tribute to holiday treats

just a few faves for oh-ten christmas:

[peppermint bark]

the challenge: melting white chocolate (apparently the bakers lack this skill) .. over mixing turns into churned butter which doesn't work so well, and this year Libby got water in it and that didn't work either. Mom decided to take over for the next batch. maybe next year we'll get it right?

[toffee triangles]

i think my mama has been making these since we moved from indiana..they are absolutely delicious and i made 5 dozen for our mentoring christmas party this year. it's a simple butter cookie and then you melt chocolate on top and sprinkle it with heath bar chips. and don't forget to cut them into triangles - this is what makes them look especially fancy :)

[peanut-butter chip pumpkin bread]

sounds a little odd, right? my dad's assistant makes this every christmas and we look forward to it from year to year. it is basically like cake, but you feel a little better about indulging in it since it looks like bread. the challenge is getting enough pieces before kelsey does...this is definitely not easy.

[trader joe's peppermint Jo Jo's]

they are so much better than oreo's and you can even get them chocolate-dipped and rolled in crushed peppermints. i love trader joe's for so many different reasons, and this is one of their stellar products.

one of the many things i love about my mom is that she is incredibly crafty & creative. each year she always likes to give a little christmas cheer to the neighbors at (like gingerbread scones or various cookies). this year was gingerbread men and i got to help :) i hope some of her [many] skills rub off on me.

..and now the resisting sweet temptations begins! it has been a delicious month!

¡Feliz Navidad!

"El pueblo que andaba en la oscuridad

ha visto una gran luz;

sobre los que vivían en densas tinieblas

la luz ha resplandecido...

Porque nos ha nacido un niño,

se nos ha concedido un hijo;

la sobreanía reposará sobre sus hombros,

y se le darán estos nombres:

Consejero admirable, Dios fuerte,

Padre eterno, Prínciple de paz"

Isaías 9:2, 6

I'm getting a little nervous for Central America...maybe it's because of all of the back and forth talk about vaccinations and malaria pills, or the books i received about latin american history that are rather dense, or the fact that it is coming closer than i expected.

but reading this passage in spanish made me so happy: happy for the opportunity to speak spanish in a different context than a classroom, happy to see God's promises revealed in a different language.

¡Feliz Navidad!

no place like home...especially for the holiday

home has been LOVELY so far:

slept for 12 hours on friday and stayed in the house almost the whole day (!!), cozied up on the couch with kels (later joined by mom & libs) to watch the holiday (see previous post about how much i love that movie) with hot chocolate (that's a given for me these days -- i think i've had it every day for the past week and a half)

..and today: hung out with precious sydney for the afternoon: we had a lot of fun :)

is she not the cutest thing you've ever seen???

a rich piece of chocolate cake

this past week i have been thinking about how often times (not always) life is like a rich piece of chocolate cake. not the pillsbury box kind, but the real stuff: the cocoa, butter, flour, sugar and the decadent frosting (we're talking about cream, sugar, butter, and chocolate). does that now sound incredibly rich and heavenly??

i am a fast-paced person and run from one thing to the next: and that's not always a bad thing, but i am coming to realize more and more how important it is to stop, breathe, think, liten, and learn from what is going on around me right NOW. when you eat a rich dessert like chocolate cake, you should...
sit down
actually cut a piece instaed of just taking bites from all sides
get a glass of milk
make sure you get a small dessert fork
eat it s l o w l y and savor every. single. bite.

(i am definitely not good at this)

it's at moments like this, sitting in the san francisco airport, realizing that i just said good bye to my friends for 8 months, realizing that i may not see some of the same people at gordon ever again, and realizing that i am over half way done with college, these moments are when i realize that life is moving fast and i need to stop and savor the precious moments God has given me. life is not always going to be a piece of cake, it's going to be hard and scary and tiring and stressful, but there are so many moments along that journey where i need to take time to pause and SEE what God is doing. i love the verse "Taste and see that the Lord is GOOD" (psalm 34:8) -- What a blessing it is that God doesn't just want us to see his goodness, but He wants us to TASTE it ourselves and to see his goodness in our lives, through struggle and triumph.

this week has been so full: full of saying hellos and goodbyes -- hearing stories from friends who came back from study-abroad semesters and goodbyes to ones i have lived with for two and a half yeras. it's been full of stress as well with exams and studying, but what comes with that is bonding in jenks and forming friendships over pagesof notes and study sessions. it's been full of packing: putting things in boxes and thinking quickly what i need/don't need/can live without for 8 months and putting it in someone's garage and hoping no animals get into it.

i am thankful for massachusetts and am really going to miss this place: a place that has become a second home to me. i will miss 128 (minus the crazy on ramps), climbing the endless fligh of stairs to get to Laurie's office each week, making dinner in 202 and hearing "my life is in shambles!" over & over again. i'll miss hearing our coffee maker going constantly throughout the day and making the trek to jenks with stops through chester's, lane, and KOSC in an attempt to keep warm. i'll miss seeing familiar faces, talking to my professors, and hanging out in my living room or "the nook."

and now i am thankful for the chance to be HOME: for 12 hours of sleep, home-made split pea soup, time to relax & rest, prepare for another advenutre in a new place: another chance to make new friends & discover a new home.
and hopefully i will learn how to eat my cake and to savor each bite :)

bonding in jenks

i'm not such a fan of the thing called finals.

but i AM a fan of:

pandora music in the background, friends at study tables next to me, getting pumped for CHRISTMAS,

study breaks to the ASC for any kind of snack (however tonight was not a hit: gingerbread tea not so good),

procrastinating by blogging/reading others' blogs, stealing sour skittles/chocolate chips from friends at fellow study tables, twittering, and listening to katy perry's firework for inspiration.

but now i must return to reading about religion & conflict, and other preparations. yikes the semester is almost over!

meaningful words

commonprayer.net is continuing to bless me this morning.

“To love someone is not first of all to do things for them, but to reveal to them their beauty and value, to say to them through our attitude: ‘You are beautiful. You are important. I trust you. You can trust yourself.’ We all know well that we can do things for others and in the process crush them, making them feel that they are incapable of doing things by themselves. To love someone is to reveal to them their capacities for life, the light that is shining in them.”

--Jean Vanier, founder of the L'Arche communities

fun things

i'm excited for this when i get home:

eloise at christmas is one of my favorites: i can't imagine how much fun it would be to live at a hotel (especially the plaza!) it's simply a delightful film always on during ABC Family's 25 Days of Christmas Movie Marathon. watch it.

peppermint hot chocolate: i'll take any kind but nothing beats williams-sonoma hot chocolate and marshmallows. yes, it is ridiculously expensive, but it is also ridiculously delicious (i am REALLY hoping that we get this as a gift from someone this year - it will make me SO. HAPPY.)

side note: no, i am not ready to go home yet - there's too many exciting things happening! (winter ball, pancake breakfast, hanging with the APT, making gingerbread scones for class, finish the course delicious snacks...and finals maybe? not so excited about those)

mildly freaking out

i leave in 2 weeks and while the christmas break usually excites me, this year i just want time to slooooow down. i am leaving gordon not for a short 3-5 week break. i am leaving gordon for 8 months.

holy CRAP

i sat in my politics of the developing world class this morning and almost cried because as excited as i am for the opportunity to study abroad, i am really going to miss this place that has become like home to me. but what is also scary is the fact that when i get back in the fall, certain special people won't be there anymore and things will be different (like they always are). change is inevitable, but it's also scary and i don't feel ready for this kind of change.

it takes me awhile to adjust to things, and i feel like it takes me almost a whole semester to feel rooted and at home, and then i get on a plane to go to the next place. i guess that is what life is supposed to be like though, because you learn and grow the most when you are not in a constant state of comfort.

but i want comfort! i want my current friends, i want my gordon professors, i want to cook for myself, to go to the gym when it works with my schedule, to be able to call my mom whenever i need and watch the tulips bud and crocusses bloom when springtime comes.

next semester will be challenging: making new friends, learning from various instructors/teachers/professors who don't know me and i don't know them, eating and drinking food i am not familiar with and not having the freedom to cook whatever i feel like. i probably won't be exercising a whole lot and i won't be able to call my mom whenever i feel like it. and i will miss galloping across the quad celebrating the east coast spring

while all of those things are true, i have to believe that there are great things in store for me (for us!!) wherever God leads us and he is faithful to provide. yes, it's going to take me awhile to adjust to life in latin america. i'm going to be frustrated, tired, and long for home and my friends and family. i'm going to miss them greatly. but i hope and pray that the experience will be worth it. that it will teach me so much and that when i come back home (home home and gordon home) i will be able to "come home rejoicing: at the wonders he has shown me" (common book of prayer) and i hope to welcome my friends and family with many hugs and hear their rejoicing at the wonders he has shown them.