Family

Christmas has come! Christ is born! Let us all celebrate his birth! For through Him, we are saved, both now and forevermore. SO AMAZING!

But I titled this Family, why? Because my family, my parents, are the ones who have brought me up and raised me in this truth! Our strong relationship is because of this little baby that was born to save us all! I can't fathom it most days, but when were are all together in the same room on Christmas day, passing gifts to each other and laughing about what we all have received, love floods my soul. Yes, LOVE. The little word that sends some people screaming for the highlands, but also brings people together and is a vehicle to express happiness and good things. 

Love? Why is she talking about Love? This is sappy and lame. (you must all be thinking this)

Because I am a girl. And love is how I can express my gratitude and thankfulness to those around me, who care about me. It moves me. Love moves me. In my crazy noggin', love and family is so intertwined. When I think of family, love is right there. When I think of love, family comes to mind. 

Ok, ok. Enough. I think you get the picture. Yet...

Think of a heart, and the word Family written inside of it...  Ta da! That's what love looks like to me. 

I don't know how I will ever repay my parents for what they have done for me. My heart is filled with appreciation, and all I want to do is give back to them. But all I can do right now, (until I magically become filthy rich as a doctor(maybe?) and can fly them to the bahamas) is share a strong relationship in Christ and love with them, because that is what they have always shared with me. 

If you are in arms length of one of your parents today (or a brother or sister or grandparent or aunt/uncle for that matter), suck it up and give them a hug. I know I would. : D I'm sure they will appreciate it. (If not, kudos to you for getting within arms length of a relative!)  

FOOD

Baking. Its one of the things that has kept me from going insane lately. Seriously. I've had a couple of loooong days at work the past two weeks, and one of the things (besides someone whose name begins with a C) that has really helped, is baking glorious food (for said person whose name begins with a C).

Make some gingerbread, it's the holidays

Gingerbread cookies (adapted recipe from the most glorious baker of all, Betty Crocker)

1 cup cold water
1/3 cup of shortening
1 cup brown sugar
1 1/4 cups of molasses
1/4 cup of honey
1 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
7 cups of flour
2 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. cloves
1/2 tsp. garam masala

Combine first five ingredients and beat them together really well. If you cream the brown sugar and the shortening first, it works a lot better to add the wet ingredients gradually. Then you just beat that to oblivion. Add the spices and salt and baking soda, and finally the flour. I did it in groups of 2 cups at a time, so I wouldn't over mix it. At the end, you have to use your muscles to kind of wrestle it all together. You will have gingerbread coming out of your ears. But don't fear, it's delicious.

Divide the dough in two, wrap it up, and refrigerate it for two hours. (If you're in a hurry like I was, stick it in the freezer til its cold) Then, pull out one section at a time (otherwise you just defeated the whole purpose in refrigerating it) and roll it out onto a floured surface to your desired thickness (the thinner it is, the crispier the cookie). Make sure the surface is REALLY floured. Otherwise the dough will stick and be sad. Then, use fun cookie cutters to make awesome cookies. Bake at 350 for anywhere from 7 to 10 minutes based on the thickness of the dough.

Frost with your fave frosting and sprinkle on some happiness.

Yay for delicious eats. Try them, you will have to eat at least 5...

Lacking

 Who has heard the phrase, "to be found wanting." ?? Any takers? Well, what about "to be found lacking". Bet no one has heard of that one. I just made it up. So humor me here, and keep reading. I'll explain.

  Countless times I have found myself going through the every day life, not sad, but not feeling like I'm truly living. Taking each day for semi-granted and not feeling that extra oommph, hoostpa, vvavoom! Ya know what I mean? Anyways, I feel like I've been "found lacking." Lacking passion and appreciation for everything and everyone around me. Until this morning...

  So I was "studying" in the living room with my roommate last night; she was working on a project. In typical Andrea-fashion, I totally passed out on the floor, for two and a half hours. It was 12:30am. Great. I had to get up at 5:45am to go for a yog before work at 8am. Lame. So, I stumbled all the way back, in the creepy darkness to my room, and flopped on the bed, only to be wide awake. Seriously? Seriously??? oh well. For some reason my body is ridiculous and my legs were twitching even before my alarm went off at 5:45am. Fine. I rolled out of bed, threw on running garments, (yesterday was a bit nipply, so i bundled up a bit more) and hit the streets. In total darkness. Woooeeee.

  Sorry, you're probably thinking, "get on with it! what's this lacking biz-nass?"

  It was glorious. My run was absolutely glorious. Dark, as if in the middle of the night, stars shining, and quiet. So quiet. I ran up from my apartment, and kept going up. Up to skyline and over to Enger Tower and Piedmont, then down down down to the highway and into Canal Park and back to my apartment. As I was up on the ridge, looking over Lake Superior, and the slight purple/red-ish bliss of the ever approaching sunrise came into view, I lacked nothing. Absolutely. Nothing. Supremely glad I was alive and running. So blessed to have the ability to do so. And I said a prayer of thanksgiving. A thank-you to the One who has created it all, who sent His Son for ME. The weirdo who is running in the dark on the side of a cliff at 6am. Yep, even for me.

  And when I got to work this morning? My email devotion, guess what it was about? Lacking. How I, as a believer, am lacking nothing because of God's undeserved love for me. This is my confidence. This is my "ooomph", my "hoosstpa!"

  "To be found lacking." <---- needs never to apply to me. :D 

Civil Wars

I got to go to a Civil Wars concert in the cities last night. Have you ever heard of them? If you haven't, sprint to a computer. Yes, sprint! It will pay off in the long run because you will hear delicious music that will calm your ridiculously beating heart, since the last time you sprinted was, never? Anyways, get to this music fast. It's phenomenal.

Soul-music. Not Kentucky Fried Chicken soul-ness, but grasp at your heart, stomp your feet and sing at the top of your lungs, soul-music. It is. That is why it is amazing. That is why I wanted desperately to go hear it. To be moved, to have my soul rocked, to ache for more, scream, whoop, holla, DUDE! It was fantastic. I could hardly stand to sit in my seat. I was wiggling and slappin' my legs, clapping my hands, moving my head, jamming. Completely jamming. It was at this BEAUTIFUL theater in the cities too. You know the ones that are stadium seating, with plush chairs, and big bold architecture that makes you feel like you just walked into the early 1900's? Yeah, that sort of place. So there was no 'area' to dance in, you sat in a plush-cushy chair. And listened, and yearned for more.

I went with a great friend who was just as excited as I was to hear the music. I think that is most important. To go with someone that is also going to feel moved, tugged in the direction of the stage, begging to play just one more song, please?!? It was great. Music and friendship. Huge emotions, yet simple. Just listening to music. Nothing more. But there wasn't anywhere else I wanted to be.

In. The. Moment. All the way. Find a way to be in the moment today. You will thank me later.

Bounce

I have really curly hair. Like really. curly. hair. And I have always kept it long. Long, luscious, curls. But not any more! I chopped it all off! Muah ha ha ha. Now my hair bounces. Everywhere I walk. Bounce. bounce. bounce.

I decided I wanted to donate my hair a while ago. I work in a Cancer Center and walk through a facility where people receive their chemotherapy treatment through an IV. I walk through all the time to get water and ice from a dispenser in the back. I walk past people that have no hair. Every day. Every single day. So I felt the urge to do something. Some people looked so sad. Or I felt they were looking at me longing, for their hair to grow back, like mine. Pretty life-changing, life-tugging, emotional glances. I also walk by a room that is filled with wigs. Filled! And I wanted to help. I wanted to give something of me, that could be life-changing for someone else. Hair. As simple as that. Cut it off. Donate it. Give. Share the curls. Let someone else be able to bounce down the hallway. Spring in their step with confidence that they have luscious, curly locks. Yep, sign me up.

Hands DOWN one of the coolest things I've done in a LONG time. I walked in to the Salon, (I went to a woman named Adeline, she is FANTASTIC! check her out the next time you get a hair-cut, if you live in Duluth.) pretty nervous and timid. Sat down in the hair-chopping chair, about to pee my pants in terror. But Adeline totally knew what she was doing. Before I even had time to process what was going on, my hair was in a pony-tail, then it... wasn't. Gone. GONE were the locks. Still in a pony-tail, but not on my head. WHOA! Totally crazy/awesome. Then she went to work, sculpting a bob of bouncy curls. Phenomenal. My favorite part was braiding the now cut-off pony, and putting it into a puffy package to send to Wigs for Kids. A non-profit that relies on donations to make wigs for children who have cancer or some sort of disease that prevents them from growing hair. So great. So. Great.

So now I get to bounce. My inner-happy-bouncy-nature can express itself wherever I go. On a run? Most definitely, wind in short curls, bouncing all the way. In the kitchen? Oh yeah, bouncing around making bread like a champ. On the way to work? Well, who really wants to go to work. But now I can bounce around to get my ice water, knowing that soon, someone else might get to feel just like me. Bomb diggity.

Great job, parents! Thanks for the curls. Truly blessed

Motivation

HELP. My motivation has been misplaced. I can't seem to find it anywhere. I've looked for it at work. Nothing. I've looked for it at home. Nope. Under the couch? Nah. On facebook? Big fat NO. So where is it hiding? Where, oh where!, can my motivation be??

   I've been pondering this all day, as I sit in my cubicle. I need a jolt. A lightning strike of super power multi-tasking bliss. There is just a huge list of things that I want to accomplish, but am lacking motivation. Studying for the MCATs is a LARGE BLINKING LIGHT at the top of my list. I want to start. But I'm afraid? Tentative? Hesitant? Freaked-out? WORRIED THAT I WON'T REMEMBER ANYTHING? And cry in the corner while I'm tempted to run for the hills? Yeah, I need to start. Enough whining.

   So who has motivational tips? Who has the answer to my being freaked-out and scared? Hmmmm, I wonder....
   In my daily devotion, I found the answer.
      "Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon. "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the Lord. "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts." Isaiah 55: 6-9

   Lightning bolt? I think so. Just when you feel like there is nowhere to turn. Or that you're trying so hard to plow forward in one direction, you realize GOD IS THE ONE WITH THE PLAN. His thoughts are WAY BETTER than my thoughts. His ways are WAY BETTER than my ways. I don't have the capability to fully understand anything because I have a sinful brain. His plans for me will always be better. So I don't need to worry, or panic, or be afraid, because He totally knows what He is doing. He will help me find my motivation. It may seem completely lost to me at the moment, but it will come back.

    Trust in Him.

First Wave

I did it. I ordered the first round of MCAT study books. I have my lovely Gold Standard, that I so lavishly talked about in one of my first posts, but there is more. Oh so many more books...

Exam-Krackers. Doesn't sound like a book that is really going to help me. Sounds like something that I would rather put my smoked fish on that I got at Applefest this weekend. (cracker, haha, get it?) But really, this means I have to start studying. I have to pick up these kracker books and infuse the knowledge in them into my brain. I can't hide anymore. Studying will commence. The first wave has begun.

Despite me kind of wanting to study for this lame test of death, a friend of mine keeps errking me about it. He keeps poking my thoughts about how I'm feeling now and where I'm headed. He wants me to find happiness in my current work situation, or DO something about it if I'm not. Lame, right? Yeah, such an awful thing to think about, right? Anyways, it's like having someone bang those stupid large plastic blow-up tube things that you can get at a major league baseball game, that you smack together and they make a SUPER ANNOYING hollow banging noise. Yeah, you know what I mean. That's what my friend is like. It's kind of hard to ignore. Hard enough for me to ignore, to actually get me to buy the first stupid wave of books. He currently has a broken foot. I kind of wanted to kick the thing, but that might be a tad harsh....

Well, who wants to come study with me? I will have enough books to go around for like 10 people. They will be on my door-step in 3-14 days. Whoever decided that was an appropriate time to ship books? They may arrive by Friday, but they most certainly will be here by Halloween.

This shall be epic?... Maybe by the time the books arrive I will have a better attitude... : )