Chop Chop!

When I was in undergrad at BU, a friend of mine grew out her hair and donated it to Locks for Love. Locks for Love is a public non-profit organization that provides hairpieces to financially disadvantaged children who suffer from long-term medical hair loss.  I always thought this was a unique and easy way to give a little something to someone in need.  I started growing it out around summertime 2008, and then last spring I finally had enough to chop off.  You have to be able to give at least 9 inches, and I think in the end I donated about 11.  I wouldn't say this was something necessarily on my 'thirty' list, but if I get 29 accomplishments complete, and I need one more thing, I might count it.

Before I donated:

After:

*- This is definitely the shortest my hair has been since 1995 when I was in junior high.

My official letter from Locks for Love!

Puzzling Thoughts

In an effort to do something interactive and watch the least amount of tv possible, Brian and I have integrated one my favorite pastimes into our leisure- jigsaw puzzles! Jigsaws have been a longtime staple of my family's holiday get-togethers.  But there's tons of great puzzles out there that aren't holiday-themed at all, so we thought it would be fun to have an ongoing puzzle from now on.  We just finished the first- it took less than a week! Our garage sale find was only missing five pieces and is entitled "Here's to Happy Hours!" It was just a 500-piece so I think we'll go for at least 1000 on our next one.

When life gives you lemons...

Make lemon cupcakes!

They're a little more springtime-ish but when it's chilly and wet in January, who can resist these lemon cuties?  The recipe calls for safflower oil which can run pretty high in price, so a cheaper sub is canola.  Both oils help keep the amount of saturated fat down and the monounsaturated fat up.  I won't go into the science of fat, but monounsaturated is the stuff you want.

When I first looked at the recipe, I didn't like the sound of the powdered sugar-based icing.  We've always used that as Christmas cookie icing, so I didn't think I'd like it on a cake.  I was definitely proved wrong!  It makes a really easy glaze that dries smooth and it's prettily accented by the orange zest.

Zesting proved the most challenging for me since I do not have a good peeler or grater.  I just carefully shaved the orange and lemon with a good knife and then finely chopped the pieces which wasn't too hard. Also, I got plenty of juice out of just one lemon and one orange.

Since they're citrus cupcakes, I justified pairing one with my coffee this morning, and it was delicious, Enjoy!

*Preheat oven to 350. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners.


Cupcakes                                                    
1 2/3 c flour
1 c sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 c safflower oil
2 eggs
1/3 c skim milk
1/4 c freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 tsp freshly grated lemon zest
1 tsp lemon extract
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl.  Combine the oil, eggs, milk, lemon juice, lemon zest, lemon extract, and vanilla extract in a separate smaller bowl.  Add to the flour mixture and stir until smooth.

Spoon batter into the muffin cups and bake for 17-19 minutes or until light golden.  Cool for five minutes before transferring cupcakes out of the pan to cool completely.

Icing
1 1/2 c confectioner's sugar
2 Tbs freshly squeezed orange juice
1 tsp freshly grated orange zest

Combine confectioner's sugar, orange juice, and orange zest in a bowl and stir until smooth.  Spread over each cupcake with a small spatula.

To the Max!

Happy 2010! It's been almost a month now since the holidays, but in order to move on into the future, I need a short recap of 2009's end. I spent the holiday season in Texas with my family which included all of my favorite things- waking up to delicious pots of coffee already brewing, collaborative crossword completion each morning, working on the annual holiday jigsaw, various other board and card games, lots of food, AND the newest addition to Christmas fun...my nephew Max!

I'm a first time aunt, and I am not bashful about how cute I think Max is, i.e. Exhibit A.

Exhibit A.

And I couldn't find a good one of us together, but here, Santa's Helper, is helping himself to my delicious Christmas morning breakfast roll.  If you'd like to hear/see more about the Incredible Max, you can visit his blog by clicking 'A New Chapter' in my blogroll to the right.  He is a much better blogger than I am.

Exhibit B.

When I first found out my sister was preggers, I had recently started learning to knit from a coworker, and decided that I would make a baby blanket to award Max when he was born.  I started in the fall of 2008, but when little Max came into our lives in January, his blanket was not near completion.  I could use the fact that he was a month early as an excuse, but really, a month, schmonth.  Let's be honest, I still wouldn't have had it done.

Nevertheless, Max did eventually receive his blanket just a couple weeks ago for his first birthday! (That's right, Fall 2008-Winter 2010.  Now that my mom's seen my handiwork, she has requested a winter scarf, which means I should probably start on it now so that she can have it by Mother's Day 2011.)  The blanket is a pinwheel design that I nabbed off Ravelry, and I used Knitpicks ShineSport yarn in colors Leapfrog and River.  The ShineSport is great for kids, soft and machine-washable.

A detail view of the pinwheel design from the middle going out.

You can see I had some problems with it curling up on the edges, which may or may not be from me knitting too tightly. Pro knitters could tell you the actual root of the issue.  I used an iron on low to help smooth and stretch it, and it seemed to do the trick.  I think washing it can help as well.

going green

The gift-giving season has already started to creep upon us, and my mom has been digging for ideas.  Since I've been on the search for a new study Bible recently, I thought this might be a good suggestion for her.   I've actually been on this search for awhile, but the cost of having the extra notes, maps, references, etc throughout the pages does not come at a small price (another good reason to suggest it to the parents).  I've typically researched, shopped for, and purchased my own gifts (on my dad's credit card, of course) for the past five years, so why would this year be any different?

I have spent the previous few weeks doing my research online.  Today, I took the next step in my search, and I spent the afternoon pulling off version after translation after publisher off the shelf at Border's to review my options more closely.  I think a big factor to consider is whether the commentating and notes are objective and at the least, cover basic doctrine upon which most Christians can agree upon.  I am concerned that I do not buy something that has very polarizing or radical theological snippets casually embedded into the text.  NIV is definitely the translation I want, and Zondervan and Tyndale are the largest Bible publishers and offer enormous selections.  I have it narrowed down to the Zondervan Life Application Study and the Zondervan Archaeological Study.  If anyone, which would be the 3 people who read this, has any suggestions, please let me know what you currently use as your study Bible and any comments you like or dislike.

While I was perusing the shelves in the Religion and Bible section, I came across some unique finds.  I found an assortment of gender-specific Bibles, Bibles for Nascar lovers, and even "Collectible" Bibles.  However, one, in particular, caught my eye due to the nature of discussion in my ACG at church this morning.  We've been studying the five approaches Niebuhr suggests as the paradigm to which Christians have historically approached the world and its culture.  Working our way through these approaches has been interesting, evoking too much discussion to keep within our one hour on Sunday mornings, and after several weeks, we've finally gotten to the real application of how we, as Christians, should or do approach culture. Today's discussion revolved around the role of both the individual Christian and the Church as an institution in sociopolitical issues - obviously, a really hot topic! One group member remarked that the church she previously attended had a strong environmental agenda.  So during my browsing later today, I came across, what else? The Green Bible - "The Bible's powerful message for the Earth," complete with a foreword written by Desmond Tutu and essays by Wendell Berry.  What else does the Bible offer?  An NRSV translation, a green-letter edition (as opposed to a red-letter words of Jesus!), green topical index and an environmentally friendly cotton-linen cover, recycled paper, and soy-based ink.  The Bible actually has entire website where you can find more information and see that it also endorsed by The Sierra Club and The Humane Society.

One of the paradigms we've discussed is the 'Christ the Transformer of Culture' model,  but seeing the Green Bible on the shelf today, I have to question whether culture, on the other hand, was actually transforming the Christ that this group is trying to represent?

I have not made up mind as to whether the Green Bible is an example of the Church or the individual Christian's effort to push a social or political idea, and if it is, who does it belong to?  This morning, our group debated as to whether the Church as an institution should take a side in political thought, and this question seems to become increasingly more important every election year.  (As a former resident of Washington, DC, I can't help but think had this same conversation taken place in my old community group there, the debate would have looked a little differently.)  Our group is actually going to be exploring the history of Christianity in America next semester, an enlightening experience from which I think we will be able to see perhaps how the Church historically has or has not participated as an active voice in legislation and political issues, especially those which are controversial.  From there, we can gain insight on where this debate should go into the future and hopefully learn better, how we, as Christians and as the visible Church, can truly love the people and the world around us.

the wonderful world of disney

When I was in undergrad at Baylor (Sic 'em!), I was in a philosophy of leisure class. (Go ahead and laugh for a minute, I know that sounds ridiculous.) We were having a discussion during one class about forms of recreation and how much that differs among people. We all had to go around and say one thing we really loved doing for recreation and one thing that sounded so awful in which you could never imagine yourself participating. So I said, I loved snow skiing and that I would never, ever run a marathon...

My roommate from college, a long-time, incredible runner, also likes to quote a statement I made once in college, "Life's too short to do stuff I don't like, and I don't like running." And I fervently stuck by this statement for about...2 months.

I ended up spending the following summer as a white-water rafting, backpacking, and rock climbing guide in Colorado, acclimatizing quite well to life at 7500 ft. When I came back to Waco at the end of the summer, I was super fit and needed to figure out how I was going to keep up this level of fitness. So I ran. As a means to become a better mountaineer, a better climber, a better cyclist, etc, I started running. And I'm pretty sure, my roommate had a good, "Haha! Told ya so!" moment.

My first race was a half-marathon, the Bearathon in the Spring of my senior year. That was three and a half years ago, and I now I've done several 5Ks, 10Ks, 10 milers, and half-s. I made a complete one-eighty and put a full marathon on my thirty list last year. About the same time, I made fun new friend from my old office in DC who was looking for a first-time marathon friend too, and we signed up for the Disney Marathon. After a little peer pressure, we got three other friends to sign up and one to come along as a cheerleader. I bought Hal Higdon's book and started training fall of 2008.

The marathon itself was one of the most fun things I think I've ever done. You feel so good when people are cheering for you, and it feels like a real accomplishment. The current US population is 304 million and only 425,000 ran a marathon this year, and I'm one of them. Training was the worst part because the Disney was January 11th, so I was doing 15-20 mile training runs alone in December in Indiana. Crossing the finish line felt great, but really, the whole experience was awesome. I think I learned too that anyone can run a marathon if you just discipline yourself with the training, and I also recommend running one to anyone out there that has ever thought about it.

So that's another check off my list! Also, I think I now consider running as an equal counterpart to my other recreational activities, instead of just a means to them. This all coming from the girl who once said "Life's too short to do stuff I don't like, and I don't like running."

We rode rides the entire day before, from 10 am to 7 pm.  Maybe our times would have improved had we actually rested the day before. But ehh- we had fun!

The start line.  We boarded the bus from our resort hotel at 3 am, and the race started around 5:50 am.  There were like 25,000 people I think.

We also rode rights the entire day after! We're in the back row with our hands up, except S who was gripping the Hollywood Hotel's elevator handles with white knuckles!

Note that all six of us had medals when I actually first explained that we had one cheerleader.  Somehow Active.com messed up and I had two registrations, so both Kellen* and Ellen ran the marathon!

the day i wish i owned a snuggie

Today I was laying on the couch thinking about how I want to live the life I picture myself living. This picture of life that I have is one in which I cook more food from scratch, learn how to do things myself, be more artistic, accomplish my 30 before 30 :) and several other things that would make me a better person.

One of these is also to watch less tv and read more books. So as I was sitting here trying to decide how to relax this afternoon, I decided to finish two of the books on my coffee table. However, the outside temperature right now, although sunny, is about 50 which makes my apartment about 62 degrees which, in turn, means I need to lay here with a blanket. I seriously asked myself, 'Hmmm, how can I can lay here wrapped up in a blanket and still be able to hold my book?' Suddenly, it came to me...a Snuggie! The blanket with arms!

Does owning a sunggie put me toward or further away from the life I picture myself living?