Waiting

I've been doing a lot of waiting recently. The more I think about it, a lot of life involves waiting. Waiting, listening, and acting. Waiting for a job, waiting for the mail, waiting for your wedding day when you're engaged, waiting 9 months for a behbeh, waiting at a red light, waiting in line at the grocery store. At the moment, I've been waiting to hear from prospective employers, waiting to hear God's call, waiting for my slowww computer to load, waiting for yummy meals to finish cooking, waiting to see if I'll EVER overcome the desire for chocolate all day err day (hahaha yeah right), waiting for my turn to use the car, waiting for my seeeesters to come home. So what do I do as I wait? Do I waste time on Pinterest/Facebook? Do I let my mind wander where it shouldn't? Or do I take care of myself? Do I embrace the silence? Do I make good use of my time? Do I spend time with God? That last one's should be no question... Yet some days I find myself going through the day and the most time I spend with God is a small meditation for 5 minutes. I guess it's better to be connecting in some small way than not at all. A good friend from GSV recently sent me a blog about waiting. The part that stuck out to me was when the blogger said that we may be waiting to hear from someone (a phone call, response to an application, email, facebook, etc) but the reality is that God is always calling us and always waiting for us. How will we respond? In the Christmas clay-mation "Santa Claus is Comin' to Town", one of the songs is called "One Foot in Front of the Other". It's that simple?! Easier said than done... One day at a time, we can figure out one thing at a time, while we wait and listen to God's call in His time.

As I mentioned, my mom and I have been waiting for food to finish cooking because we've been trying to make some Pinterest recipes. I pin sooo many recipes but never try them. So my mom and I decided to try at least one new recipe per week... It's a lot of fun! Here's what we've tried...

Turkey Stuffed Peppers 

(Delish! http://www.skinnytaste.com/2008/11/turkey-stuffed-peppers-45-pts.html)

Kale Smoothies 

(I used nonfat plain greek yogurt- very good and really good for you! http://taste-for-adventure.tablespoon.com/2012/05/11/strawberry-kale-smoothie/?nicam4=SocialMedia&nichn4=Facebook&niseg4=Tablespoon&nicreatID4=Post)

Santa Strawberries
(I made this just because we had extra chocolate frosting from my mom's bday... bit of a fail you might say hahahaha may be cuter if I tried to do it right. Joe ate the three little guys I made so I guess they were tasty... just not so attractive ;) http://pinterest.com/pin/87116574012918057/)

Shrimp Stir-fry

Lucy and I just made this up... 1 red pepper, 1 orange pepper, broccoli, carrots sliced, snap peas, some toasted sesame seeds, garlic powder, a little bit of sesame oil... stirfry all the veggies together and then add the cooked shrimp! 

Sesame Sticks 

(these are from the flat belly diet cookbook)

I don't have photos for these but they look like the photos on the websites:

Bruschetta Chicken
(We used italian dressing and it turned out just as tasty! http://www.the-girl-who-ate-everything.com/2009/04/grilled-bruschetta-chicken.html) 

Broccoli Cauliflower Casserole
(Not my favorite- although I looooove broccoli and cauliflower. The marjoram in the Italian seasoning was what made it a little bit too much for me... it may be better w/o the seasoning... http://www.mccormick.com/Recipes/Vegetables/Broccoli-Cauliflower-Casserole.aspx)

Spinach salad with avacado, chicken and goat cheese
(We used feta- I love goat cheese but we had feta at home so that's what we used :) http://www.recipegirl.com/2012/04/02/spinach-salad-with-chicken-avocado-and-goat-cheese/)

Now that I've spent my "waiting" time writing this blog, I think my next step is back to my job search... Cheers to putting one foot in front of the other! 

Home

I am soo happy to be home! Family, friends, mountains and 4 country stations FTW!

I have nothing but time to job search and reflect on my year in New Jersey... which can be a blessing or a curse depending on how I let my mind wander ;) Some days are like this: 

And then you have days like this: 

I couldn't be happier to be back in Colorado. There's something about the simplicity of life here that I love so much. I got back from NJ just in time to go to the Larimer County Fair... the epitome of country: Country music, beer, mountains in the background, animals. Winning! We walked around and looked at all the animals... I love the horses but I decided I also love the pygmy goats... sooo cute

My whole family was home for the past two weeks. Kate went back to WA today :( We had fun together while we were all here... ermergersh! soooo many laughs. Kate, Lucy and I went to the lake to the "beach" the other day. Not the same as the real beach, obviously, but I still loved it :) 

I've been to two weddings since I've been back. Congrats Molly and Mikey and Cesca and Joseph!!! It was so good to see so many friends from CSU... Today, I got to catch up with Steph Pott between the ceremony and reception. Steph and I have so many pictures in so many random places... a pink castle in some airport on our way to Florida, Times Square in NYC,  the boardwalk in New Jersey, an old church in the upper east side in NYC, the trolley in fort collins today just to name a few... 

I miss hanging out with everyone all the time when we were all in Foco! How is it that college came and went so quickly!? Lucy leaves for college in two weeks and it's bringing me back to when  I went to college. Some of it I don't remember (like how I shoved all my stuff in a little dorm room) but some of it is fun to think about... Who knows, maybe one day I'll be back in school... for now it's just job searching (everything from healthcare interior design positions to nannying, retail and assistant teaching positions) and catching up on life. It's been an adjustment to merge my life in CO with my service life in NJ. A bit more challenging than what I expected buuuut yet another learning opportunity. As my GSV roommate, Christina, said, "Well... this is something we've never done before..." Normally, I'd giver her sass and say "deep, Christina, reaaaaally deep." ;) but I think that's actually a great motto... every day, even if it's the same routine, is different and full of new experiences giving us different perspectives. Grab a brew and enjoy the little moments! As I continue my job/life search, I find a lot of hope in the conviction I had to come home. I am so certain God was calling me back to Colorado, so there's no doubt about me being home. It's just a matter of trying different doors to see which one has the right path for me!