Another new beginning.

I promised a meal plan today… but actually, I realized I don’t need one!  But for fun, here it is.  All the reasons I don’t have to plan meals are way more exciting than planning them anyway….

Tuesday: Pasta and pesto from Italy!  Eric’s parents brought it back for us.
Wednesday: Fast food on our way out of Portland.
Thursday: Dinner at Lauren’s Bachelorette party…
Friday: Lauren’s rehearsal dinner — a Russian feast!
Saturday: Wedding dinner.  I requested the zinfandel-braised short ribs.
Sunday: Something my mom makes…. mmmm.
Monday: Play it by ear?  Either Mama food or food on the road.

See now, wasn’t that more fun?  Less resourceful, but… I’m so excited.  We are leaving right after Eric gets off work tomorrow and should be in Spokane between ten and midnight….

The title of this post is “Another new beginning.”  This is because as of a few days ago I’m looking for a new job.  I’ve been applying for a few teaching jobs, but none of them sound all that appealing — the pickings are slim a week before school starts!  I’ve been hoping for a fluke opening, an emergency class-size reduction position.  I’ve heard of this happening before and there’s no reason it couldn’t happen to me, right?  I spent a lot of time writing essay questions for one application yesterday and today, and literally 30 minutes after I applied online I received an email that the position had been pulled.  Not too encouraging for my first attempt, but I feel much more tenacious, much more confident today than I did last week.  And, by the grace of God, much less anxious.

It’s a dreary day here in Portland, but clear, sunny Spokane skies are in the forecast for the wedding.  So much joy and love will be evident this weekend, and I can’t wait to be part of making it special for my little sister.

Monday mayhem.

It’s been an insane several days here, dealing with some things that, as Juno would say are “way beyond my maturity level.”  I’m so thankful that God uses the weak to lead the strong.  These items are a bit personal to write about publicly, but accept my apology when I say I’m sorry for being away.  Here’s what my Monday has for me today!

1000 Gifts

(Previous gifts here.)

I am thankful for…
61. A peaceful resolution to this week’s events.
62. God’s economy — those who boast in themselves have received their reward in full.
63. A lesson on trusting my intuition when I can’t think it away.
64. A husband who supports me, loves me, and takes care of me.
65. My crazy disorganized house post-painting, which I now have time to fix.
66. My little sister’s wedding in five days!
67. Getting to see Eric’s extended family this weekend and meet his grandma.
68. That Grandma Lynn’s health and memory will be restored in heaven and that her faithful husband will get to see her healthy and happy.
69. Glimpses of fall (while still being definitely summer).
70. Sisters, OR, and its clear skies and fresh air.
71. Peace.
72. The joy and excitement my in-laws always have for everything! They are the most enthusiastic people I know and take such joy in life’s simple pleasures.
73. A fresh perspective on work.
74. Hope.
75. BRIGHT pink toenails.  (I hate most pink things, but a neon manicure or pedicure is a major exception.)
76. Good-smelling things like candles, incense, and soap.
77. Our new computer!
78. Freezer meals.
79. Good photographers (*which I am not.)
80. Knowing how good a dad my husband will eventually be.

One thousand gifts, and a meal plan.

I really need a catchier title for these combination thankfulness/meal planning posts…..   I also don’t like how one is relaxing and refreshing and spiritual, and the other more business-related (which yes, I know, is still spiritual).  I suppose being thankful for my food is a good way to approach buying and making it, which are both stressful topics!

Today I am thankful for:

Painting the apartment: Living room before & after

As promised, here are pictures! That’s about it, though, since we’re about to bbq.  These aren’t completely legit before pictures, since I forgot to take them.  So everything’s a mess from moving it away from the wall, and there’s tape… and even the start of painting!  But you get the idea.  Just imagine.

Before:

Painting the apartment: Kitchen before & after

Well, it’s painting week here at the King household!  Except, sadly, it’s only me.  Well, and Kieran, but he absolutely doesn’t contribute by attacking my plastic drop cloth and trying to rub up against fresh paint.  I have some really wonderful memories of painting with friends — the weekend Olivia and I became friends with Henry in high school, we were painting her room;  I spent some quality time with my Papa re-doing my room at home; Erica and I painted our rooms tangerine orange and mint (respectively) in Pullman.   Maybe it was all the fun we had distracting each other, but I forgot how HARD painting is.  (I also have not ever painted a wall as long as the one I painted today, let alone by myself.)  I’m not quite done putting the living room back together, but I do want to share pictures of the kitchen!  I’m still trying to decide whether to paint the wall above the cabinets.  Opinions?

Here’s the [boring, horrible, ivory] kitchen BEFORE:

One thousand gifts: nesting. (+meal plan)

Today I’m thankful for….
(#1-20 can be found here.)

You, too, can be a Fledgling Foodie: Herbed pork chops with raspberry sauce

In my last post, I mentioned that I made my “go-to” pork chop recipe.  I also happened to take a picture of it, so I’m going to share it with you.  Get ready, because this is delicious, and possibly the easiest thing you could ever make.

(click “Read more” for the recipe.)

One thousand gifts. (+meal plan!)

As I’ve mentioned, I’m reading Jerry Bridges’ excellent book, The Discipline of Grace.  Although I’ll try to remember to do a full review when I’m done, here’s the premise:  discipline and grace are two of the most difficult aspects of the Christian life to pin down and approach correctly on a consistent basis.  The grace of God draws us, saves us, and transforms us; he truly does it all and full credit is his for our every success. And yet we are commanded to be disciplined, to be faithful, to “work out our salvation.”  Bridges wrote this book to explain our responsibility in the context of grace.  How we “through Christ” and “in Christ” and “by His grace” fulfill our obligations.  Striking the right balance keeps us from becoming perfectionists, striving to earn God’s love, and from being lazy and excusing sin because grace has already paid the price.  The chapter I finished today talked about putting sin to death and putting on Christ-like character to replace it.

Fledgling Foodie: Homemade yogurt!

This week I decided to finally try making my own yogurt.  I heard that this could be done about a year ago, but still thought it sounded impossible.  Impossible it is not.  Here’s proof:

Rookie Running: a new plan?

Here I sit.  I sit.  And sit. Oh, I get up and do things, like clean and organize and make food and eat it and run errands.  But sitting is what I do far more than running.  Before I get ahead of myself, I realized the other day that I never posted the completed Couch to 5k progress meter!  So here it is:

And now that we’ve properly rejoiced, I get to let you down tremendously with my confession that since week 9 ended, I have not run the full 30 minutes again.   I ran 22 one day, and 25 or so another day.  Today I’m supposed to run again.  Guess how motivated I am to do it? (Not very.)  Guess how long I would probably run for? (22 minutes.)  This needs to stop.  I have just felt so tired all the time the last week.  I think I’m getting enough sleep, so I don’t know what’s going on – the last couple times I’ve felt almost defeated before I’ve even started, which is a terrible way to be thinking if you want to keep your body moving for a full thirty minutes.  This is why I think I need a new plan and a tangible goal — like a real live race.

There are a few 5k’s coming up in the area, and I might register for one or a couple:
• 8/13 (Next weekend!  There’s some motivation!) –  CATnip Friday 5k, benefits Cat Adoption Team
• 8/21 – Run for the Fallen 5k in Portland, raises money to build a memorial for Oregon troops lost in Iraq and Afghanistan.
• 10/2 – Fall Finale 5k in Oregon City, free registration and breakfast afterward!  Whoa!

Once I accomplish a real 5k I’d like to move on to a 10k training program.  I haven’t found one that I like yet, but I’ll keep you posted….  and I’ll work on signing up for one of those races!