A Common Life

  A Common Life is the 6th book in Jan Karon's Mitford books. It is a short story, a brief jump back in Mitford time, to chronicle the details of Father Tim and Cynthia's wedding (even a glimpse of their rural Maine honeymoon). It took me only a few hours to read. It wasn't bad, but nor was it my favorite from Mitford. Take it for what it is, a short story. I gave it 3 out of 5 stars.                   

Oklahoma

 

Prayers for those affected by the tornado that ripped across Moore OK. yesterday. Over 50 died and entire neighborhoods are demolished. After calling Oklahoma home for a short while and then going back for several schools it hits close to home. We spent a lot of time in Oklahoma City, had good friends that lived in Moore and still have many friends throughout the state. I know many first responders are also in need of thanks and prayers!

Things to remember

The next time we move! (Before I forget some of the lessons I relearned this time.) And yes, this is random, I realize that. But I needed it written down and saved someplace for my own, future, sanity.

Color code!

Every box in every room needs a different color sticker. Whether it’s the dots for pricing your junk at yard sales, or a custom, color coded label, every box needs a color. Just because the packers marked it master bath, doesn’t mean that’s what it is! Apparently the office and the guest bedroom are interchangeable. It might seem like a small-ish detail, BUT! This is the second move where we’ve moved into temporary housing (apartment living whilst awaiting base housing) and it’s really a pain in the butt having to shift, sort and dig around in boxes for a particular item when half of them are unopened.

Make a first night box.

Again, this is more vital when you’re trying to stash half the boxes to leave unopened, but it’s a smart idea nonetheless. Let’s face it, after a full day of supervising an unload/unpack you’re tired, cranky and dirty. The only thing you really want is a hot shower and a clean bed! Items to include in this box: clean sheets for each bed, a set of clean towels for each person, hand soap and TP (the movers are going have to use your bathroom that day!), the shower curtain, trash bags, paper towel, light bulbs, basic tools for getting furniture back together, batteries for all the ones that died in your TV remotes en rout and the inevitable chirping smoke detector.

Tools.

Tools! Put the basics in the first night box. Make sure the remainder are clearly marked someplace! J hates hanging pictures and curtains, but it’s even worse when you can’t find what you need are making trips to the hardware store as well.

Parts Box!

Start your own parts box. Before the movers arrive take apart anything you can yourself. Then place the pieces, screws, plastic bits, curtain rod hardware, etc. in zip lock bags. Label each bag with a sharpie! This will make the other end soooo much easier. The movers will take all your things apart. And then proceed to throw everything into a giant parts box for you and the highly annoyed movers on the other end. No separation, no labeling. This will result in bad tempers and many trips to Lowes. Along with the neatly packaged and labeled hardware in this box it’s nice to have all your remotes (TV, music devices, fans, etc.), extra batteries, an extension cord, and those nifty outlet things that create more outlets, scissors, and packing tape!

Photojournalism.

Take pictures! Especially of anything really expensive or highly valuable for sentimental reasons. Pictures of working electronics, of your large DVD collection or books. Make your own high value inventory before the movers arrive (anything worth $100 per lb. or more) so you can tell the movers right away. It’s not a bad idea to take a photo of your high value items, followed by a photo of the serial number. If you don’t have your owners manuals, warranties and receipts saved and organized it’s a good idea to do that before you move. And make sure you pack that stuff in your car!

Duh!

Some items we just didn’t think about ensuring were labeled that we found ourselves hunting for this time: our extra checks, TV remote, sewing supplies, my scentsy bars (I still haven’t located them!), and tools.

Some things I forgot to pack that ended up on the moving truck this time: my extra contact lenses, my hair brush, and PTs for J.

I suppose the overall major lesson learned is that good, bad or indifferent, going into denial about a move is highly unhelpful. Particularly at the receiving end of things. Next time I just have got to man up and get organized and do half of it myself (like I’ve done before)! Leaving it all to the military/moving companies just results in pain and suffering down the road.

Rain

I feel like it has been raining for days. Maybe because it has. It started last Wednesday or Thursday and really hasn't stopped. Early Sunday morning I was woken by quite a thunderstorm, with lightening and everything. It's been so long since we lived someplace that had thunderstorms I didn't even mind having to get out of bed in the dark to shut the windows.

Despite the seemingly torrential downpour, J has been golfing twice. I went along both times just to get out of the house and enjoy the warmer weather. But warmer weather here also translates to a few other things we'd gotten used to living without in California: humidity and mosquitos. Those two things I definitely haven't missed! But on the flip side, it's strange how it makes it feel like it's really summer and more like home (Ohio home). I suppose that's what you must remember to call the ugly beautiful and give thanks for anyway.

I did remember to buy bug spray at Target!

Over the weekend we ventured to the edge of town to check out the Grand Forks Country Club. It's a bit rough. The club house is small and dated. I felt like I was about to go to a 1982 prom when we walked in. But the golf course is nice and they are pouring a brand new pool. The food we had for lunch was excellent. I got an almond and panko crusted walleye with asparagus. And for dessert there was mango sorbet with a nutmeg syrup which I must recreate.

We joined the Country Club. Poor J has been having a rough go of it since the move and the prospect of a place to go and golf whenever he wants as much as he wants weather permitting has raised his spirits immeasurably. And because of our age we were able to get a junior membership that requires less of us all around, and is cheaper. So that's been our excitement.

We had planned on a movie Sunday after church, but the weather was so dismal all either of us wanted to do was to go home and put on the comfiest sweats pants we could find and vegetate on the couch. Which we did. I finished a book and started on a new one.

I also made homemade chicken tortilla soup for dinner. It's a healthy recipe and not too difficult. Perfect for the weather.

The discovery channel has a new nature series out that started last night called North America. We watched that and were really impressed.

J switches to night shift this week so we both stayed up until midnight last night and then he proceeded to stay up until 6am playing his stupid Xbox! He slept about 2 hours this morning and then had to go to a dermatologist appointment at 9. He's back home and in bed, hopefully, sleeping.

I've got laundry going and a house to quietly clean! We've slacked off on the gym a bit, didn't go Friday or Saturday. So I should probably hop over that way at some point today. We shall see. Part of house cleaning today is remaking my homemade cleaning solutions, possibly trying a few new ones and making new labels. We shall see how long all that takes.

I suppose I'd better get at it.

Dad’s graduation

We took a whirlwind trip last weekend. J got some last minute leave and so we headed out last Thursday, spent a day in Grand Rapids, MI., a day in Chicago, IL. and then back to Grand Rapids until Monday afternoon. Despite lots of travel it was a fun, albeit quick weekend.

Dad graduated from McCormick Theological Seminary with a doctorate of ministry on Saturday. So thither went J and I, my brother, sister and brother-in-law, and grandparents.

Thursday evening Grandma, Dad and I went to the art museum and saw the opening of a new exhibit of quilts. Otherwise, the weekend was filled with graduation related events.

A word of caution and advice. If you ever find yourself in Chicago, do not under any circumstances stay at the Ramada Inn Lakeshore Drive! They lack some pretty basic amenities... such as running water. (Yup, that was for real.) We somewhat haphazardly landed at the Hyatt Regency which was excellent!

Here are some pictures from the weekend. These are my first pictures taken with my new camera! I'm still learning how to really use this thing, but I think they look really nice. I definitely notice a difference from my standard phone pictures.

Friday night there was a reception for the doctoral graduates. There was also a church service that we ended up skipping so we could meet Abbie and Ryan for dinner at our hotel. They flew in from Florida that day.

 
We all went to a lunch at the seminary before the graduation ceremony.

These pictures were taken at the church, St. Thomas the Apostle Roman Catholic Church, were the graduation ceremony was held that afternoon.

After the graduation ceremony we walked back over to the seminary for some pictures before taking off again for Grand Rapids for the weekend.

A Severe Mercy

  This book quite literally left me speechless. It is … the best word really is penetrating. It is a love story, a coming of faith story, a grief story, an adventure story and a story about home. It is not difficult to read, but much of the content is difficult in so much as it is sometimes hard to keep pace with the author’s insights; his level of intellect.

This is a must read. I think of all my reading thus far in 2013 I’d say read this if you could only pick one.

Here are the quotes I singled out.

“Heaven itself, he thought, would be - must be - a coming home.” pg. 19

 

“There was a principal of courtesy ... We, in fact, defined courtesy as 'a cup of water in the night'.” pg. 39

 

“I suspected that all the yearnings for I knew not what that I had ever felt ... were in truth yearnings for Him.” pg. 94

 

“In the course of a discussion about the efficacy of prayer, he made the point that it was altogether healthier to find yourself being used as the answer to someone else's prayer.” pg. 110

 

“Rereading books, we said with immense agreement, was the mark of the real lover of books.” pg. 111

 

“What it is to be a Christian ... 'A condition of complete simplicity/(Costing not less than everything).'” pg. 167 *from TS Elliot

 

pg. 185 on experiencing the wholeness of a person after death. "As God in his eternal now sees the whole of history that was and is and will be."

 

“Then, if we complain of time and take such joy in the seemingly timeless moment, what does that suggest? It suggests that we have not always been or will not always be purely temporal creatures. It suggests that we were created for eternity.” pg. 203

 

“What it [heaven] will be is quite beyond anything we can imagine. And yet it will be home. Of that we may be sure.” pg. 204

Cavatappi al Vino

I’m on a roll. New recipes all over the place. For the link to this recipe go HERE
This was an easy, tasty, hearty recipe. I made a whole batch (which was huge) but it only took us 2 days to eat it all. J isn’t a huge fan of pasta without red sauce and he even ate it, though grudgingly at first.

Ingredients

1 cup vegetable stock

1 large pinch saffron

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 onion, 1/3 thinly sliced, remaining finely chopped

4 Italian pork sausages, casing removed (I used chicken)

2 sprigs fresh rosemary

1 handful fresh sage leaves

1/2 cup dry white wine

Kosher salt

1 pound cavatappi pasta

Freshly grated Parmesan

Extra-virgin olive oil

Directions

Heat the vegetable stock in a small saucepan over medium heat. Once hot, add the saffron to infuse, and keep warm.

Heat the olive oil in a large sauté pan. Sauté the onions until soft. Add the sausages; stirring and sautéing while breaking the meat into small pieces with the back of a wooden spoon.

When the meat starts to brown, add the rosemary and sage, and cook on medium-high heat until fragrant, about 5 minutes. Then add the white wine and stir well until the sharp smell of wine is cooked off, but the pan is not dry. Add the saffron broth.

Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for 8 to 10 minutes; make sure you do not over-cook, as the liquid part of the sauce is what will stick to your pasta and give it the distinctive saffron flavor.

Remove the rosemary sprigs. Set aside.

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil and cook the pasta according to the directions on the box. Drain it about 1 minute before what is indicated on the box. Sauté in the pan with the sauce over high heat for about a minute or so.

Serve with some freshly grated Parmesan. Drizzle with some extra virgin olive oil, and if you'd like to add a fancy touch, place a piece of the rosemary you set aside on top or on the side of the plate.

Today

It has been a nearly perfect day. One of those sweet, quite ordinary, lovely days that springs unexpectedly up from nowhere.

I awoke the blue skies and sunshine.

We went to the gym, and upon walking outside I was surprised at just how warm it was, or at least felt! No coats needed. The sunroof open.

And then J helped me make a double batch of applesauce. Which is in the crockpot right now. Smelling like apple pie. And mingling with the scent of my meatloaf which also smells divine. And all of those kitchen smells are mingling with the scent of fresh laundry. Domestic bliss.

I think heaven will smell like this; like sunshine and warm breezes from the open windows, and delicious things baking in the kitchen, and clean laundry. Except for when heaven smells like Christmas, because it smells like that too.

Really, there’s nothing very remarkable about today. It’s Monday. Maybe it’s just all this sunshine and fresh air. But it really feels like today was made especially for me, for my uplifting and enjoyment. I know all days are made for me, but today I see it, hear it, smell it, taste it. Thank you Lord for the beautiful day that is today.

New recipes

Last week I made beef with snow peas, a recipe from The Pioneer Woman. Talk about EASY! It literally took les than 5 minutes to cook, add another 5-10 minutes for prep and you're done. The longest thing about the entire meal was cooking the rice (jasmine is our favorite). Delish and easy!

Ingredients

1/2 cup low-sodium soy sauce

3 tablespoons sherry or cooking sherry

2 tablespoons cornstarch

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1 tablespoon peeled and minced fresh ginger

1 1/2 pounds flank steak, trimmed of fat and sliced very thin against the grain

3 tablespoons peanut or olive oil

8 ounces fresh snow peas, trimmed

5 whole scallions, cut into 1/2-inch pieces on the diagonal

Crushed red pepper

Salt, as needed (use sparingly!) *I used none!

Jasmine or long grain rice, cooked according to package directions

Directions

In a bowl, mix together the soy sauce, sherry, cornstarch, brown sugar and ginger. Add the beef to a separate bowl and pour one-third of the liquid over the top. Save the rest of the liquid. Toss the beef and set aside.

Heat the oil in a heavy skillet (iron is best) over high heat. Add the snow peas and stir for 45 seconds and get as much color on them as possible. Remove to a plate.

Allow the skillet to get very hot again. With tongs, add half the meat mixture, leaving most of the marinade still in the bowl. Spread out the meat as you add it to skillet, but do not stir for a good minute. (You want the meat to get as brown as possible in as short amount a time as possible.) Sprinkle half the scallions over the meat. Flip the meat to the other side and cook for another 30 seconds. Remove to a clean plate.

Repeat with the other half of the meat, allowing the skillet to get very hot again first. After flipping, add the first plateful of meat, the reserved liquid, the crushed red pepper and snow peas. Stir over high heat for 30 seconds, and then turn off the heat. Check seasonings and add salt only if it needs it. The mixture will thicken as it sits. Serve immediately over rice.

~~~

Earlier this week I tried out lemon chicken romano. While the taste was yummy, the breading stuck more to my pan than the chicken. I think the issue was my use of enameled cast iron instead of non-stick. (Give a girl a break, I was trying to save dishes!) Anyway, the end result was light and the chicken was extremely moist. I served it with a baked potato and green beans. Another yum!

 

Ingredients

 

2 (8 oz) boneless, skinless chicken breasts, trimmed, halved horizontally*, and pounded to 1/2-inch thick

2 oz shredded Whole Milk Mozzarella cheese (1/2 cup)

2 oz shredded Provolone cheese (1/2 cup)

1 large egg

1 Tbsp all-purpose flour

1/2 cup Panko bread crumbs

1 1/2 oz finely shredded Romano cheese (1/2 cup)

1 Tbsp chopped fresh oregano

Zest of 1 lemon (2 tsp)

1/2 tsp garlic powder

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 1/2 Tbsp vegetable oil

2 1/2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Lemon slices or wedges for serving (you can just use the one that was zested)

 

Directions

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Sprinkle each side of the chicken cutlet lightly with salt (about 1/16 tsp per each side), let stand at room temperature 20 minutes. Combine Mozzarella and Provolone cheese in a bowl, set aside.

In a shallow dish, whisk together flour and egg until smooth. In a separate shallow dish, toss together Panko bread crumbs, Romano cheese, oregano, lemon zest, garlic powder and 1/4 tsp pepper. Pat chicken dry with paper towels. Working with 1 chicken cutlet at a time, dredge chicken in egg mixture coating both sides and allowing excess to run off, then immediately transfer to Romano mixture and coat both sides with mixture, while pressing gently to allow crumbs to adhere. Transfer chicken to a plate and repeat process with remaining chicken cutlets. Pour 2 1/2 Tbsp olive oil and vegetable oil into a 10-inch non-stick skillet and heat over medium-high heat. Once oil is hot, add 2 coated chicken cutlets and fry without moving them until bottom is crispy and golden brown, about 2 minutes, then using metal tongs rotate to opposite side and cook until golden brown, about 2 minutes longer. Transfer fried chicken to a large plate lined with paper towels to drain. Repeat process with remaining 2 pieces of chicken.

Place cutlets on rimmed baking sheet, sprinkle tops with Mozzarella cheese mixture and transfer to preheated oven to bake until internal temperature registers 165 degrees on an instant read thermometer, about 12 minutes (you can broil during the last 1 - 2 minutes if desired). Remove from oven and garnish with lemon slices or wedges, serve warm. Squeeze fresh lemon juice from lemon slices over chicken just before enjoying.

 

*freeze chicken breasts for 15 minutes to help slice easier, then lye breast flat and trim into two pieces through the thickness of the breast.

Recipe Source: Cooking Classy

Still: Notes on A Mid-Faith Crisis

  Still by Lauren Winner is going up to with the best books I’ve read in 2013 so far. A good thing considering the book before this was simply wretched.

This is the second book I’ve read by Winner, the first being Girl Meets God (old review here). I liked this book better.
The book itself is quite short, with many short chapters, some less than an entire page. While it is an easy read, it is at the same time overflowing with complex ideas, theology, poetry, scripture, prayer and much thoughtful insight.

Why did I love it so much? Largely because I believe that anyone whose personal life has ever been impacted by faith will relate to this book. While I do not think I am, or have, experienced a faith crisis (big, heavy word there) I can relate to what Winner calls the spiritual middle. I believe everyone can.
Some other bits of this book that jumped right off of the pages of this book for me:

“...but the whole bookstore is a self-help section to me. When something needs to be fixed, when I need something to change, my first and abiding instinct is to read.” -pg. 23.  The middle (pictured above) -pg. 29  “Sloth: the sin of busyness. … I am too lazy to do what's important, or hard, so I stay busy with everything else.” -pgs. 104-05  “I am, however, beginning to learn that I am a small character in a story that is always fundamentally about God.” -pg. 194  I really couldn’t put this book down. I read it on the couch, in bed, in the car. Each page held something profound, yet it was all so readable and relatable. It was encouraging. This would be a good book to own, mark, highlight, takes notes in the margins. I highly recommend this book!