each other very well yet, but I'm hopeful we will soon enough.  I think these five things are a really good reminder of what I can strive for each day as I go into my office.

"I have in mind at least five things—five ways to make God known through your secular job and all of them are important. When one of them is missing, the witness to the truth of Christ suffers.

1. The excellence of the products or services you render in your job shows the excellence and greatness of God.

2. The standards of integrity you follow at your job show the integrity and holiness of God.

3. The love you show to people in your job shows the love of God.

4. The stewardship of the money you make from your job shows the value of God compared to other things.

5. The verbal testimony you give to the reality of Christ shows the doorway to all these things in your life and their possibility in the lives of others."

Excerpted from "Tentmakers" in Minneapolis. John Piper, 1988.

Monday Letters

  

{BSB Weekend and Bear Hunting Thrifting on Thursday}

Bloggy, you've been neglected, but I'm working on catching up.  Here we go...

Dear AMP, these last two weeks have been a whilrwind, and you've just rolled with the punches and been so much help.  I am so grateful for your muscles to haul things, your willingness to do just about anything, and your ablity to solve problems. 

BSB weekend, you were jam-packed with lots of fun times, getting to know babies with the sweetest chunky legs, playing games and spending time catching up with old friends.  Thanks for welcoming Adam into the fold.  

T-roy, lunch with you on Saturday was a good time.  I'm so glad you're home for a bit. 

Adam,  things finally calmed down this week and we were able to just hang out.  I loved this.  Thanks for taking care of the Bear when I feel like life is just a little crazy.  Looking forward to this weekend in Iowa.  Maybe some time we could go here on one of our adventures up that way.  I discovered it this morning here.  Doesn't it look fun? 

Cooking Club

Wednesday, July 13, I had a little dinner party at our place.  I'd come across Shauna Niequist's  Cooking Club idea on her blog.  Basically, it's a great excuse to get together with friends and learn to cook new things. 

Molly, Anna, Ashley Baronet, and me

SMoo, Kelley Caldwell and Claire

Each person brings a food item (already made) based on the theme (this time it was Italian).  Then you get to share the ingredients, how you made it and any tips or challenges you had. 



This was the first time I've put the leaf in my grandmother's table at the apartment, and I was able to use all seven of my plates!  (Yes, I could only find seven at HomeGoods.  But they were so cute, I bought them and have been on the hunt for another one ever since.)

Ashley brought salad with red onions, parmesan cheese and artichokes.  It was delicious.

Molly brought this tomato and cheese salad.  It was quite tasty!

We also had stuffed tomatos, bruchetta, biscotti with ice cream.  We had lots of tomato and cheese dishes, but that's what happens when you have an Italian theme! 

I made Adam's famous lasagna recipe, which became a team effort.  When I planned this Cooking Club dinner several weeks ago, I sent out an email for three dates, and then picked one that most everyone could attend.  What I did not anticipate or forsee was that this wedding planning taking up every afternoon after work, leaving little time for other things (simple things like grocery shopping). 

On the days that Adam is working, I try to do a lot of wedding things in the afternoon and hang out with friends and family at night.  I have tried super hard not to fall off the face of the earth just because I'm dating (or marrying) someone, haha.  His schedule makes it easier to have that balance in my life, so I'm grateful.  :-)  When AMP and I are together, we can do normal non-wedding things like feed the ducks, make dinner and work out.  (I try.  It doesn't always happen this way, though, especially as we get closer and closer!)

The day before Cooking Club, Adam went to the store and bought all the ingredients for me.  Then I came home from his place, and Claire sat with me as I made lasagna at 10:30 at  night.  The next afternoon, I was getting my hair and makup runthrough for my bridal portrait, so Claire stuck it in the oven before I got home.  Total team effort.  And I'm so grateful, because it meant a fun dinner with friends! 

Molly offered to host the next Cooking Club at her new home after she moves in!  I'm looking forward to getting together again with these girls and trying new things.  My guess is that Molly will choose either an Asian theme or a Mexican theme...we shall see!!

Weekend Six: Surprise Date

July 9, 10 and 11

We started Friday afternoon off with a dance lesson.  Claire is helping us with our first dance.  (Yes, we met two-stepping, but that doesn't always cut it for every song.  It was quite entertaining to practice in our living room.  (Pretty small for a dance floor!)

Claire is showing me my part.  I'm going to need a few more lessons.  :-)

After a Taco Salad dinner and watching Cats and Dogs 2, I could hardly keep my eyes open (not to mention that Dad and I had a late night the night before).  I have discovered that since turning 24, I can no longer stay up past 10:30 very well.  Does this mean I'm old??  I'd planned a surprise date for Adam on Saturday, and he got his first clue that night.  {I was going to print them out and make them cute, but my printer was out of ink.  Plan B.}

We made the trip down to Fair Park and discovered that parking alone costs $12.  No where on the museum's website did they mention ANYTHING about parking.  Lesson learned. 

We spent the afternoon there and saw learned about Chinasaurs,  DNA and Texas wildlife.  While we stopped to rest our legs, AMP got his second clue.  I'd gotten the idea for the Surprise date and Drive-In in Ennis from one of my favorite blogs, Today's Letters. 

The Drive-In movie didn't start until 8:30, but they said that spots fill up and such, so I wanted to make sure we made it.  Well, we did--7:00, and we were the third car in the lot for Cars 2 in 3-D.  Oh well.  This meant we didn't have to stand in line to wait for our food.  We loaded up on Reece's Pieces and popcorn later, too.

We brought our new fold-up outdoor chairs to sit in, and tuned in to the radio station to hear the movie.  Last month, Adam used part of his birthday gift card to Dick's Sporting Goods on a chair for each of us.  We realized this might be a good purchase when we went camping and ended up sitting on the picnic table bench while our friends lounged more comfortably in their chairs.  I felt like such an adult, (being prepared) unloading these from our car.  Ha.

The movie was really cute and very creative.  I (typcially) laugh very easily.  I knew it was a success when I heard AMP laughing next to me pretty often.  Victory. 

It was after 11 when we left to drive back, making it a late night for the fireman working the next morning.  I probably could've split these surprises up, but we have very few open weekends in the near future, so I just went for it.  Sometimes you just need to have a whole day of fun!

Sunday, Mom came over and we hung out.  She helped me hang up my clothes (thanks, Mom!) and we just enjoyed chatting it up.  No matter how old I get, Sunday afternoons always mean family time to me.  In college, I would typically hang out with a Waco family at their house.  This warded off homesickness most of the time.  :-)  Now, we're close again, and I love being able to hang with fam.  But I'm sure no one's surprised!

A Dad and Daughter Date

I'm attempting to catch up on blogging after working in Florida last week, so here goes...

Thursday, July 8, Dad and I went on a little date.  This is not the first date we've been on, nor will it be our last, I'm sure. 

You see, we started these when I was in elementary school.  My neighbor was in Indian Princesses, which was some sort of outdoorsy thing dads and daughters could do together.  In theory, it was great.  But not long after our first meeting where we chose "Little Bear" and :"Big Bear" as our Indian Names, Dad made a proposition to me.

The whole point was to spend quality time together.  We could do that with 20 other people, or, he proposed, we could go on dates just the two of us.  Well, being a lover of quality time with people in small groups, I instantly chose the dates.  And we didn't have to camp or anything (a win/win for both of us, I think!) 

So, back to our most recent date...

One of our favorite musicians is Marc Broussard, and he was playing at the House of Blues.  After dinner at Uncle Julio's (my fave!), we headed Downtown. 



You'd think that with all the concerts of Troy's that we sat stood through, we'd remember that nothing starts when the ticket says, and there are always opening acts.  Well, we didn't.  So we had some nice bonding time waiting out in the heat, and then we finally got to go in around 7:45, where there were two opening acts.  

We've escaped the heat and found our seats!

The opener for the opener, a Canadian girls group. 

In between acts, we talked a lot of music.  I'm so grateful that my parents instilled a love for music in both me and Troy.  We aren't really coordinated enough to dance well.  We aren't very athletic.  But we can sing and appreciate good music, and for that I am thankful.

Marc Broussard came on stage about 10:30.  He was really great!  He has a great stage presence, and he writes great songs.  It was a fun time with my Dad.  Here's to more Dad/Daughter dates!

Current Reading List

I thought I'd share my current book list.  For some reason, when I have very little to do, I don't read.  But when I have about a zillion things going on, I reach for a book.  Go figure.  My college roomies can attest to this, that when I got stressed, I would read.  Yet again, another reason I perplexed them, I am sure.  :-)  But I think I just like to have a little escape.  So this is what I've read recently...

Cold Tangerines by Shauna Niequist
Anna got me hooked on this book, full of short-story memoirs about celebrating life.  Her blog is similar, and Anna and I have both read through the entire thing a few times.  Seriously, her writing is just that good.

Bittersweet by Shauna Niequist
Yes, I'm hooked on this author and anxiously awaiting her third book.  This one is more about change and how it shapes us.  It's not quite as "happy" as her first book, but it is so good.  I can really resonate with this at the moment because my life is all about...change.

Found Art by Leeana Tankersly
I discovered this through Shauna Niequist, and I really enjoyed it.  This is her story of marrying a Navy Seal and the first year they were married and lived in the Middle East.  She talks about what she learned living over there and about re-entry into the "real world" when they came back. This resonated with me because I think she was incredibly brave to go around the world and live in a new place with a new husband and a new life, totally away from anything comfortable. 

Next up on my list are the Maisie Dobbs series by Jacqueline Winspear.  Maisie is a British psycologist and detective in the 1940s.  I love a series, and I've read the first three.  I need to do a little searching to make sure I read them in order, but it looks like she has about five in this series.  So good.

Ok, your turn.  What's on your reading list??

Wedding Details: Flowers, Cake & A Gift

On Monday, the actual Fourth of July, I ran some errands, worked out at the Station with AMP, and got to stay for dinner.  Several of the guys were asking me if I'd freaked out about wedding plans or if I was really stressed or anything.  Honestly, I haven't been (yet), and it's my goal to try and stay as calm as possible about things.  I think they're just waiting for me to crack!  

Later that evening, I caught up with Anna, and then went to see fireworks in Plano with the Flaggs and my mom.  Anna and I had a slumber party that night, and I learned about music on GrooveShark while she cleaned her room.  Occasionally, we like to keep each other company while doing this task.  I think we both inherited the I-don't-pick-up-my-clothes gene in our family.  {I'm hoping this magically disappears when I get married.  Ha.}  Laura made me a smoothie the next morning, which was a treat.  I keep telling Anna how lucky she is to have someone make her breakfast...I definitely miss that from being at home!

Tuesday was fun because we got several wedding things knocked out.  Mom and I spent two hours with a florist.  I so wish I had a photo with the 75-year-old, yellow pants and toupe-wearing man that we visited with.   (I realize this may cause some alarm as to what my flowers may look like, if the man I just described is designing them.)  He is truly so creative.  I started to describe what I wanted, and he began to draw.  It was unreal to me how he knew what I was wanting before I even finished.  I am so excited to see how things turn out!

That afternoon, Adam met us at Stein's Bakery for cake tasting.  We got to pick four flavors to try, and then we decided how the cake will look.  

Adam saw Mom in action firsthand, and said later, "She's really good at this whole thing, isn't she?"  Yes, she's a great question-asker/get-things-done person.  We are having a lot of fun planning the wedding together!  

They had this super-cheesy wedding cake setup that we all decided to pose in front of.  Gotta love the fake flowers.

Our gifts are being shipped to my parents, just because they have more space.  I brought our first gift with us so we could open it together.  :-)  

Here we are with our very own little canister.  

(That sounds sooo sappy.)

Hooray for long weekends and wedding planning.  Only 77 more days!