Scheduling time

As I have been allowed two days off from driving down to Long Beach this semester, I have had more unscheduled time that needs to have purpose. Before today, I was not making the most of my time and before you know it, I had been online for 2 hours browsing and looking up random things.

In college junior year, I went crazy on scheduling my time (I would even schedule bathroom breaks....crazy, I know!). So in an effort to not be like that, which was insane, I have not scheduled an hour by hour daily itinerary for myself in a long time. Yesterday when I realized the entire late afternoon/evening had gone by, with not much accomplished, I decided to write up a schedule for myself for today. Guess what! It worked! I was so afraid that I would get back into that crazy mentality that I had previously, but I didn't. I didn't beat myself up if I had not done something it said to do that hour, but I just carried it through to the next hour. This way, I just have a rough outline of my day. I hope to continue to do this for each day so I can be as productive as possible. This way, I don't feel that taking a break from practicing to read is a bad thing.

Just thought I would share my excitement with you on the new found schedule. This has just been so funny because I realized I am very good at scheduling, but not always doing what was on it. :)

Oscars

So I wanted to do a shout out to the Oscars this year and share some thoughts...

We had a blast watching them, and can I just say I was so impressed by Hugh Jackman and Anne Hathaway! I want to see her in a musical soon!

Sarah Jessica Parker is scary...crazy huge boobs and an ugly hair-do...(And I quote, "I wonder if she's still breastfeeding?", Katie Feistel).

What was the deal with all the white dresses with all the sparkles?? I guess I could have just worn my wedding dress and gone??

Angelina and Brad look depressed when they are being interviewed. Can't tell if this is them trying to be humble or them being too cool for school (School being attending the Oscars).

Was it awkward for Brangelina to be on the front row when Jennifer Aniston was presenting? I like how both of them had plastered smiles on their faces when the camera cut to them.

I heart HSM and all, but seriously, they had no place being at the Oscars.

Beyonce's fringe loin cloth was a bit weird, but she still kicked butt and took names.

Sophia Loren has seen better days....why do people think Botox is a good idea??


I really liked the past actors/actresses giving speeches to the nominess.

Sorry if this sounds harsh, just wanted to throw my thoughts out there!

Homemade vs. purchased

So, I have a question for all of you homemade Christmas gift people out there. I am definitely into crafts and understand how fun it is to make people gifts, but in my past experience, it has cost me MUCH more money to make people gifts than just buy them something. Is the reason you do the homemade just for your own enjoyment, or is it to save money? Because I really don't think it is possible. Material is getting so much more expensive than it was when I was little. I remember making a satin dress with my grandma and it only cost $2.50 per yard. Now it is like $6-10!
Anyway, just curious!

Best Valentine's To date!

So....I have the best valentine!

All Jared told me to do before we left was to pack a bag and dress nice. I was soooo excited! First, he surprised me and took me to The Stinking Rose: A Garlic Restaurant, in Beverly Hills for dinner!

You may say, ewww, that sounds gross, but this garlic was so soft you could spread it on a roll. And I got the 40 clove garlic chicken and Jared got beef short rib! Both were so delicious! We skipped the dessert bc I had made some delicious valentine's strawberry cupcakes!

Next, we started driving, and I had no clue as to where we were going! Next thing I know we were pulling up here!!!!!!!!
Incase you can't read that, it says the Beverly Hilton! It was soooo fun, and really, really nice! We had a view of the hollywood sign and the hollywood hills from our room! So amazing! Jared couldn't believe he pulled it off and said he would have to out do himself next year! How will he do that!

I read this today on John Pipers website about the recession. (Thanks Kimberly!)

This particular quote struck me...

"But if we have tasted the measure of our sin and the magnitude of God’s grace, we will have abundance of joy in recessionary hardships. God’s grace overflowing in Jesus for sinners like us is the most glorious thing in the universe."

I want to be in that place where I have truly tasted God's grace so many times that I have to view it as the most glorious thing in the universe. Too often, I run to materialism and consumerism to fill voids in my heart and to fill my time. As Jared has started his new job, we have been praying that God would show us what it will look like to not just spend money because we want to or just feel like buying something, but to seek His grace first as what will cover us and bring us true joy during hard as well as manageable times. As we have been seeking this change of lifestyle/mindset, God has put some big ticket items in our budget (car repairs, tuition, etc.) preventing us from being able to spend extra money, and causing us to realize what we really need vs. what we want.

The next point in this conversation with myself, and those who are reading this is....when do I taste God's grace, or identify it in my life?? If I am seeing his grace in my life, I must be identifying sin in my life which can be a difficult process. Please pray that I won't chicken out and take the easy road living a stagnant life.

Ask me anything about this! I would love to chat with you! I feel that this issue will continue to permeate our culture as more people are faced with wants/needs, and who they are truly satisfied in.

Apples Flambe

Last night we had a collaborative effort to create a HUGE flame in the apple dessert I was making!
It started out with our friend Spencer making the connection that the apples in the skillet with all the cinnamon and brown sugary goodness was a lot like bananas foster. Then, a few minutes later I looked at a huge bottle of rum I had and was like, when am I ever going to finish this! Then, Spencer got a "great" idea and decided that we needed to flambe the apples like they do at fancy restaurants at your table with the bananas foster. Jared grabbed the lighter and the rum, which made me very nervous, and decided he was going to play dessert chef. I was hesitant, but thought, it's a Tuesday night, why not have a little fun!

So, Jared threw the rum on there and the skillet was not hot enough to make the flame on its own, so Jared clicked the lighter and the ENTIRE pan went up in flames. Spencer was like, shake the pan so it goes out, because it just kept flaming! I screamed and I am sure the neighbors loved that, but then the flame went out after Jared tossed the apples a bit!

What a fun night! The dessert wasn't bad either! Again, apples with brown sugar, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, and butter, how can you go wrong! I will definitely be setting more desserts on fire in the near future!

jury duty

So I thought I would write about my experience at jury duty yesterday...
I got my summons a couple of weeks ago and was super annoyed that as a student, I still had to put my time in and serve. I went yesterday at 8 am and they herded about 200 people through the metal detector upstairs to a large room (which included awesome posters similar to the one you see above!) Haha! I was super surprised at how many people were there.

Next, there was a lady who did a 20 minute presentation followed my a 10 minute video...super cheesy video! The speech included a portion where we had to simulate an earthquake drill. I just sat there and sipped my coffee observing all the interesting people in the room. There was one guy who had a shirt on that said "Do I look like a people person" with a giant St. Bernard on it! It was sooooo awesome. I wonder if I wore it specifically for jury duty day or if that was a common shirt in his collection. The lady next to me tried to pay another guy $20 to call and see if she needed to be there. How silly...of course he didn't accept the money.

Now, we waited from about 9:30-10:00 before they called anyone up to check in. We went up in groups and got a badge. Then at 11:30 they made a call for the first round of people who would go to the courtroom to be selected. Luckily, my name was not called and I was left in the room with 100 people. So yes, that means that 100 other people got selected to go to get narrowed down to 12. Nice....

Then at 11:50 (10 minutes before the lunch break) They said everyone else who is left here is done for the day.

Ahhhh...A sigh of relief....even though I did think it would have been cool to serve on a jury, the time would not have been cool! So I picked up my things, checked out, and went to school! Didn't have to miss class after all! And I am not at the courthouse today! Yippeee! And I finished my first book in 2 years...lame I know! But I was proud! (The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis)