Mini Pies

One of my new baking obsessions: mini pies.

For Christine's bridal shower I did mini apple pies, mini chocolate banana pudding pies, and mini berry (containing strawberries, blueberries, blackberries) pies. I couldn't pick which one I liked more so I ended up doing all three.

[Photo cred to Christine L.]

Blessings

I've been feeling so blessed recently. God is so good and I've been relearning about how wonderful it is to have grace and being loved unconditionally.

The past few weeks have been spent in prayer and so many things have been answered (so clearly and so fast!). It's amazing how clear God's voice can be if I just take the time to listen, pray, and read His word. I've been so worried about so many things but now I feel at peace about a lot of it. I'm still trying to figure out the job thing once I graduate and I'm still trying to discern whether I should stay at my job right now or start looking again for other places. There's still room for more prayer and I know this is just God's way of making me trust Him. Trust, after all, is a big part of faith.

Here are just a few things that have been so awesome lately:

• 
  Good food! Also, creative ways of cooking and learning to cook. Spending time with Russell in the kitchen and learning how to work together.
• 
  A loving boyfriend who leaves me nice reminders.
• 
  I got published for the first time in a magazine! Sure, it's an engineering magazine and it is a bit boring but I've always wanted to write for a magazine. After a love-hate relationship with newsprint journalism, I wanted to try writing magazine articles. This was nice because I just write for the engineering company I work for and the PR company we work with helped us get it out. I got my copy of the magazine on Friday and everyone in the office was so excited for me. It was nice and it reminded me of the joy God feels towards us.

A few other things that I've been (re)learning is that God is faithful and that God also blesses faithfulness. Sometimes, I forget what it means to be faithful and God reminds me. He's always telling me to trust Him. And He's always providing. God is so good and I thought that I should just share that.

Then Jesus said to his disciples: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds! Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?
   “Consider how the wild flowers grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you—you of little faith! And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them. But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.
Luke 12:22-31

Tiki the turtle loves dandelions.

College Senioritis

Because it’s my last semester of college, because I’m only taking 12 units, because I only get homework once every two weeks (besides reading Harry Potter books—but that hardly counts as homework), this is how most of my nights look like.

That right there is Bejeweled—a very pointless yet very addictive game—and Gossip Girl. My brain barely works nowadays. It’s taken so much abuse through TV and mindless entertainment.

Since I’m only taking one English class this semester compared to the five I usually do, my writing has been…bad (for a lack of a better word). I’m barely writing at work because there’s been a hold up on the articles I’m writing. I’m barely writing for my classes. I’m barely writing for this blog. I’m barely writing for fun. To summarize: I’m not doing any writing. I’m worried for myself. Later on this semester, when I actually have to write a paper, I’m going to suck. I’m going to suck because I’ve forgotten how to write well. I haven’t been reading any classics because the only English class I’m taking is Harry Potter. Harry Potter is a wonderful series but I mostly just geek out over how awesome Harry Potter is instead of admiring J.K Rowling’s amazing prose.

Anyways, Gossip Girl and Bejeweled. I just wanted to let y’all know that these are the top two reasons why my brain is on vacation for my last semester of college.

You Can Study it if You Want by Gwendolyn MacEwan

You Can Study it if You Want
by Gwendolyn MacEwan

One of these days after my thousandth poetry reading
I’m going to answer The Question right.

The question is Why Do You Write.

Every time I hear The Question I get this
purple blur in front of my eyes, and
I fear I will fall down frothing at the mouth
and spewing forth saliva and
mixed metaphors.

You can study it if you want, I’m
just the one who gets to do it; or,

Don’t ask me I just work here.

You know the answer and still I have to say it:

Poetry has nothing to do with poetry,
Poetry is how the air goes green before thunder,
is the sound you make when you come, and
why you live and how you bleed, and

The sound you make or don’t make when you die.