Amy Scott's Thoughts

Sharing the thoughts that bounce around in my brain!

It’s In The Name September 23, 2012

Filed under: Amy's Bookshelf,One Thousand Gifts Challenge — Amy Scott @ 8:00 am
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I think every kid likes to hear stories about how they got their name. While my sister and I weren’t named after specific people, our parents (aka my mom) were focused on the meaning of the names. Amy Elizabeth. Amy = Beloved. Elizabeth = Child of God/God’s daughter. I remember my mom telling me she liked that when the names combined that they became Beloved Child of God. A name defining who I am and who I always will be. I am loved. I am a child of God. I have been shown this truth over and over again. I need only look as far as my name for a reminder.

As humans, we forget so easily. God walks us though the desert. Christ dies on the cross. And yet, we forget. We complain. We look for more as if what has been done isn’t enough. It is. Every mountain has a valley below and we must remember that God is in it all. The highs and the lows. I forget that I that I  am beloved. I forget my value in God’s family. I forget to be a team player when I focus only on myself and my needs. I am so small and yet so loved. So seen. God never forgets. Even in my forgetfulness, he still shows up. He still reminds me. Never let’s go. True love.

I’m in the last chapter of One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp. Yet again, I am undone. I am brought low, humbled by the act of counting gifts. This discipline that brings joy. This discipline that helps me remember. The blessing that comes from counting blessings. It’s amazing how exciting life is when I am looking for the next gift. I would say that since my last time reading this book I have grown in my character. I now see beauty in the ugly. I am thankful for the pain. I can see God’s blessings in the good and the bad. In times when I can’t see the beauty, I am reminded to trust. I am reminded that I am completely out of control. When I quit pretending to have it all together, I feel peace. I know God’s got it covered.  This challenge is like fresh air. I am grateful. I will keep doing it. It brings life and I want to live fully.

I am beloved. Because of his love for me, I can turn around and share love. It isn’t for me to keep to myself. The gifts are not meant to be lived in isolation. Yes, I love my quiet life. I have learned that my pace is slower than most. I have found myself in stillness. That doesn’t mean I have become a hermit. I’m not hidden in seclusion left only to a faith that I contemplate. My life is very much about my relationships. The flesh and blood loved ones that drive me crazy and make my laugh and make me pray hard. I am in love. With people. Because God has loved me, I can now love them. Be light in their life. Share joy. Be a blessing since I have been blessed. This is my goal.

This Beloved Child of God, this Daughter of the King is signing off with a quote from the book, with a hope for a lifetime well spent.

Spend the whole of your one wild and beautiful life investing in many lives, and God simply will not be outdone. God extravagantly pays back everything we give away and exactly in the currency that is not of this world but the one we yearn for: Joy in Him. – Ann Voskamp

PS… This blog by Sarah Bessey also left me undone this week. I see myself so reflected in the words of Ann and of Sarah. I am blessed by women who speak truth and share their lives – along the road, in the pain, in the mess. This blog is worth the read.

http://sarahbessey.com/in-which-im-practicing/

 

 

 

A Bit of Baking! September 22, 2012

Filed under: Children's Ministry — Amy Scott @ 10:02 am
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Pumpkin Spice Muffins

I don’t know why, but the urge to bake really hit my system. Maybe it’s because I didn’t get a chance to bake for my class on Wednesday and I felt like I needed to make up for lost time. Maybe it’s because the weather is changing and autumn starts today and baking seems to fit the season. I’m not sure. But I love it. I might have a gone a bit overboard though! Oh well. Two of the three things I made my hubby loves, so I’m counting on him and company this weekend to help me get rid of the evidence.

Thursday I made some chocolate-peanut butter chip cookies. I used a bag of Toll House chocolate chips with peanut better chips mixed in. Then I added 1/3 bag of mini Reese’s pieces. Very tasty! I ran some cookies to a friend and saved the rest for Jeremy. He likes it when I save some of my baking experiments for him. Even when I’m making something for a specific event or cause, I better keep a few back so Jeremy doesn’t feel left out.

Soft Molasses Cookies

Friday came and I started to think about how we don’t really have much food around the house. I decided I would make pumpkin muffins as a breakfast food to have on hand for company this weekend. I also decided to make molasses cookies since Jeremy has been craving them recently and I thought they would make good snack food to have around the house. Not to mention that Jeremy just made a TON of salsa and we have some chips, so we should be good now on the snack food front.

The Pumpkin Spice Muffins and Soft Molasses Cookies both came from the Betty Crocker website.  The only change I made was I used craisins instead of raisins. One of the other pumpkin recipes used cranberry so I thought I would do a mixture between the two. The pumpkin is the stronger flavor, but I prefer craisins or raisins any day. A good swap if you ask me.

The house smelled first like Mexican food while Jeremy made his salsa. Next it smelled like pumpkin pie as the muffins baked. After that it smelled like ginger and cloves. A unique blend of smells, but certainly tasty! What a perfect way to begin the autumn season!

Happy first day of autumn!

 

Feels like Christmas! September 21, 2012

Filed under: Cooking Experiments,Family Time,Simply Me — Amy Scott @ 10:40 am
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I just wrote a blog last week about how last Friday felt like my birthday! We had strategically waited to get new phones. I was happily learning all the features of my iPhone 4s. We also had a half off coupon for The Melting Pot. The savings were a part of the excitement of getting such nice experiences. I was a little giddy with how great the day went. That was where the blog post came from.

The “Free Day” Latte Maker!

Well, now I get to do it all over again… but now it feels like Christmas in the Scott household. It takes a little explanation, but the end result has been pretty awesome.  So here is the story. A few months ago, when Jeremy was very sick, he stayed home from work and and signed up for a bunch of free stuff. He called it “Free Day”. He mainly got a bunch of free plants, but he also signed up for golf clubs, kitchen stuff… etc. Pretty much anything he could for free. Jeremy has great luck with getting picked for stuff like that. Last Saturday the UPS man dropped off a big box at our house. The return label had been torn off so we had no idea what were opening. Turns out it was a very expensive one-touch latte maker. Jeremy got very excited and pulled it all out. He made himself a drink and told me how awesome it was.  I informed him that we had a Keurig and a Mr. Coffee Maker. We didn’t need a third coffee making device for a house where only one person drinks coffee. Apart from a lack of storage space, it seemed a little excessive. Jeremy did some research and realized that the latte maker was worth a LOT and was returnable to Macy’s. It didn’t take too much twisting to get to him to take it back and take the money instead.

Just like Christmas!

After returning the latte maker, Jeremy went on a shopping spree at Costco. He was able to get all this stuff with the money he got from the latte maker – plus have some left over. He bought a new stick blender (which he is using to today to make his homemade salsa). He picked up a Dyson vacuum which was on sale! I didn’t make him do this! It was his suggestion. We also got some Christmas decorations and a new decorative pillow. It was like Christmas when I got home to discover all the goodies.

One Happy Amy!

For those of you who know me, I’m major OCD when it comes to cleaning. I’m a neat freak. There is no way around it. I love to clean. It makes me happy. Jeremy knows this and saw a Dyson as an investment into my cleaning obsession. Of course, I couldn’t keep it in the box for very long! I needed it out! Once we figured it all out, I vacuumed the whole house – even though I vacuumed the day before. It was amazing all the stuff the Dyson got out of our carpet. It was almost scary! I think my carpet audibly sighed with joy from being so clean. Oh wait…that was me! I’ve always dreamed of owning a Dyson vacuum. I can’t believe I got it for free.

I might have laughed at Jeremy when I came home at the end of “Free Day” but now I have some serious respect for “Free Day”.  I’m blessed to have a hubby that shares his winnings and thinks of me! I would have never asked for something so nice, but he was generous. I’m fairly positive that he is happy with his purchases as well (He was singing while using it)! He loves making salsa and pasta sauce. We did a ton of research last year about stick blenders and food processors, but we couldn’t make a decision. Getting it for free made it real easy to pick one! It’s a happy day in the Scott household! Just like Christmas!

 

Cycles September 20, 2012

Filed under: Amy's Bookshelf,Simply Me,Women in Ministry — Amy Scott @ 2:26 pm
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Toby sleeps while I sort clothes

It’s amazing how life just cycles. Things that were once clean get dirty. Clothes that were once washed and folded get worn. Wake up. Work. Eat a meal. Clean house. Do laundry. Feed the dog. Over and over again. It will always need to be done again.  Want to know something? I don’t mind. I really actually love it. I love that things will come around again – a chance to do better, a chance to be better. Nothing is final. Each day is a new gift. Starting over fresh, I live the same life cycles, but each is a new opportunity.

I’ve been away from home the last few days. Way from my laptop and my blog. However, with technology these days, my phone is like a mini-computer and I can pretty much do most things on it. Still… there is something about not blogging and not pulling out the laptop that feels like a small break from the normal flow. It’s good to unplug. In fact, I should really digitally unplug more often. The world won’t stop if I’m not connected to it. I know this. Breaking the blogging cycle is always good for a few days, but I am ready to be back at the keyboard. Ready to write my thoughts. All over again. Never ending. They cycle just like my days.

Being away from the routine has drained me. Constant interaction with people has made me tired. This week as a staff we discussed the book You Lost Me by David Kinnaman. As the only one in the 18-29 age range in the room, I become the mouthpiece for a generation. I felt the pressure of accurately representing the book and my fellow Mosaics. I had given myself a pep talk at the beginning of the retreat on how I really wanted to be quiet in the meetings. I’m naturally quick to voice my opinion and I’m not sure that everyone appreciates that. Instead of jumping in, I wanted to asked into the conversation. Oh, how the sound of my voice can be tiresome. I did my best. I shared my heart. I was honest and real. And it left me spent.

So now I am home. I slept a glorious night in my own bed. I woke up not knowing what day it was. It was a busy day at work trying to make up for being out of the office. But now I’m home. In my familiar territory. My sacred ground. This quiet place where God and I hang out – just like Adam walking through the garden (except for not as cool, I’m guessing). The rhythm of life is starting to settle around me again. Those comforting cycles. Wash clothes, fold clothes. Sort through clothes, purge excess. Upload pictures, blog.  What does the rest of the day look like? Things I’ve done many times – dust the house, clean the bathrooms, make cookies, read, go to dinner with a student.

For the great adventurers in the world, this cycle, this rhythm might get old. For me it is life. It gives life. I am blessed by each day that I get to love God and love others. I am blessed by the quiet, by the patterns, by the routines. This is my joy. I don’t have to be flashy, or important, or put together. I just get to live one day at a time. Making the most of each cycle.

 

Change of Plans and Unexpected Answers to Prayer! September 16, 2012

Filed under: Simply Me — Amy Scott @ 12:38 pm
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How many books do I take to staff retreat? A small library!

Whew! The house is clean and everything is packed and ready to go. I skipped church this morning so I could get everything taken care of before we leave our annual staff retreat this afternoon. It feels kind of heathen like to not be at church on a Sunday morning, but can you really be a heathen as you prepare for a pastoral staff retreat? I don’t think so… I listened to a podcast from Jonathan Martin, so I still got to hear a sermon this morning. That should count for something, right?

Really what I needed was quiet. Some time to order my world and get centered. To hear the Word preached, to clean my bathroom so the house sitter doesn’t run in fear, to snuggle with my puppy dog and comfort him. Toby always knows when we’re leaving. The suitcases always tip him off. He is never sure if he is going on the adventure (which this time he is not) and so skeptically he watches… just waiting to freak out. Just like my crazy dog, I need some quiet down time before I am with people constantly. Take me out of my routine and throw me into elevated social interaction and you have a recipe for me being just as nuts as my dog. I think that is why I feel so sympathetic to Toby right before trips.

As of last night, I thought we were heading over east of the mountains, but wild fires in Eastern Washington have made the air hazardous. Not the right vibe for staff bonding. So now we are headed to the Oregon Coast. While this is still business, this is an answer to prayer in a little, silly, insignificant way. I had a glum thought at the end of the summer that I hadn’t made it to the beach. I always try to make it once a summer and it just didn’t turn out. Oh well. No biggie. That’ is how life can be sometimes. So when I heard that we were going to the beach, it was like God knew that there were still a few short days left the summer season and I would see the ocean before we officially said good-bye to summer and hello to fall.

There have been many other instances this week where something has happened and I know that only God could work it out. Only God could have made that happen. Even the coupon for The Melting Pot is truly a God thing. He listens. He knows. He see our hearts and in ways that we might think don’t matter much, he shows up. He just wanted me to know that he is here and that he is aware. Today I am praising the Lord for all the things I didn’t think were going to pan out, but did. For how he is good to my family and my friends. He is our provider. Our protector. He is for us!

Now I sit here, munching on a corn dog, waiting for my hubby to get home so we can load up. I have my comfort items packed and ready to go – my own pillow, updated music, new podcasts downloaded, a ton of books and journals, my favorite sweatshirt. These are the things that make my travels more homey and comforting. I’m ready to go. Thankful to God. See you in a few days!

 

Feels Like My Birthday! September 15, 2012

Filed under: Cooking Experiments,Family Time — Amy Scott @ 4:02 pm
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Enjoying some funny company!

Heaven? Perfection? YES!

Yesterday was a very fun day! When I woke up, I was greeted by Jeremy who has been researching iPhones while I slept. He had come to the conclusion that we didn’t need the new iPhone, but that we could now get the iPhone 4s for half the price. I agreed that we didn’t need the newest model. We’ve been waiting for months for this revealing from Apple. Jeremy’s phone left the title of “functioning” a long time ago and mine was over 2.5 years old and ready to replaced as well. This was no spur of the moment, we need new toys kind of thing. I just thought you should know. We’ve been planning and waiting… After sharing all his research findings, he asked if we could go to the store that morning and get our new phones. So yes, we got new phones and spent the rest of the morning/afternoon getting them personalized and chatting with Siri (our new best friend).

Empty… sad!

Meat! Ready to cook!

Now most would say any day you get a new phone is a good day and I would agree. However, this day got better! We had made plans to go on a double date with my sister and brother-in-law. April had found a Living Social coupon for half off a three course meal at The Melting Pot. At the beginning of the summer, we had talked about how fun it would be for the four of us to go together. It’s not a cheap bill so we knew it was going to take planning and until the coupon arrived, it didn’t look like our plan was going to pan out.

The best part!

Us!

I had only been to The Melting Pot once before. My hubby had braved snow and ice to take me there as a surprise for my 21st birthday. It was a great memory and we’ve always talked about going back. I’m glad we did! And at a discount! Can’t beat that! It was fun to dress up a bit and head up to a bigger city than Olympia! You can tell we’re from Lewis County sometimes! I get excited over stuff like that.

The food was amazing! As it should be! We had cheddar cheese fondue that we dipped bread, apples and veggies into… well, others dipped the veggies. I didn’t! Just being true my taste buds! The next course was salads. I had a yummy Caesar salad. Then it was on the next course which was cooking meats and pasta in a delicious boiling stock. I used my handy dandy new phone to time each item that went in. No need to poison myself with undercooked food. The final course was dessert – the best of all! We got what they call the Flaming Turtle which consisted of milk chocolate, caramel and candied pecans. They used some form of alcohol to light it all up on the table. Very impressive and tasty!

April and I were talking afterwards and the cheese and the chocolate really were the highlight of the meal. A perfect way to start and end! I might not get a meal like this very often, but when I do I go all out and enjoy each minute of it. Calories were forgotten and I ate everything I could! So worth it! Plus, the company was amazing. There were times where I was laughing so hard I was crying and at one point I almost couldn’t sallow my “free” glass of apple cider! April was describing how using a half off coupon meant we got half a glass and it was so funny in the moment. Good food, good times! I think this what the Teacher in Ecclesiastes was talking about. Each meal being a blessing. This was certain one of those meals and those moments!

 

The Small Things Matter Most September 13, 2012

Filed under: Bible,One Thousand Gifts Challenge — Amy Scott @ 3:25 pm
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“Meaningless! Meaningless!” says the Teacher. “Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.” – Ecclesiastes 1:2

“For with much wisdom comes much sorrow; the more knowledge, the more grief.” Ecclesiastes 1:18

Thanks to my wonderful mentor and friend, Vicki Judd, I found myself sitting and listening to a podcast by Jonathan Martin entitled “The Gift of Being Small“. Seriously, it was an amazing sermon on Ecclesiastes. I had a major light blub moment while listening to it. In fact, this sermon hit so close to home. It’s right where I am at! God’s Word is so powerful and a well time message is confirmation from the Lord. It was a beautiful thing. So let me try to explain! I have included the link, so you can listen in as well. It’s worth the time! Please try!

Okay, the book of Ecclesiastes is always really cheery. I mean who doesn’t love being told everything is meaningless? Makes you want to grab some pom-poms, right? YAY LIFE!  But as I listened to the Word and Jonathan’s explanation, it just came alive right where I needed it. You see getting smarter, filling your mind with more, trying to always achieve the next level – in life, at work, wherever – it’s never going to satisfy. There will never be enough. There will always be more that we want, that we need. On this side of heaven, we will never achieve it all. We will never arrive. We can spend our whole existence chasing after more. More money, more intelligence, more skills, more responsibility. Our desires for more will never be fulfilled. In fact, the higher up the ladder of more we climb, we find that it’s harder to be satisfied. Every new thing loses it’s thrill. A new phase of life, a new toy, a new job – nothing stays new forever and the need for more creeps in. This is the life most live. It’s considered chasing after the American dream. Really – it’s meaningless. It will never satisfy. A chasing after the wind.

Now that we’re all built up and feeling awesome about life – the Teacher says “A person can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in their own toil. This too, I see, is from the hand of God, for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment?.” (Ecclesiastes 2:24-25). It comes down to the simple things. Enjoy a meal because it’s from God. Enjoy the small things. Enjoy the things in this moment. Looking back – meaningless. Looking forward – meaningless. Enjoy the moment – God’s perfect gift.

As I count 1000 gifts yet again, I  am so aware of the small things. How each one of them is a gift from the Lord. Each breath, each meal, each laugh, each smile. They are all priceless and yet cost so little. These are things that make life worth living. They can not be enjoyed apart of God and the knowledge that he is the gift-giver. Jonathan said, when you think you’re BIG – you expect big things, you need big things. When you realize how small you are, you can be satisfied by the simple pleasures. It’s not about having it all figured out. It’s not about being the greatest. It’s not about how awesome we are. It’s about God. It’s about the fact that he loves us. He is in each moment. Especially the small moments, the ones we tend to overlook. Life is so much better when we are satisfied by the small things. The things that are free and precious and vastly unseen.

While I have known this in my head, for the first time in my life (in my heart), I am living each day with two questions in my mind. The first is – Am I loving God? Have I given him my time, my praise, my worship, my adoration? Is my love for him growing and deepening? The second questions is – Am I loving people? In my actions, in my words, through my decisions and choices? Jesus says these are the two greatest commandments and they go hand in hand. If I can answer yes to both of those then it’s a good day. I’m on mission. I’m living life on purpose. It’s not about to-do lists and achieving and reaching goals and cleaning bathrooms. Love God. Love people. Find joy in the small. See God’s gifts in each moment.

This is manna! This is the meal that sustains me. This is the good life. I am so blessed. Tickled down to my toes over the little things. Why? Because they are signs that I am loved by a BIG GOD! It’s mind-blowing! I am humbled! As Ann Voskamp says, I may never wear shoes again. This is sacred ground!

 

Semi-Homemade September 12, 2012

Filed under: Cooking Experiments — Amy Scott @ 10:26 am

Spiced Butter Pecan Cupcakes!

I love to bake, but I will admit that I am not a baking purist. I don’t make everything from scratch. I love cake mix and brownie mix. I have been known to use all forms of pie crust from dry mix to frozen. It’s hard to beat the ease and taste of these items. Trying to make things from scratch is always a fun challenge, but sometimes it’s just easier to use the box. I have learned though that even with boxed mixes, you can still put a personal spin on things and make it semi-homemade.

All dressed up in autumn colors!

That is exactly that I did for my class snack this week! I started with a box of Butter Pecan cake mix and a container of Whipped Butter Cream frosting. After a little bit of tweaking, these items didn’t stay in their original form. I did a little research to see what pairs well with the flavors and went with my natural attraction for autumn flavors. I added about a teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice to the cake mix. The spices mixed with the nuttiness went very well together! Normally, I would have gone for just cinnamon as the addition, but I figured a mixed spice would take it up to the next level.

For the frosting, as weird as this sounds, I added a tablespoon of breakfast syrup and a teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice. I had read that butter pecan pairs well with maple and caramel, so that is why I added a little syrup to the frosting. Adding the spices almost makes it the perfect base for a french toast like taste. The great thing about these cupcakes is how the nutty flavor and the spices really balance our the sweet of the frosting. I had to try one just to make sure they were safe and oh yeah, they were good. Real good. I think my husband had three!

Last week, I was attempting a trickier snack that didn’t turn out (I’ll do it again now that I’ve learned a few things) and I needed something quickly to substitute. I used my trusty brownie mix from Costco and then I added peanut-butter and mini Reese’s Pieces. Small changes and additions can take something that anyone can make into something uniquely from you. My personality is usually the type that colors in the lines, but when it comes to baking, I love exploring new flavor combinations. It’s fun to experiment and take a basic treat into something semi-homemade!

 

just some more thoughts on you lost me September 11, 2012

Filed under: Amy's Bookshelf — Amy Scott @ 5:02 pm

Our lead pastor asked me to share about 3 minutes from the book You Lost Me this last Sunday. This is a book that is jammed full of so much information and insight. It was really hard to pair anything down to 3 minutes. But here is what I was able to come up with. It’s a bit of a repeat and not new news to this blog, but I figured a refresher would be good to share with the group. Here you go!

In his book, “You Lost Me”, David Kinnaman discusses why young Christians are leaving the church and rethinking faith. With loads of research and statistics from the Barna Group, Kinnaman paints the picture of a very real problem we are seeing in those ages 18-29. While teenagers are the most active demographic in the American church, twentysomethings are the most inactive demographic.

There are three kinds of dropouts discusses in the book. The first would be nomads. They have walked away from church engagement but still consider themselves Christians. The next group would be prodigals. These leave the church and also their faith. They would define themselves as “no longer Christians”. The last group is called exiles. While they are still invested in their Christian faith they feel stuck between culture and the church.

The bottom line reason why these twentysomethings are leaving the church is a disciple-making issue. You could call it a faith development problem. They are not adequately prepared to follow Christ in such a rapidly changing culture.

We’ve discussed here at Bethel the concept of orange and how when the church and the family come together, it can be a powerful influence on a child’s lifetime relationship with the Lord. It’s going to take a team effort to see the next generation hold on to their faith in a challenging, real world.

In a section about prodigals – those who have walk away from the church and their Christian faith – I found it interesting that their biggest regret is usually how it hurts their parents. These prodigals aren’t trying to be rebellious or hurt their families. The biggest cause of pain is their knowing that it grieves their parents to see them walk away. This speaks volumes to me about how deeply kids are influenced by their parents and how they really do value their parent’s approval.

Another strong feeling prodigals have is that they have broken out of constraints. They have felt boxed in and stuck. They have felt unable to be themselves within the Christian faith and the church. This shows me that there is a deep heart issues going on here. If our kids are just “doing” the church thing, if they are just living up to expectations, then there is no personal ownership in their walk with the Lord. Without that personal relationship with the Lord to keep them connected, they’ll walk away once the decision becomes their own. As we lead children and teens, we have to be careful not just to focus so much on behavior and making sure they do certain things or act a certain way. It’s a heart level issue. It has to be real for them in order for it last a lifetime.

While we can’t make kids have a relationship with the Lord, we can be there for them as examples and role models. So much of faith is caught, not taught. We need to be safe people that they can ask honest and real questions to. Life is complex and messy. If we are trying to make cookie-cutter Christians then we’re going to lose them as they struggle with how Christ fits into their real world lives.  Discipleship is both the responsibility of the family and the church. Together, we can live honest, real faith before the next generation. We can walk alongside of them and help them see the heart of the matter is more important than following a rule or expectation.  Of course, each child must decide for themselves so this mentoring and guiding process must be surrounded in prayer.  This is a key part of making sure the next generation is actively involved in the church and being the Church once the decision is ultimately theirs.

 

A weekend of socializing and Hallmark movies! September 9, 2012

Filed under: Amy's Bookshelf,One Thousand Gifts Challenge,Simply Me — Amy Scott @ 6:53 pm

Okay, I will admit that I’ve been busy… When I’m up, I’m running and when I’m down, I’m down. Like down on the couch with a blanket and a dull headache. It’s been a good weekend with lots of fun highlights that I’ll get into in a minute. When I haven’t been trying to be presentable and forming complete sentences, I’ve become completely obsessed with Hallmark movies. They are mind numbingly corny and you gotta love how they all live happily ever after and seal it with a kiss. I know they are silly, but I can’t help but watch them. They have been the perfect non-moving remedy for this weekend. Also, on a side note, they are advertising for their Christmas movies already. Normally I only watch Hallmark movies at Christmas time, so this is exciting and mean at the same time. Why mean? Because they don’t start until November! Ugh! That is a long time for this Christmas-movie-loving-girl to wait. Advertising this early is a mean tease. Okay, I’m sure you didn’t need to know that… or want to know that. I guess that is one of the benefits of it MY blog! I can ramble about Hallmark movies if I want. It’s my party and I’ll… you get the idea!

Meals with Maggie May are the best!

Anyway, back to what I’ve been doing when I’m mobile and not bumming around! This Friday was my quarterly meal with my forever friend, Maggie May (check out her baking blog to be inspired by her goodies). These lunches are the best! We take up a table for hours talking and catching up. Since we don’t live near each, a few hours together is practically heaven. I’m so glad that all those people who told me that I can’t keep my high school best friends were wrong. Maggie May will forever be in my life and I better person for her friendship, encouragement and support! We went to lunch at one of my favorite places, The Cheesecake Factory! I got my standard Lemon Raspberry Cream Cheesecake for dessert and the entire piece was gone in minutes! I couldn’t help myself! After our lunch, we went over the mall and did a few laps to walk off the cheesecake! I bought fall hand soap which is a big deal to because it’s fall related and anything fall related is amazing. I’m one happy camper with my pumpkin soap.

Any weekend with cheesecake is a good weekend!

Saturday was spent up in Puyallup catching up with family, which was shamefully overdue. I hadn’t been to a family gathering in more months than I care to admit. It was good to see my grandma, aunts, and cousins. The occasion was a bridal shower for my cousin, Charlotte. It was fun to celebrate this long awaited upcoming wedding. The joke is that shower games are something I’m skilled at. I have no idea why these random and unique games have a way of coming easy to me. This shower was right on par with my winning skill set. Now the funny things is I don’t live close to the bride and I’m sure no one would say we know all about each other. I beat Charlotte’s close relatives and friends in the “Who Knows The Bride The Best” game. It made me chuckle, because it was pretty much dumb luck, but I felt pretty cool. My mom told me that I’m observant.  Hopefully Charlotte didn’t find it too creepy!

Today was not as social as Friday and Saturday, but still full of it’s own energy requirements. I got up in both of our Sunday morning services to take a few minutes to talk about You Lost Me with our congregation. It was good to get back up in front of people and continue to conquer my nerves in front of a crowd. Like any skill, it takes practice and the more I do it, the easier it gets. It’s been a few months and let me tell you, it really gets my blood pumping and that induces that I could throw up feeling each time. Working through these emotions is good for me. But tiring at the same time! I’m glad I got the chance and I’ll share my notes with you tomorrow. They are more complete then what I actually articulated on stage! Go figure!

Well, my hubby is out hunting. I’m all out of Hallmark movies, but I plan on watching TLC’s new show, Breaking Amish, later this evening. It sounds fascinating. I’m always curious what makes people tick – what is like to be Amish? Why do they want to leave? How hard is to adapt to the real world? I think this might be the first time I’ve blogged more about television than books! I’m human and my very real need for down time has been the focus of the weekend. Don’t worry, I’m still keeping up on my daily disciplines! God’s Word and counting my gifts has been just as important to this whole restful, soul-recovery process. Hard to believe that another September weekend is coming to a close.