Glamorous ingenuity

My new and improved vegetable steamer includes:

1. Small pot
2. Even smaller colander
3. Two strong metal forks
4. 1 cup vegetables

Oh yea, and a stylish lid:

Yields fairly decent steamed broccoli!

Classics and Coffee

This is how we spent nearly ALL of saturday afternoon.

LOVE

Class: Day 1

Today was the first day of class. Yes class; singular. I only have ONE class this semester! It’s such a change from any other semester! I’ve always carried a full load of classes, and this last summer was the first time that I didn’t take inter-term courses as well. I have every intention of being a full-time student again next semester at CSU Chico, however, that whole dilemma is an entirely different blog post to be written at another time.

I’m currently a student at the local Junior College (yet again, grrrr!)and I am taking one math course. My first impression of my professor is that there is a striking similarity between her and Mrs. Fowl in Jimmy Neutron, the children’s television show! She’s eccentric and animated and has even invented sound effects to accompany several math strategies! I spent a good deal of the class repeating this in my head: “don’t laugh, don’t laugh, don’t laugh!”

In the 50 minutes I spent in her class, she used an entirely new vocabulary to me. A quantity that is squared is called a heffalump! (Example: (x+y)^2 is a heffalump^2. Don’t ask me why! I don’t know.) To “cancel” out fraction and still have a factor of 1 is a Shizzam, and to “cancel” out a fraction to yield a zero is called a poof-gone.

What a character!

Neighbors:

Everyone has read or heard of the verse which says “love thy neighbor as thyself.” (Lev 19:18). Although I am fully aware that this verse does not speak solely about geographic neighbors, I find that it may become a verse which I need to pay special attention to in regard to my new neighbors. Our cute little “cottage” home is situation on a cozy street in Chico that also houses many young men whose pleasures are not what they ought to be.

I’ve had the honor of an invitation to a fake block party, and numerous BBQs. And while it is very considerate of them to extend the invitation to include me and my roommates, I feel like the main dish at these functions is not likely to be meat.

I have hope that many of these guys can be upstanding men that I can respect. But my experiences up until now have not been entirely positive. The guys I have met in passing so far seem to bring out my prickly side. . . and that is a side of me that I’m not fond of. Henceforth I will endeavor to be kind and firm and, well, neighborly!

Week 1

Today marks the one week anniversary of my move to Chico. As I mentioned in my last post, it has been quite a transition! I’ve moved from the barren desert to rich farmland. Everywhere I turn there are orchards of almonds, walnuts, and various fruit. The little peach tree in my backyard was even able to muster up one cute little peach to greet us this week. (Either that or some neighbor jumped the fence and stole all the others! I pray that’s not the case!)
I hadn’t noticed how much I value open space until I came here to find hearty vegetation blocking the view upward and outward. I suppose it won’t be too hard to get used to it because it really is quite beautiful.
Another marked difference between Chico and home is the farmer’s market. I think there’s a farmer’s market going on six days a week up here! It’s just normal to go to the market to buy local produce . . . I love it! My designated shelf in the fridge is overflowing with edible greens! Yum!
I’ve also started a workout regime with Adria and Aunt Penny at a nearby fitness center and I’ve works out several muscles that have been dormant for far too long! I’m feeling sore, but good knowing that I’m actually doing something proactive about food intake and weight loss etc.
Nearly every day has been full to the brim of activity which has been tiring but helpful in that it doesn’t allow me to meditate on any little twinges of home-sickness. When I first moved to San Diego, homesickness hit me around three weeks into the semester, so I guess I’ll get back to you on this topic in a couple weeks!
I also have been trying to get a job up here. So far, the search has been fairly half hearted due to all the newness of life up here. But today I began my search in earnest! I’m really hoping to be hired at a cute little shop in downtown that sells dishes and soap and chocolates and imported cheeses! Seriously, can any job seem more perfect!? I’ll promise to keep you updated about that if you promise to pray for me.

My little sunflower!

Mint

Basil

Transition

It may seem like I've boycotted my blog of late, but it has been entirely unintentional. I have been through a lot of transition in the last couple of weeks: my last week at work, all the goodbyes in the High Desert, a ten hour journey, all the greetings in Chico, moving into my house, meeting roommates, unpacking, job searching etc.

It has been an exciting and exhausting transition overall.

I'll try to write again soon!

Wisdom from J.P.

"Prayer is the open admission that without Christ we can do nothing. And prayer is the turning away from ourselves to God in the confidence that He will provide the help we need. Prayer humbles us as needy and exalts God as wealthy. "

-John Piper

Desiring God

Déjà vu

I set out to write a blog today and found that the words and phrases were eerily familiar. It was like I had already expressed myself in the very same way at another time in life. After a while of reminiscing through previous blog posts, I stumbled upon the reason for my déjà vu. I actually HAVE written the very words I set out to write earlier. Although it is about 14 months removed in time, and logistics and circumstances have changed, I find that THIS blog post is exactly what I need to express at this moment. How convenient!

Idolatry Revisited

The concept of worshiping anything other than the supreme Lord has been frequenting my brain waves lately. {Hence this previous post.} And yet, there is another avenue of this topic that I want to explore a little more.

In my observation, our culture is addicted to the super-human. The media is rampant with characters who exhibit strength, knowledge, and abilities that are beyond human. To further my point, I’ll bring up some of the current examples: the Twilight Saga {review my original Twilight induced hate-blog here}, Harry Potter, and nearly any of Disney’s feature films. And these examples are only those which are directed at youth. The plethora of media which exalts beings that are above human capacity is astounding.

Yet, these transcendent characters are rarely, if ever, OF God! How our culture is yearning, pursuing, and creating entities which are unparalleled and perfect! Our culture is SEEKING , merely in the wrong direction. Our culture aches for something which exceeds humanity because it is evident that humanity is weak.

How can so few people see that God is the ultimate, supreme, being? How can they not see that no created entity, whether in movies, television, or books can offer anything remotely close to the joy which can be found in Christ alone.

17 But those who trust in idols,
who say to images, 'You are our gods,'
will be turned back in utter shame.
18 "Hear, you deaf;
look, you blind, and see!

~Isaiah 42:17-18

The Dentist

Every six months I receive a postcard in the mail from my dentist and I become full of dread. In fact, I ignored my last postcard on purpose -- it’s a fabulous stalling technique I’ve learned since I started maintaining my own schedule. However, my mom, being the productive and helpful person she is, scheduled an appointment for me.

It’s not that I hate the actual dentist. He’s quite nice. So are his dental hygienists, I guess the feeling of dislike stems from the feeling of failure I have after I leave the dentist chair. It’s always the same: “You have beautiful teeth Natalie!” They then ask about my dental routine, and I reply {quite proudly} that I typically brush my teeth at least three times a day. To which, they retaliate with: “Good! But,. . . ." and that’s where the guilt trip begins. “Let’s take a look at your X-rays. See this part here? {Pointing to the bone holding my teeth in place.} This bone will begin to deteriorate with inflammation of the gums, and inflammation of the gums is caused by . . . {you guessed it} . . . not flossing.”

In a dentist’s mind, not flossing equals inflammation of the gums, which causes bone loss, which causes tooth loss, which causes loss of self-esteem, which causes depression, which leads to suicide.

So I leave the dentist feeling like an epic failure at preventing this downward spiral ultimately resulting in my death . . . and that is why I dread going to the dentist.

Idol Worship

I have recently been convicted about how often I create idols out of ridiculous things.

Understand that I don’t bow down to statues, or set up shrines with hors d'oeuvres, but I do give up a good deal of my most precious commodity { time } in order to pursue the idols that I have made.
Here are a few of the ways in which I worship idols: I have mercilessly stalked every single actor from the comedy Friends, I have watched countless episodes of Say Yes to the Dress, I have spent hours reading historical romance novels, and worse: Facebook is one of my most wretched vices. I don’t tell you these things to make you laugh, or judge me, although I’m sure you did one of those things {probably the latter} but instead I write this because I am realizing more and more how much time I spend {and American culture in general spends} worshiping idols. We even have a television show that practically glorifies this truth.

Deuteronomy 4:15b-19, 35 says:

“Therefore watch yourselves very carefully, so that you do not become corrupt and make for yourselves an idol, an image of any shape, whether formed like a man or a woman, or like any animal on earth or any bird that flies in the air, or like any creature that moves along the ground or any fish in the waters below. And when you look up to the sky and see the sun, the moon and the stars—all the heavenly array—do not be enticed into bowing down to them and worshiping things the LORD your God has apportioned to all the nations under heaven. . .You were shown these things so that you might know that the LORD is God; besides him there is no other”

So I am challenging myself, and anybody else who can see this reflected in their own lives, to give God more time. Cutting facebook time, TV time, even some school work time, will more than double the time I set aside for God each day.

So. . . step #1 is: turning off this computer.

Untitled: due to lack of wittiness

Best Friends don't need to be entertained. . . . they create entertainment just by being themselves:

Car Wash

Shoes designed by Fergie. . .

modeled by Felisha.