try following directions

my father had a sign hanging in his classroom which said

When all else fails... try following directions

I have spent most of my life not baking. Even as I've fallen in love with cooking, I have told myself and others, "I don't bake." I dont really care much for sweets, and frankly I'm just not good at things which require accuracy and ones full attention. Since we went to Houston I've been talking mostly about two things. 1. the fact that Rice's graduation would have benefitted from a producer AND 2.the coconut cake at Ruggles. Well, since Rice isn't hiring me for their indoor graduation which only occurs once ever 45 years or so due to rain, I decided to work out the coconut cake fetish instead. So, not suprisingly my dad was right... I can bake when I follow directions. I wonder if this whole following directions things applies in other areas of life? Thanks Julie for the suggested recipe.

If you really knew me you would know...

I am a sinner, rescued and saved by grace
I am compelled to purchase containers – it makes me feel organized
I am not gonna drink more than one glass of alcohol with you
I am organized at work and couldn’t care less at home
I am ruthlessly independent and an extrovert
I am wired to function in crises and stink at the long haul
I can never decide Orange Sherbet or Rocky Road (with almonds)
I can no longer do two things at once
I curse and have been known to flip the bird, in jest.
I cut my own hair when I’m stressed
I don’t need to be right, I need to be understood
I don’t particularly like looking at or being touched by animals
I don’t plan to work at Sunset forever
I enjoy being a girl
I feel most at home on a volleyball court
I hate to wait for the check after a meal
I have a lot of acquaintances but a very small capacity for deep relationship
I have only slept alone at home three times in 23.5 years of marriage
I like when you pick the restaurant
I learned that things don’t matter when we had a house fire
I love being near the water
I love pictures of people, even myself.
I love to answer questions
I love to cook, but rarely make the same recipe twice
I love to play games
I need a nap at 2pm daily and dont schedule meetings then
I need to be challenged
I never sort our socks
I play the flute, guitar and piano
I prefer a bath to a shower
I prefer handmade gifts
I prefer to be the passenger rather than the driver
I rarely eat breakfast
I rarely have thought about it before we begin talking about it
I tell only one joke and it’s not funny anymore
I typically fall in love with my masseuse
I was loved and put up for adoption then loved by my family
I would rather live in a studio apartment than a picket fence house
I would be a gambler if I could
My favorite sound is my three children laughing and singing together
My favorite beverage is a Roy Rogers
When i buy something new I have no idea what i wore before
If there were no music then I would not get through
Chips and salsa WILL improve my mood
I am 45 today.

** took this picture in Austin last week. I feel like it is me...simple, unpolished, and natural... me at 45.

Chris' Commencement

I remember the day that Chris made the decision to go to Rice SO clearly. He was choosing between a full ride at ASU- Honors college and a good financial aid package at Rice University. I just kept thinking... full ride = free college... it's a very good price. I thought it, outloud in fact, to him repeatedly. But at the end of the day, it was his time to make his choice. I've often thought of it like the moment in Stuart Little when the mother pushes the "son" out in the boat on the water. He chose Rice, and we watched him sail away. When he chose Rice I had to look up Houston on a map. Of course, I knew where Texas was, but not Houston. Neither he or Mike and I had ever been there or visited Rice the day we dropped him off at school. It was in fact the trip that began my blogging.
He made his decision because it was a great school, he knew it would be a good investment in his education and his future. And as it turns out he was right. This weekend he graduated from Rice University with a BA in Mathematics, Summa Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa. He has received a doctoral fellowship from the National Physical Science Consortium which will fully fund his doctoral studies and living expenses and he will be attending the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor in the fall. I am so proud and happy for him because he truly dedicated himself to his goals and invested the time and energy to achieve them. It wouldn't have mattered WHAT the goal was, in fact, I didn't know what Summa Cum Laude or Phi Beta Kappa were until I googled them. But it was a sweet sweet day to see him accomplish what he has set his mind and heart too from such an early age. Someone asked me if I cried. And, I did twice. I cried once when I was sitting in the Tudor Fieldhouse, top row, waiting for graduation writing thank you notes to his friends because I was so grateful for their outpouring of love over the past few years. College has been financially challenging for us, but mostly for him. He denied himself SO much in order to reach his goals. These friends have seen him for who he really is, and helped him relationally and practically along the way. They have become family. And then, when it was all over- I cried thinking of how proud my father and Mike's father would have been of him, of any grandchild, on this day. I wish they could have been here. So, we say farewell to Rice University, to Wiess college which has been his home for four years, nearly a fifth of his life. One chapter ends and another begins. And yes, I had to look up Ann Arbor on a map too.

5/2/10

Last Sunday was one of my favorite days of "church" ever! And I'm a church girl... so that's saying something.

Several years ago I heard a podcast from Menlo Park Pres. where John Ortberg was sharing something their church had done. They "did" church by serving in the community rather than huddling. LOVED this idea and have wanted to do it at my church ever since.

Our Senior Pastor and Outreach Ministry team came up with "the Church has Left the Building" idea and 5/2/10 was our date! The basic idea was come to church for a shortened service and then head out in to the community to serve for 3-4 hours.
There were 35 projects ranging from landscaping, transient camp clean up, school clean ups to nursing home services etc. At last count I think over 1500 of Sunset's people left the building to serve that day.

Our family signed up to serve at JOIN. I chose JOIN because it's not in Beaverton, because of the team leader, Charlie Theuma, who I've heard of, but not gotten to serve with before and because I believe in their mission. Transitioning the homeless in to stable housing.

Originally I was kind of bummed because it would just be Mike, Molly and I and Abby would be serving with the high school students somewhere else in town, but on Sunday I found out that the students were also coming to JOIN to serve!
In addition to getting out of the building and the work we accomplished together in our community, one of the best parts of 5/2/10 for me was watching people use their gifts in community. Leadership, helps, service, administration, hospitality... it was a sweet sweet day and I can't wait to do more of these!

Kooza- Cirque Du Soleil

"The circus is not theatre, it’s not variety its’ not street theatre, it’s not a musical, it is a beast all by itself. If there is any word that describes the show, for me personally, it is FUN." --- David Shiner, Director of Kooza

For Christmas we bought tickets to see the Cirque Du Soleil show, Kooza when it came to Portland in the Spring. Well, Spring has sprung and last night we got to go see it. I love Cirque for lots of reasons... but mostly because I get to suspend reality for a few hours. It's visually stimulating, exciting, unexpected, and like being in another beautiful universe for just a little while.

You can also watch segments of the show on youtube search Kooza press conference.