the day I made homemade mashed potatoes

today I made homemade mashed potatoes all on my own for the first time ever.  I thought I should document it.  I also cooked zucchini squash for the first time ever.  score and score!

what I didn’t know, when I cut into the potatoes to prep them, was that these were purple potatoes (I’m new in the kitchen, c’mon!).  when I cut into them, I thought they were beets and I pulled out the bag to make sure the label said “potatoes”.  sure enough, my mashed taters turned out to be a fun, spring-colored purple!!  it made me laugh. :D this might be the coolest colored meal I’ve ever made!

on another happy note, last Thursday night (4 nights ago), I planted my seeds in their little seed pods in hopes of having my very first garden this summer!  I planted 50 edamame seeds, and then 50 more seeds (a combination of cucumbers, sugar snap peas, carrots, onions, and beets – blehhh, yuck).  this morning I was BEYOND ecstatic to see little beet sprouts sproutin’ on up!  throughout the day, more and more things started popping through the dirt!  it’s so magical, everyone should try it!!!

I like to think the positive words of encouragement and the happy dances that surround these trays promote quick, bountiful harvests!

the beauty of this moment

 

I went on a quest to get wood this afternoon to build my hammock stand.

I may have gotten distracted by the warm sunshine...

I'm at a coffee shop, enjoying a little reading outside in the sun before I continue on in my search for wood.

There is a beautiful, warm breeze blowing.

As if that's not enough, my ears perked up when they picked out the melody line of "I Shot the Sherriff" by Bob Marley playing over the speakers. My ears had tuned out the jazz music playing, until this great jazz rendition of the Bob Marley song came on.  A jazz rendition of Marley?? I didn't even know such a thing existed!!

We have such a personal God that delights in giving good gifts!  He knows what warms my heart - coffee, sunshine, warm breezes, and music that reminds me of the islands.

I'm so glad I listened to that still, small whisper that said, "grab your iPad out of the car and stay awhile" as I started walking to my car to continue with errands.  This was unexpected!  But I suppose that's how God most often works. ;)

 

Now there's a rock/Celtic song playing! Who's up for a spontaneous Irish jig??

creating

today I really just wanted the beach and the ocean and Jesus.

I thought maybe I’d just drive to another state in search of a substitute for the beach and the ocean.  but everywhere I could think of is just full of shopping options – and I really don’t enjoy shopping.  I’m like, a professional at buyer’s regret.  I’ll buy something.  and then return it.  true story.  the guys at Guitar Center started recognizing me because I bought a guitar, then returned it.  then later I bought a djembe and returned it.  when I went in to buy the djembe, one of the guys goes, “so you ended up returning that guitar, huh?” – embarrassing.

the other option was the mountains, which I’m actually really not a fan of either.  oh the claustrophobic atmosphere of tight, windy roads…forests of trees blocking the beautiful sunlight…temperatures 50 degrees colder than where you started your trek… so far from food establishments… is anyone else’s heart starting to beat faster and you feel a panic attack coming on??  stay calm, close your eyes, and go to your happy place!!

:)

a few years ago or so, someone I hardly knew told me I was dramatic.  I said, “whatever”.  now I see there may have been maybe a little bit of truth to that statement.  :)

the point is – getting back to the point here – it was clear that I was not going to get my beach/ocean/Jesus experience in today.

you wanna know what I did instead?  I transplanted my first ever mint plant into an actual pot.  I know, I know – “jen” and “plant” really don’t go together (neither do “jen” and “pot”…for the record).

I forget how much of an outlet it can be to just create.  creating/playing music is a huge outlet for me.  exercising is an outlet.  but I forget that I like to create outside of just music.  I started trying to learn how to bake recently.  unfortunately, my high school girls that come over for Bible study have been my guinea pigs.  most of the time the verdict is, “…it tastes healthy” – and to that I have to agree.  I haven’t mastered the art of baking good-tasting, healthy things.  I tried to make my very first apple crisp last week.  did you know there’s a difference between a “mound” and a “mount”?  yeah.  apparently you’re not supposed to create a mountain of apples for an apple crisp.

for anyone wondering, this is a mount.  not a mound.  do not do this if you’re trying to make an apple crisp.

so today I “created” by playing in dirt.  and then by playing with my camera, taking pictures of what I created by playing in the dirt.  my cousin has inspired me with the pictures she’s been blogging with lately.

this is my mint plant.  in a green pot.  because mint is green.  my roommate named him Wilbur.  I don’t know why she named it – it’s not like I name inanimate objects…  ok yes I do.

the gifts of today

lest i take my days for granted and overlook blessings as a given...

-today I got to drink pure, clean water out of jugs!  CLEAN water!
-today I got to take time to enjoy my morning coffee and talk with my Father…the Creator of the UNIVERSE.  seriously?!  I am so thankful for Jesus!
-today I was thankful for the flexibility of my job, because I could not concentrate on work this morning and so I moved on to other things after a couple hours of trying.
-today I got to see family!  family is a gift I too often take for granted.
-today I got to have coffee with friends and laugh and dream and plan.
-today I got to listen to music and have a spontaneous dance party in my kitchen!  what a gift it is to be able to hear music and be able to dance (even if I’m a white girl – I don’t even care!).
-today I got to taste spring!  ok not literally.  I got to feel spring.  it was finally 70 degrees!  2-4” of snow forecasted for tomorrow, but that’s beside the point. :)
-today I experienced victory over insecurity!  I experienced what it was like to act out of love and not out of fear in a situation where I normally would’ve fallen to fear!  thank You, Jesus, for the victory that can only come thru You!
-today I was reminded of the opportunity I had to go thru YWAM a few years ago, the forever friends I made thru that experience, and the way God has completely redirected my life since then!
-today I am thankful for grace and for the countless ways I have experienced God’s unending grace thru fellow brothers & sisters in Christ.
-today I am thankful for the vehicle that I have – it’s reliable, it has a sunroof, it has heated seats, and is a blessing in so many ways!  I’m thankful I even have a vehicle.
-today I got to experience love thru so many people, in different ways!
-today I was able to see the sunset – and what a magnificent one it was, too!  I am so thankful I have my sight and that God delights in blowing us away with brilliant colored skies!  the picture doesn’t do it justice.

i.  love.  my life.

"i join with you - will you join with me"

a friend posted a link to this blog via Facebook.  it's something that weighs on me as well, and since someone else already wrote a good blog on it, i might as well just link to that and spend my time doing something else - like making coffee.  ooh.  now THAT is a great idea!!  :)

and i love how this blog ends.

Loving and Understanding Your Unmarried Friends Better

Letting Go

this is one of those songs where I swear they read my heart and composed the lyrics.  I love how intimately my Father knows me.  He knows that it is thru music that I most often connect.  I bought this album 2-3 weeks ago, but this song didn’t stand out to me until Jesus started taking me thru a deep journey over the last week or so.  this encompasses what He has been doing in my heart.  letting go… oh that He would take me deeper and lead me to pursue the things He has for me, not the things I seek in vain.

a beautiful collision

I have this tradition of blogging on my birthday.  so here I am.

today i turned 30.

i woke up.  i waited for my senses to awaken.  and then i realized my body was still intact.  i hadn't started decomposing suddenly over night.  i still had all my teeth.  i was able to get out of bed and didn't collapse on the floor.  I could smell the coffee brewing.  (ok that last one’s a lie)

turning 30 confirmed 1 thing: i am still fully much alive!

I was overwhelmed by God’s love poured out thru so many family and friends on me today.  my good friend and her 2 little girls surprised me at my front door this morning with homemade muffins, homemade cards, and – a taser!  yes, seriously.  you do NOT want to mess with me!!  the big buff beast just got a whole lot beastier.

the day was full of phone calls, texts, and facebook messages from family and friends.  I had even kept my birthday hidden on my facebook profile and still got tons of sweet happy birthday messages!  (by the way, my mom was the first to wish me happy birthday on facebook – she wins the award of best mom EVER!)

I got to go to lunch at my favorite local mexican restaurant and my aunt & uncle surprised me and drove all the way out (like an hour and a 1/2 drive!) just to have lunch with me!  they drove all that way – just to pour out love on me!  I now have my very first recipe book (with recipes!!) and my very first cookbook - a smoothie and juice cookbook!!!!  And I have my very first pie dish and apple crisp recipe and you can expect to call me Jen the Baker pretty soon. and my cousins bought me an extra burrito to go!  I won’t go into detail why, but that extra gift meant so much to me.  I am known.  and I am loved.

then french press coffee.  enough said.

I got to facetime with my sister (another, “I won’t go into detail why”, but !!!!!!!!!) and was overcome with joy at the sight of seeing my family & friends (who are also my family!) gathered to celebrate 2 birthdays (mine being one of them!).

this is the beautiful collision.

my pastor and his wife are vacationing down in the Keys and they have gotten to meet and spend time with my family & friends whom I dearly love.  it is this beautiful collision of 2 of my worlds.  the 2 worlds my heart is torn between on a daily basis.  here, on a facetime call, I got to see this beautiful collision and my heart was overwhelmed with love for each and every one of them.  and oh – how they poured out love on me!!  it was so surreal and I LOVED seeing how God had intertwined these lives in such a short amount of time!

and Ben is in heaven.  he wanted me to know there’s another cowboy in the Keys – a REAL one!

I am so thankful for the family and friends God has blessed me with.  I love seeing worlds collide and hearing how God is using 2 totally different worlds to encourage each other, to lift each other up, and to share each other’s burdens.  I was overwhelmed later tonight, again, to hear they had all sat around the table lifting me up in prayer and thanking God for me.  seriously??  I do not deserve these people!!

and then I got to have dinner tonight at my cousin’s house and have my favorite cake ever (chocolate zucchini cake!) and drink coffee and watch Psych the Musical (EPIC).  a great, low-key end to a great day.

may this next year of life be one of becoming.  one of choice (my word for 2014).  one of receiving love and one of giving love.  and one of embracing the every day moments that my Abba gives me.

thank you, everyone, for loving me.  :)  and allowing the love of Jesus to flow out of you onto me today.