Book Nook:: Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close

It's been a while since I read a book. Like since last summer-it makes me sad to admit that. Oh law school, how you steal all my free time...

BUT.

 Since we had a very long drive over the weekend to TN, I had a great opportunity to finish the book I started last fall.

Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close. 

I realize that the movie is already out, and you might be dismissing this review; I will always recommend you READ THE BOOK. It was so compelling. And so stinking sad. I am a sucker for all things melancholy, but this book was even a bit blue for me.

It is about a little boy who lost his father in 9/11.  He is on an adventure to find a lock for a key he found in his father's possessions after he died. The really heart-wrenching part is looking back to the history of the family: the grandmother and grandfather. I don't know how the producer/director of this movie will show the raw emotions of these people. The chapters where these two take first person are the ones I bawled my eyes out. The book was well-written; the characters were quirky; the plot was well-developed. Until the end. I won't ruin it, but endings typically disappoint me, so still read it. I'll go see the movie and compare :)

O, to be a Joseph

We wrapped up a 30 week long journey in the book of Genesis on Sunday. One of the applications was to look back and see what impacted us the most and talk about it.

The people of Genesis really stood out to me. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob...and at the end, Joseph. Some of them I really relate to, some I do not. Joseph is one of the ones that I wish I related to SO MUCH. If I could sum up Joseph in one word, I think it would be "perspective." He was able to see the BIG picture. He trusted that God would work things out-even when he was sold into slavery by his brothers, even when he was thrown into prison because of Potipher's wife, even when he was forgotten by the cup bearer. He maintained perspective through the whole thing and did not question God. The final chapter has verses that I have read over and over, Joseph is talking to those same brothers that sold him into slavery and he says,

 "You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives." (Genesis 50:20).  

And I wish that my response to hardship and suffering was that God is in control.  To look at the big picture and TRUST that whatever is being done has purpose in shaping me and refining my character.  Generally I just throw a temper tantrum and act like a five year old-I whine and complain that it is hard. I might end up in a place of trusting God but it is usually after several other responses-anger, sadness, fear, etc. Really all those guys in Genesis end up in a place of trusting God. I love the verse in Hebrews that says, "By faith, Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God." (Hebrews 11:8-10).  Abraham never saw the city-but he trusted that God would build it. Isaac and Jacob too. I want to be a person that trusts the Architect and Builder - who has promised me a life abundant.

Kitchen Adventures: Keeping it real.

I haven't blogged about food in a LONG time-but let's face it, I haven't blogged about anything in a LONG time. Life happens-and I'm ok with that. The blog serves its purpose of cataloguing those things I care to catalogue, and memorializing things that I want to memorialize. But I will say that I miss blogging about food. I love food. I love cooking and baking and eating (now I don't always like the result of all of this eating, but that is a different topic for a different day).

This year, I have been taking more steps to eat REAL food. What does that mean? For me it means making more of my food from scratch to eliminate preservatives and other stuff that I don't think my body really needs. I started small. One recipe here, another there. Pizza dough was one of the first that I tried. It was a HIT, so I have continued. Haven't bought it in almost 3 years. I also made my own granola-more for cost purposes than anything else. Since this adventure began, I have added recipes along the way. I make my own soups, pasta sauces, and hummus. I make the kids pancakes and freeze the extras.

But this year (so far) I have added bread and pasta.

 (I know this is more a pic of the soup than the bread-but both were great!)

I tried bread before, but the recipe wasn't great, so I was discouraged. Then a couple weeks ago, I was talking with my friend Lauren-at a knit circle-and she told me she made all of their bread. She is the mother to 3 boys under 5, so if she has time to do this, I figured I did too. She gave me her recipe and it has been AWESOME! It is honey wheat, and OH SO delicious.

The pasta was made purely because we had none and dinner was supposed to be spaghetti. I had no desire to do my homework, so I made pasta instead! It was really yummy. I did a whole wheat variety. We cut it thick and whipped up some marinara. The only thing is that I will use my mixer with the dough hook next time. My wrists can't handle all the kneading.

So here are the recipes:

Bread ala Lauren
3 cups flour (I use half white, half wheat)
1 tsp salt
1 packet (1 1/2 tsp yeast)
1 cup warm water
1 egg
2 Tbsp honey
2 Tbsp oil

I throw it all in my mixer for 8 minutes. If you enjoy kneading or need the release, do that. Then let it rest for 1-2 hours. Form into a loaf and put it in a loaf pan. Let it rise a little more. Bake at 375 for 30-40 minutes.

The pasta recipe is from my Better Homes and Gardens cookbook (my go-to for easy and usually good recipes). You can access it here. The only thing I did was use half whole wheat flour.

All things knit...

For the last six months or so I have been indulging in knitting. It is a hobby I have had since I was 8, but reignited when I married Corey and found that his mom was also a knitter (and a quilter and a crocheter-- you get the idea, she is very crafty).  She bought me my first real knitting supplies and answered questions. Then law school happened. And like so many of my other hobbies, knitting fell by the way-side.

Pinterest is one of the reasons that I picked it back up. So many ideas and so little time. The first scarf I made was based off of this.

Once I made the first one, my friends wanted them too-so I made a second... and a third...and a fourth...and a fifth...and a sixth...the rest is history. I have been happily knitting and experimenting ever since-I've even earned a little extra money. Now I have fellow-knitters in my midst, and friends that want to learn. Thus the birth of our knitting circle Thursday mornings.

In honor of my new hobby and all the people that have supported it, I am adding a page to the blog called "my knits...".  My goal is to share patterns that I like and projects I am working on with you. The first pattern I will share is probably my favorite. It is an infinity scarf (a circle)-warm, cozy, and beautiful. It was my second experiment after I got tired of all the button scarves.

I stole the pattern from a fellow-blogger-which you can find here. It is REALLY easy, but it takes a little longer than the button scarves because of the length.

OK-instructions per Cole (which means I know NOTHING about gauge-etc. I will tell you what I did, and you can figure it out from there).

1. Using size 13 needs and two skeins of yarn (I used this kind  in Pagoda) cast on 25 stitches ( just make a slip knot with both strands and pretend like you are only using one) 
2. Row 1-K, *P, K, repeat from * to end-make sure you end on K.
3. Repeat Row 1 until your scarf measures 55 inches long
4. Cast off leaving a long tail
5. Fold scarf so that cast on and cast off edges are together. Use the tail to "sew" the pieces together.

FINI!

 I have made 5 of these scarves, and I wear mine almost everyday-so does Danie, who got the second one.

I hope to keep everyone posted as I find wonderful knits that are easy and fun. Right now I am working on some fingerless mittens and a shrug. I even bought double-point needles to try a hat-slightly terrified, but here we go!

Recap: Week 1

This past week has  been so up and down. A wonderful trip to Dayton was definitely the high point. I visited Erin in her new town, and it was FABULOUS.

We had little to no agenda. We ate great food-watched movies-walked around her adorable neighborhood. The purpose of the visit was to see her, so any other activities were just a bonus.

 SUCH A CUTE NEIGHBORHOOD! The Oregon District is right up my alley-cute shops, bars, restaurants, coffee shops. We had a great time just walking around Friday evening.

 Most of Libby's time was spent calling for Fancy. All the girls had an incredible time together!

She did treat Libby to her first manicure-too cute! 

But I came back to the real world. My wonderful weekend was followed by a funeral. Another of my favorite people lost his dad. Murph (Ryan Murphy) has been on my favorite person list since soon after I met him my freshman year of high school. And his dad Sid was not far behind. Sid and Murph have the biggest hearts and kindest dispositions of any people I have ever met. Period-that isn't just a nice thing to say.

Murph and his wife Laura (also one of my fav people-perfect for him)

 The funeral was sad of course-but also filled with faces I haven't seen in years. Everyone was there to support Murph, to say good-bye to Sid, and it reminded me that even though we are all very far apart, we are still connected-not just by past experiences and histories, but by Jesus-a bond that isn't easily broken.

The rest of the week has been a blur. New classes-new professors. Corey was on call, so Libby attended her first law school class. It went better then I thought (except for the very loud burp she let out in the middle).

I am excited that my Thursday mornings will be be filled with some lovely ladies.

Last week, my friend Lauren and I got together (with all 5 of our kids) so that I could teach her to knit. Other ladies have been interested, so it is now an open invite for instruction and conversation. It did my soul very good to hang out with her-and I am excited that it is going to be a regular thing!

This semester will be hard. My schedule is weird, my classes are demanding. BUT I am determined that this semester, I will spend more time with Jesus, more time with my family, more time with my friends. 2012 is going to be a very good year.

One semester to go...

I will be posting a more lengthy post about my trip to Dayton soon. (It was fabulous and deserves more than a couple of minutes of thought). But I wanted to take a minute and remember that this is the LAST semester of school for me (hopefully ever). The last set of finals; the last papers-ok not really since I will be writing as part of my job; the last grades; the last few months where I have days off and spring break and time for lunch or coffee breaks with friends. The last semester with the friends who have become like family-in a few months we will all disperse and take the legal world by storm. I started this crazy adventure not really knowing what I wanted to do or be or practice. It's amazing what a few short years can do.

The end of this chapter is just the beginning of another--the next one is a very dark chapter called "Studying for the Bar Exam;" After that, the chapters should be brighter and cheerier. But this chapter--law school--has shaped me in ways I never thought possible. And I think I might be sad to see it go.

An exciting weekend and another friendship story...

I like to document things in my life-thus the blog, and my journals, and emails...I have a lot of documentation. But one of my favorite things to document is the story of my friends. I know I have done this once before--for my very dear friend Ellen-you can read our story here. So it seems fitting on the eve of a visit to her that I should document the story of Erin.

I have only been in the same room with Erin on five occasions in the last 2 years, and yet she is one of my best friends. It happens that way sometimes. We met at the end of my first semester of law school. She was visiting one of my classmates and came to our semi-formal. She wore glasses and Converse sneakers. It was friendship-love at first sight. And then I found out that we also had TONS in common. Conversation was easy. It was like we had been friends forever and just didn't know it until then.

I next saw her for our formal in February. We both wore Converse sneakers to this one! We started following each other on Twitter-and when she found out Corey and I were visiting Knoxville the next month, we met up for wings and a Mountaineer victory over Kentucky to get in the Final Four! 

Our long-distance friendship took off from there. Thank GOODNESS for gchat and email and twitter. For some reason we were ridiculously honest with one another-despite not knowing each other very well. We talked almost daily-about important things, and not so important things. The months have turned into years-we have seen each other a couple of times when Corey and I visit the Taylors in Knoxville, but we mostly communicate on the interweb-and that is perfectly ok for us!

 THEN...Erin finished her PhD (YAY Dr. O'mara) and got a job in Dayton. Two hours closer to Morgantown... manageable distance for me to drive solo. Soooo... road trip! I am excited to post about our first ever girls weekend. Libby is joining us-and of course Fancy-Erin's delightful Corgi will be there too. Be sure to tune in as we explore her new town and have our first adventure together. First-not last for SURE!!

I hope to do a little bio on all my friends as the year progresses. I am so thankful for all the amazing women in my life. So plan on stories involving Danielle Taylor and Becki Jackson, Abby Quinn Lilly and Meghan Taylor--I am sure Chelsy Gevas and Lauren Estep will be in there too. These women all shape who I am and have been amazing friends to me! I want to make sure I remember their impact on my life!