Open Forum

Something momentous happened yesterday evening.

People cried tears of joy. And, others wept tears of defeat. And some were overwhelmed with hope. And some felt kicked in the stomach by despair. And some were elated while others were angry.

To be honest, I think I felt a little bit of all of that, except the anger. One thing I don’t feel is angry.

All day, thoughts and emotions clamored around inside me as I tried to think of some way to respond to this ground-breaking legislation, but the more I thought about it, the less appropriate it seemed for me to say anything at all. Instead, I thought about all those things I was feeling and how so many people were feeling such different things, and I thought…I wish there were a place for all the disparate thoughts and feelings to come together and find a place of dialogue, for us all to have a voice at this moment in time.

So, I’m opening up the forum. Please share your voice in the comments section of this post. I feel blessed so often by the diversity of my readership, and I want to open provide a place for dialogue.

What are your thoughts? What are your feelings?

Please, let’s keep this as a safe haven for all. Be respectful. Every voice is precious.

Pizza, Pita, Bagels & Bread—Oh My!

Who would have thought one batch of dough could do so much?

I know that I’ve raved about this book before, but seriously—four different baked goods from a single batch of dough?? It’s ingenious!

On Saturday, I can mix up a batch or two of dough, leave it on the counter while we go on a family outing, and return home hours later to dough that has risen and started to deflate. Then, I just pop the covers on my containers and slip the dough into the fridge until I’m ready to use it.

So, let’s say that I’m making soup for dinner on Monday. I snag a lump of dough, let it rise on the counter for an hour or so, and then bake it up while the soup is cooking. Tuesday might be leftovers, so I lop off another hunk of dough and bake up a second loaf to go with that soup.

Wednesday might be grilled veggie pitas, so I shape another pound or so of dough into rounds and let them rise while I heat up my pizza stone in the oven. Fresh pita pockets for dinner!

Thursday morning, we can have fresh bagels, hot out of the oven (although, I have found that the bagels typically improve after resting for a day after baking and then getting toasted), and Friday can be pizza night.

Seriously, if I can pull it off with my writing schedule and two little ones underfoot, anyone can put fresh, healthy, inexpensive homemade bread on the table. Now, I’m not saying I’m above buying a loaf of sandwich bread at the store. I like a soft, fluffy store-bought loaf as much as the next all-American girl, but if you want something hearty and delicious that’s really going to hit that soft spot in your family’s heart, there’s nothing like homemade bread…

or bagels or pita or pizza!

The Baking-in-Five-Minutes-a-Day phenomenon is more than a fad. I swear, this book has changed my life! I can’t recommend it enough to busy homemakers and the busily home-at-heart.

Birthday Buddies

Yesterday, was Pentecost. It was also my birthday. Which means that for the first (and probably only) time in my life, the Church and I shared a birthday! I was birthday buddies with the Church! How cool is that?

And, it made me think of something…

When the Church was “born”, God sent His Spirit to give the disciples the gifts they needed to see them through their earthly mission.

When I was born, wasn’t it the same? God gave me all the gifts I need to see me through this life and fulfill my ultimate purpose: to know and love Him.

That made me feel special.

And, when I blew out the candles on my Pentecost-themed birthday cake (it was white with whipped cream and strawberries), I thought of the gifts that God blessed me with…

…and I wished.

Mission Accomplished

The outline for Cambion is finished!

And no, I didn’t drink that bottle of rose to do it. That was just an old photo I had that is supposed to represent the celebratory feeling of the fact that the outline is finished! It’s finished!

13 pages—all plot points covered in 3 hours and 18 minutes of music. That’s right, there’s a 49 song playlist for this bad boy!

The best part? I finished it with only 1.5 hours to go until my 27th birthday. Who says you can’t give yourself the best presents?

To enjoy the gift fully, I must thank all of you for your patience with me. Thanks also to Joseph Campbell, Dashboard Confessional, The Fray, Evans Blue, The Dave Matthews Band (and Tim Reynolds), Bebo Norman, The Barenaked Ladies, Alice Cooper, Ozzy Osbourne, Lenny Kravitz, Paramore, Petra, Simon Dawes, The Smashing Pumpkins, Switchfoot, Three Dog Night, Story of the Year (the band, not the story of the year…what is the story of the year?), The Rocket Summer, and most especially my incredible husband and our amazing kids for being so low-maintenance, so unbelievably supportive, and so forgiving of the insanity I succumbed to in order to accomplish this. I couldn’t have done this without you. And, thank you to the great God of inspiration, who was and is my everything.

Now to kick up my heels for a day off before diving into putting flesh on these bullet-point bones and a heart in its skeleton chest.

Happy birthday to me!

My Baby is Officially…Not

Happy Birthday, Two-Year-Old!