On recipe blogging?

Tonight was a classic. 

I went for a run around Dad's neighborhood (I'm house sitting). 
His neighborhood is filled with adorable houses with budding and booming flowers in every garden, walkway and stoop. I actually considered stopping to just walk & take it all in. Tomorrow night. 
It is always a good idea to follow any good run with a home cooked meal {whilst listening to Of Monsters and Men if you want to literally recreate my evening}

Here was mine, you must try. 
Disclaimer: If one could marry a grocery store then I would be down on one knee in front of Trader Joe's faster than you can say 'organic granola'. 
All of these ingredients should come from TJs. I also had extra leftover- HELLO LUNCH TOMORROW & THURSDAY!

Cold Couscous Salad 

Cous Cous (I used Trader Joe's Israeli Cous Cous) 
Chicken broth (or vegetable broth) instead of water when cooking the couscous 
Then refrigerate. 

After it is cold, add:

cucumber slices 
bell peppers or tomato slices (I splurged & bought those beautiful brown Kumato tomatoes)
mozzarella (or feta; I prefer mozz)
Trader Joe's bruschetta sauce tub 
fresh basil
lemon juice

VOILA! It's delicious. Plus, I ate mine with this amazing dessert wine from TJ's. #NailedIt

Daily Hallelujahs

      Someone made a comment to me recently about how unreal my life is, joking that I don't seem to have any responsibility. It was all in good fun. But it just made me think...we can all have a life that looks like that. I make a sincere effort to do something fun or social or life-giving almost each day. I get worried that my life will go down hill when I am married or have kids and I won't have time for fun or spontaneity. But, I choose to believe that won't be the case. I will still be the same me, I will just have a husband to drag along or tell my daily stories to. Or, I will open my kids' eyes to do something joyous each day. 

      I am able to stay a usually positive person because of 2 reasons. One of them might just be an innate quality. I don't let something that brought me down earlier today, bring me down tonight. I can hear bad news and still find a reason to laugh the next day. I can have a bad morning but that doesn't need to determine the rest of my day. Of course I process things and feel sorrow and don't live in denial...but I just can't live a life of despair or whining or self-pity or negativity. I am thankful for that quality in myself. 

      The second reason is, as I alluded to, I intentionally put things in my daily life to look forward to. If you can have something, anything, each day that gets you a little excited then that is good. No matter how big or small. 

-Could be your job. Your daily work is meaningful and wonderful to you. 

-Could be an aspect of your job. Maybe you don't get excited about your line of work but you love your co-workers/customers/students/clients etc. Remind yourself of that. 

-Could be getting donuts with a friend the next morning that doesn't get you stressed out the night before. 

-Could be a sunny forecast that gets you anticipating the day. 

-Could be your evening shower and the prospect of being clean and fresh. 

I'm TELLIN YA it can be anything! 

      Find a reason to look forward to each day. Change the course of your bad day. Drive by the ocean or country side on your way home. Decide to make your favorite dinner/dessert. Indulge in a couple chapters of pleasure reading. Sing at the top of your lungs in the car/kitchen/shower. Whatever! 

      Now, this all sounds a little selfish. And I haven't even mentioned the Lord, which makes me nervous. But, I think God is proud of my joy and positivity. By living in a place of freedom, outside of my circumstances, it makes me alive. And when I am alive I can't wait to tell people the TRUE reason I am alive...JESUS!

      Anyway, tomorrow may be gray and I gotta get up early and my students drive me nuts and my gas level is on empty BUT it's opening day for the Padres and I'm gonna let that piece of good news outshine the rest! And, Thursday I don't feel prepared with my lessons, and I have a list of 10 things I gotta get done before the end of the week and the amount in my bank account is frighteningly low BUT I am getting coffee with a friend I haven't seen in 2 weeks and she is a joy to be with so that will outshine the rest. I have something to look forward to. 

Find a reason to say HALLELUJAH every day!

p.s. in case of low supply of hallelujahs consult Bible for countless reasons to exclaim

On baking

I have been thinking about things I love and what I am passionate about and what brings me joy. 

So, why do I love to bake? 

Well the two answers that come immediately to mind are: I love sweets and baked goods and they taste SO good in my mouth. And the second, I love making people happy, and one thing that people will always want/need is food. 
With baking, it's hard to go wrong. I mean, yes it is precise and you need to pay attention and follow instructions- but I am good at that. I like to know exactly what to do in order to get such and such a result. Is there a word for someone like me? I want to know explicitly what to do so I won't go wrong and I can perform what is expected of me. Back to what I was saying, even if you do go a little wrong you can always try to make the recipe again, and often someone will always eat whatever you made. Baking is a healthy distraction for me. It's more productive than watching television, less exhausting than exercise, and more rewarding than when a waitress brings out your food. 
I can't help but go back to the fact that I love to share and I love knowing that someone will enjoy the sweet morsels I mix, mash, whip, combine, spread, roll and serve.
Baking is cathartic. And it's creative. You never need to run out of things to make. There are plenty of recipes out there waiting to be brought to fruition! 

I am getting all excited maybe I will make something today! Better search the interweb for new ideas...

on Joseph Gordon Levitt

      I just love him. So much. Sometimes, I get that super irrational feeling girls can get when they believe that the attractive and witty film star on the screen might just be the real life version of him as well. And maybe if he and I met in real life he might think I was funny and smart and cute. 

      Or, if I don't get that irrational I at least lead myself to believe that his character in such-a-such movie is exactly what I am looking for in a man. Only, HE'S FICTIONAL. And I am left falling for a movie star. Only, I'm not falling for him in the slightest, it's just what the movie gods want me to think so I will keep funding their multi-billion dollar cooperation. UGH.

In any case, JGL is hot and everything I want in a boyfriend

Am I making sense?

Life was good today. But I want to make sure that I connect all that goodness to God. Even if certain things do not seem directly correlated to Him. A friend of mine unknowingly said something that convicted me. She was sharing with me her struggle with doing selfish things lately. For example, going to the beach with her friends and then having a barbecue all together and topping it off with a round of games and a movie sounds like the perfect Saturday. But, she would feel so self-satisfying at the end. It had nothing to do with the Lord, other than her surrounding company being Christians. It was so privileged, so all about temporary pleasures. Often I'll dream up the perfect day and it hardly contains direct references to God. 

So, let me tell you about today, first. It was Columbus day (woop-dee-doo) so school was closed (WOOP-DEE-DOO!). I woke up, put on my cute outfit and made myself some tea. Laura and I met up and had lunch at a delicious bakery that specializes in all kinds of breads. Oh yeah, the good stuff. Bread. I had the best sandwich, since Williamsburg when I ate that turkey one at the Cheese shop, which was the best sandwich since my italian sub in New York. ANYWAY, this turkey avocado bacon gorgonzola sun-dried tomato lettuce piece of heaven was just the beginning. Laura and I popped into an incredibly overpriced yet very lovely, antique-y kind of homeware shop. It was fun to explore in there. Then we drove to Balboa park, strolled around the pond and Botanical conservatory taking artsy pictures and ooh-ing and ah-ing at the pretty plants. We ended with a blanket and some delicious pastries from my beloved bread cafe. We lay in the shade and read before laying in the sun and reading. Then we peeked in the gift shop and left a few bucks poorer. 

All in all, a total success. 

I want the Lord to be apart of my day, though. More than that, I want Him to infiltrate my entire day. And He sort of did. 

Here is how: I spent some time in the Word before I left for my outing. I sat on our balcony and sang and told God I loved Him. I spent all day with a dear friend and sister in the Lord. Her company means that most of what we say should be pleasing to the Lord. And, I believe our friendship delights the Lord. I drank in the beauty of my city and in my heart gave credit to God. I can be thankful and following what the Bible says by having that attitude of gratitude. I read a Christian book while soaking up the sun on my self-indulgent day. And, we listened to Christian music in the car...that can seem like such a silly thing but if you think about it, it is not. It could change what we talk about, the lyrics could spontaneously remind us of God's goodness. It is a small thing and yet still affects quite a bit. 

What I am saying through all of this is that I don't want to live life for me so much. I am privileged and blessed and I am not going to feel guilty for opportunities I have, but I am going to try and give up more of my life...or at the very least--> find the Lord in all aspects of my day. And when I can't, then that day was meaningless.

Go forth, and LIVE!

I can do anything!!!!! 

I am young and single and ambitious and motivated (I think) and I have a list!!!

I am now of the mind that many things are possible for me and I want new experiences and to learn new things and to go to new places! So, I am gonna do it. But, really, the following is a list that I am going to put a dent in:

--> take a culinary class (my friend Kristen and I are doing this probably in the spring)

---> learn Italian (I am going to take classes at the local community college, it is so cheap!)

--> surf more and actually get good at it

--> Travel a lot before I am married (and during!) 

          -Machu Picchu in Peru 

          -New Zealand 

          -Italy

          -Greece 

          -India    

--> road trip up the coast of California  

---> Become CCA coordinator at Forest Home? That's a legit commitment and full time job so I can try, maybe closer to age 27ish though

Well, that is my list, I hope it inspires you. Get EXCITED ABOUT LIFE! TASTE IT!

Gracias!

As of late, I'm learning to be thankful.

I have been looking at my life and gazing past the pleasant events to just focus on what I don't have. For example, I have this wonderful teaching job, doing what I love to do with (mostly) adorable kiddos and yet I can sometimes think "I'm exhausted" or "I wish I made more money" or "do the teachers/administrators even like me?". Another example, I focus on how much I miss my friends and community back in Virginia (not wrong), when I could also focus on what a blessing moving back to San Diego has proved to be. I guess I feel like I am cheating on Virginia if I say that. I do not have the community I once had, especially in the sense of roommates (no offense Mom & Lulu), but I have family close by and I am making new friends all the time. 

But, you know what I realized is hard about being thankful? I feel like if I speak a note of gratitude too soon then it will all slip away...like *poof* now that you are finally grateful HERE take this heaping pile of crap circumstances. How crazy is that? I am so irrational. And yet, obviously I do not think it is so crazy because it is my current state of mind. Or like, if I am thankful then I am somehow boasting about my life. Also, I am worried that if I take a good look at things to be thankful for...I won't find much. Or I will of course find things, but I will also find some not-so-pretty aspects of life. It's a tricky business. 

Okay so, literally as I was typing this...my copy of One Thousand Gifts arrived! I got you Lord, I cannot wait to learn more about "embracing a lifestyle of radical gratitude". Hopefully.

So Life, I am thankful for new places to eat breakfast. Thankful for constant sources of acai bowls at numerous cutesie cafes and constant sources of real sushi. I am thankful for mornings when I drive by the ocean. I am thankful for kindergartners who constantly say "Hola Señorita Bishop!!" in the hallways. I am thankful for my mom. I am thankful for Laura Boyer, Jeff Bishop, Monique- the only person at Horizon who is younger than me (she's an aid for kindergarten), auntie Robin, Amy Pike etc. etc. etc. 

And JESUS, who gave me LIFE and victory.

"Give thanks to the Lord for He is good. His love endures forever." Psalm 136