Fall in July

Since lately my blog has consisted of a lot of the "sing!" category I thought I'd write today about the EAT part.

I love food. Oh do I love food. I love cooking and baking and sharing meals with my family. Last weekend I had the opportunity and time to just spend the entire day in the kitchen, testing out some recipes I've been wanting to try.

Huge smiles all around.

One of my favorite food blogs is The Girl Who Ate Everything. She is smart and clever. The posts on her blog range from new dishes to everyday cooking reinvented. I find myself loving the new twists on classics and I often will think to myself "Why didn't I think of doing that!?" Her recipes are easy to understand and she posts great pictures of what she cooks and the steps. I love that.

In the fall of 2011 she posted a recipe for Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins and looking through my Pinterest page last week, they looked so tasty, I just new I had to make them. I know it's the middle of summer and we usually don't eat pumpkin until October, but I figured, why not?! I went to the store hoping to find pumpkin and of course it was there. As I was checking out of the store with the pumpkin and other food for the weekend, the cashier asked "What are you going to make with the pumpkin?" I told her "Pumpkin muffins. I don't want to wait until fall. I love the flavor so why wait!"  She heartily agreed and we began to share our love of fall. I went home to make them, and as they were baking in the oven, a thunder storm rolled in. It was a perfect day!

End result of the Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

They were a little time consuming but delicious and I will make them again. I brought them to work this week and they are all gone--so that says something!

Lesson of the Day: Don't wait for the season to enjoy your favorite flavors! It's possible to have those things all year round and I say, indulge!

After speaking with co-workers, friends, and the nice cashier at the store, I realized that we all love pumpkin flavored things. We love peppermint ice cream. We love strawberries in winter. So go out there and cook what you want when you want it.

It'll make you happy.

Happy Eating!

Shine Like Stars

Last Thursday I got to see some old friends Shine Like Stars. My friend Dale and his wife Ashley lead this amazing worship band at City Life Church in Wichita.

They began leading this band at our old church, and then they were called by God to move to Kansas. I have missed them terribly, especially because when they moved Dale and I were working together at the church and we had become good friends.

Shine Like Stars leading worship

For the last few weeks, they were touring the western part of the US and they have had quite the adventure (you can read their blog here). By the time they reached LA, they had already replaced all 4 tires on their RV at least once, due to flats in one form or another, and then their RV's transmission was shot. They were scheduled to play in Colorado last week, but weren't able to make it due to the RV being out of commission.

Our very good friend Daniel arranged for them to have a concert in Orange County. Now I don't really like using the word "concert" for what we experienced on Thursday night. It was a worship experience. They lead us all in singing worship music, that they had written most of, but it was amazing. I attended with a woman I had worked with at the church, and as we were pulling into the parking lot we saw another family that we knew, and it turned out that a lot of the people in attendance were from our old church. It was a great reunion.
As their set started, I was immediately transported back to our old church 6 years ago. It was an overwhelming feeling of opportunity, happiness and nostalgia. They played well and filled the space. They played one of my favorite songs, Just a Place. It's message is so wonderful--Christ's Church should not just exist on Sunday Mornings or in a building, but Christ's Church should be in all we do and everywhere. Here's a video I shot of them doing this song... sorry it's a little rocky--I was into the music!

If you haven't seen or heard of Shine Like Stars I encourage you to check them out. They currently have a video on rotation on the Gospel Channel and their song is being played in a few states across the country, but it should be everywhere.

They are good people and it was wonderful to see and worship with them again. I've really missed them.

And while you're at it, buy some of their music on iTunes too (I'm in the recording of Gospel Song--I'm just saying).

Saving Mr. Banks

I wasn't going to write today. I wasn't feeling inspired. And I just posted what I had written yesterday. I don't want to overwhelm you with blog posts all of a sudden, but then I came across the trailer for Saving Mr. Banks.

For those of you who don't know, I love Mary Poppins. It is my number one movie. I own a lot of Mary Poppins paraphernalia. My bedroom is decorated with my Mary Poppins records, paintings and more. I own all the books and I've read them and loved them. If you haven't seen the movie in a long time, or since you were a child, go see it again. It's beautiful.

This trailer is so great! I cannot wait to see this movie. I love the look of it, the cast, the music, the humor, the heart. I really hope the movie lives up to it, I'm sure it will.

Ok so here's the plan everybody! We watch Mary Poppins, then we go see the movie on Opening Night. Who's with me?

And really if we can, we should see if it's playing at Grauman's Chinese Theater, you know, since the original Mary Poppins premiered there. Do they still show movies there? Is it still called that?  Things I must look into before December.

So... What's new?

I'm so glad you asked!  I figured since it has been awhile since I was blogging I should update you on where I am at and what I'm up to.

I am now and Auntie to 6 amazing kiddos. They are my world and I love them so dearly. There truly is nothing better than being an Auntie. Yes, I am Auntie Janel. The oldest, my nephew, is starting High School in the fall and nothing will make you feel older or more of a spinster than a nephew starting High School and you're feeling like you're in the same relationship status as him. Is that weird? And that should mean that you understand that yes, I am still single--let's not go down that road just yet. I talk and email and text a lot of my nieces and nephews now, which is also weird, but great! I love that I have a relationship with them outside of seeing them at holidays. Each one is so amazing and bright and adorable and unique and if they asked me for anything, I'm sure I'd melt and do whatever they needed. They have my heart.

I've been living on my own and really making great food (see future posts) and falling in love with cooking and baking more than ever. My biggest challenge is candy making. I just can't do it. I should show you pictures--I don't have any, but the next time I attempt it (because someday I will master candies) I will be sure to share with you my disaster. In living in my own place I've also taken up some crafts and sewing projects here and there. Those happen a lot less often than I'd like and I'm currently working on making that a more consistent thing.  I now live with a roommate and we get along great--it's working out really well for both of us. Our apartment is nice and I love living there.

Last year I stopped being a youth pastor--there were changes at the church I was at, and now I currently am an Office Manager for a local company. Except they are moving to Denver next month so I'm now looking for a job again. In the last year I've discovered that you really can't take the ministry out of the girl so I'm looking at getting back into ministry. If you know of something in Southern California, let me know! I love the people I work with and I'm going to miss them a lot, but I think I need the push to get back to what God has called me to do.  That's currently a big theme in my life--"What Direction Should I Be Facing?" Journaling and talking to friends about that one...

But probably the coolest thing I've been up to is my new hobby. I am now a member of Sweet Adelines International and I sing in the Harborlites Chorus. It is the coolest thing I have ever done. For those of you who don't know, Sweet Adeline's is an organization of women who sing barbershop music. Yes, you read that right. I sing barbershop music. Our chorus is made up of over 100 members and last year at the International Competition, we placed 3rd! So... we're kinda a big deal.. I'm just sayin'. My first International and I got a medal. I was pretty excited. My mom sings in the chorus too, so it's a great opportunity to spend time with her. She and I have grown closer and it's wonderful. Here's a picture of us in all our sequined glory:

Ok.. Ok here we are singing... It's pretty fun! I'm in the 2nd row on the right end.

When people talk about Sweet Adelines as a hobby, I kinda chuckle to myself. It's so much more. It's something fun to do; it's a growth opportunity; it's hard work; it's expensive; and it's the best decision I ever made. I only wish I had found it sooner (which, by the way, is what everyone says when they join--because it's true!)

So that's new with me. I thought I'd close this post with a list of a few things I've discovered over the past few years that I love. 

My favorite guys to listen to in the morning: Kevin and Bean on KROQ

My favorite podcast: Pop Culture Happy Hour from NPR

My favorite TV Shows: General Hospital (don't judge. It's the best show out there), Phineas and Ferb & anything on Food Network (that hasn't changed)

I love camping now, and you'll probably hear a lot about it. I love National Parks almost more than anything. 

And of course,

USC Football is still the best thing around.  

What's new with you??

A New Beginning

As I rediscovered this blog yesterday, I began to read through some of the old posts and it really made me miss sharing my thoughts and vents and basically the everyday things that would happen to me. I started thinking how great it would be to have the last few years as a blog and a little bit of regret started to seep in.

Regret has increasingly become an overarching theme in my life in the last few years. I've found myself wishing I could go back to when the grass seemed greener--I've found myself wishing I could change parts of who I am or what I've done. And then I instantly I think of where I am now and how, eventhough I'm not fully happy or satisfied with where I am, I wouldn't change any of it.

I had a conversation with my sister last night. We were talking about how we wish we could go back and tell our younger selves what to avoid and what to make sure to do, and what we would change about our lives. And then in the middle of saying all of that, I thought,

"But I don't want to change any of my experiences."

All of those experiences are what make us who we are today. Yes I wish I had written more of it down, but when it comes right down to it, I know I have pictures documenting it all.

Do you ever think that Marty McFly regretted going back and changing his past? Do you ever think that after that whirlwind 3 weeks where he travels all over (because let's face it, all three movies do take place over 3 weeks happening in about a 48 hour timeline for Marty).. do you think the next week when he's at school, he thinks, "Man I really miss how my sister and brother and I were closer before I changed time..." or do you ever think he tries to reminisce with a family member and they don't have any idea what he's talking about because they never experienced that? these are things I think about

Our experiences, good and bad, make us who we are. There are tons of memes all over Pinterest that remind us of that. Like this one and this.

And what made me stop? Why did I not continue writing, honing my writing skills, expanding my vocabulary? My guess is that it became so much easier to express my daily observations and thoughts on Twitter and Facebook. That has become the blog of today, well almost yesterday, we are, as a culture, I think getting a little bored with both.

I enjoy Facebook. I enjoy Twitter. But there really is nothing like writing long posts that can only come as my mind develops these thoughts.

So where does that leave us. With regret? No. With hope. I hope I can keep this up again. I hope that I can continue to tell you something about me. About what I think. I hope you can agree or disagree with me on issues I bring up and discussion happens. I hope we can celebrate great new things together.

So here it is. A new beginning. I am blogging again world!!! My thoughts are now out there again.

And I hope they make you smile.

Who knew!?!

What?!! I have a blog??? OH YEAH... I totally forgot about it. Hmmmm maybe I'll start posting again... Maybe.