The Train

Another train has come and gone,
another train has passed.
Fear kept me from getting on,
fear tells me it was the last.

2. Break 25 minutes for a 5K-Attempt #3

Attempt #3 to accomplish goal #2- 26:24 @ the HFFA Fall Harvest Race. Forty seconds better than last time. We are getting closer :)

Righteous One

You hold the nations in your hands
Kings and kingdoms obey your command
Alone your kingdom stands
Held firm by your strong hand.

Bow down and kiss the son,
You are the only righteous one
Every tribe and tongue
is your possession

Oh, do you hear the mountains sing?
Praises resound across the sea.
What great news they bring
of our strong God and King!

He rides the ancient skies above
His voice like thunder shouting of
His heart for His beloved
Redeemed with His own blood!

2. Break 25 minutes for a 5k- Attempt #2

Attempt #2. Trying to run a 5k in under 25 minutes. Today's time 27:04 at the Lung Strong 5k in Cornelius- fifty seconds faster than the last race, but still not quite there. On the way, though.....gotta keep working! I am thankful that I able to run and breathe and be alive!

Overflowing

My cup overflows
with your mercy and grace.
My heart's longing fulfilled,
by seeing your face.

Rest lies in letting go...

Chasing wind,
grasping sand,
another dream
slips through my hand.

Letting go,
heart surrendered,
God's promises
then come unhindered.

Open hands,
heart at rest,
what God ordains-
His very best!

14.4 Chicken Noodle Soup

Recipe #4 out of 12 on the list of 30 THINGS TO DO THIS YEAR.

This recipe was a group effort from my housemates and I! Deb cut the veggies and Gloria added the extra spices until it was the right kind of zesty! This was my favorite recipe so far :)

Chicken Noodle Soup from Williams and Sonoma: Family Cooking-Creating Traditions in the Kitchen

The Recipe- we added garlic, onion powder, lots of salt and pepper and basil!

Cutting up the veggies!

Nothing like a side of grilled cheese dipped in ketchup!
Yummy!

14.3 Black Bean Pasta

This is recipe #3 out of 12 on my list of 30 THINGS TO DO THIS YEAR.

It is high time that some of the lonely, often overlooked ingredients in the cupboard get used, so I went to allrecipes and typed in "pasta," "black beans," and "tomato sauce." The result: Black Bean Pasta

It was an ok recipe, a little spicy because of the red pepper flakes, but not very flavorful. I had to add some cheese and salt, which can somewhat improve almost anything.

As usual, trying to cook usually teaches me what not to do: DO NOT PUT THE BURNER ON TOO HIGH, unless you want pasta sauce all over your favorite hoodie, on the floor, and on the side of the refrigerator.

More Minne-my-Sota

Downtown Minneapolis

HWY. 90 between LaCrosse, and Austin, Minnesota (home of SPAM!)

Prairies and Bluffs

1. Visit a New State, dontcha know?

Number one on my list of THIRTY THINGS TO DO THIS YEAR is to visit a new state. God opened the door and provided for me to go to not one new state, but TWO!

This past Saturday my best friend from Charlotte got married in Houston, Minnesota, a small town of 1,000 people located in the heart of Minnesota Bluff Country. "What is a bluff?" you may ask! From what I can tell, it is something that looks like a mountain, but isn't- it is just bluffing (wah-wah-waaaaah). The bluffs were beautiful, completely covered with trees at the peak of their fall colors.

The wedding party and family stayed in La Crosse, Wisconsin, right across the mighty Mississippi river that divides the two states. Unfortunately, I was not able to purchase any cheese!

Minneapolis, Minnesota
from Native American word "mni" meaning water
and greek "polis," city

Prairies and Bluffs on the route from La Crosse to Houston.

Small town Houston

The wedding cake

My sweet Friend, Melissa (Halstensgard) Meyer!

Some things I enjoyed about Minnesota:
1. The Accent! Bag sounds like baig, gopher like golfer, no like nol!
2. My favorite new phrases

• Uff-da! (Exclamation)
  
• You betcha (You bet/of course)
• Hot dish (Casserole)
• Oh yah (Yes)
• Pop (soda)
  
• Ya, sure
• Oh boy, oh dear, goodness gracious

3. Eating Grampa Halstensgard's Swedish pancakes! It was sweet watching Mel's grampa make pancakes- He was bent over the bowl, whipping up the batter while flour filled the air and was caught in the beams of sun coming through the window. Gramma walked by the plate of pancakes and asked if they were for sale. The family had a contest to see who could eat the most pancakes.

• 4 eggs
• 1 cup of flour
• 1 cup of whole milk
• 1 cup of whipping cream
• 1 tbsp of sugar
• pinch of salt

4. The beautiful landscape
5. Being with my friend and her family!
6. The people were "Minnesota Nice"

Fly Like an Eagle!

Our SLCA Cross Country Eagles soared at McAlpine Creek Park today! This was the kind of day that a coach dreams of- almost half the team ran a personal best. Congratulations, Eagles!

Book # 35: Boundaries

Book: Boundaries
Author: Dr. Henry Cloud, Dr. John Townsend
Acquired: Jumped in my cart while I was browsing the books at Salvation Army.

The subheading of this book says it all, "When to say YES, When to say NO to take control of your life."

I would like to buy a dozen copies of this book to hand out to all my friends. I don't know about you, but I have a hard time saying no in this performance-driven, you-are-what-you-produce culture. What if I don't seem spiritual? What if I miss out on something? What if I hurt someone's feelings?

I feel too busy...I think I read somewhere that busyness is a sign of an empty heart....I tried to find it, but found something else:

“We often say we’re busy, but what does this term mean? We just say it without thinking because it’s an easy response and it sounds good. It sounds better to say that we’ve been keeping busy than to say we’re doing nothing, right? . . . Beneath this cultural pressure lies a more poignant and sobering truth: busyness is a sign of vanity. We find our worth through our busyness." - Intervarsity Website

I feel sad for my students. They are the busiest people I know. They fly from one activity to another, filling up their college resumes, yet leaving their hearts behind.

It comes down to this: "Our lives are our responsibility...A helpful way to understand setting limits is that our lives are a gift from God. Just as a store manager takes good care of a shop for the owner, we are to do the same with our souls."

Do you have trouble saying "NO"? NO, to the co-worker who constantly needs you to rescue them from their lack of responsibility? NO, to the friend who only calls to dump all her problems on you and never asks how you are doing? NO, to yourself when you keep wanting to keep hitting the snooze button every morning? NO, to the people in your church who want you to teach Sunday School even though you are already greeting and helping with the Women's Retreat?

READ THIS BOOK!

2. Break 25 minutes for a 5k- Attempt #1

To celebrate 30 years of life, I have a list of 30 things I would like to accomplish this year. Very high on that list is running a 5k in less than 25 minutes. Last fall I ran the HFFA 5k in 25:25, just 25 seconds away!

This morning, however, was not quite so close. It was a slow 27:52 at the Hit the Brixx 5k.

Oh well!

At least three good things came out of this morning:
1. I learned what NOT to do: NO coffee before a run. NO dairy products for breakfast. NO staying up to late the night before. NO waiting til the last minute to hydrate. NO benadryl. NO running while you are sick.

2. I got to eat free Brixx Pizza AFTER the race. YUM!

3. Standing in front of me at the start line was a very inspirational woman. She was wearing a bright blue San Diego marathon technical tee, a bright blue hat to match her shirt, neon green socks, and silver earrings. Her name was Harriette and she was 87 years old! When I asked Harriette about the San Diego marathon her son answered saying that she had won her age group 12 years in a row and had raised more money for Team in Training than anyone else.

I found her name in the results and then asked Mr. Google to help me learn more about this incredible lady - stalker-ish, I know.

Article in Run, Theoden, Run
Article at Runnersworld.com

I hope that I can still run and enjoy life when I am Harriette's age, and perhaps by then I will have broken that 25 minute goal!

Next attempt: Lung Strong 5k in Cornelius on Oct. 16!

14.2 Made from scratch Pizza Dough

Item # 14 on the list of 30 things to do this year: Cook using a recipe....once a month.

I haven't been too consistent on this one, so let's just modify the goal to cook 12 new things from a cookbook! This weekend my niece Cheyenne helped me make homemade PIZZA!! So many questions came up:
- does a teaspoon of sea salt equal a teaspoon of regular salt??!! Not sure, but the pizza dough was way too salty!!
- how do you measure yeast? It says on the back of the packet that one packet equals 2 1/4 teaspoon....but I only needed 1 1/2 of a teaspoon....so I used a teaspoon, but it took the whole packet to fill it up?!
- are there any special rules for using wheat flour?

Cheyenne didn't complain, though, so I am content!

18. Have my niece over for a weekend

My niece Cheyenne came and spent the weekend with me! YAY! We watched the SLCA Eagles win in football, took the dog for a jog, went to the park, made homemade pizza and went to church. Fun weekend! Hats off to my sister who works hard being a mom every day!!

Urban Cowboy

Anyone see anything out of the ordinary in this picture?

The other day I looked out my window to see 8 neighborhood guys ride by on their...horses?

Shepherd King

What a sweet sound to hear the Shepherd call!
Hear and obey, rend him our all.
His loving staff will correct a wondering heart, should it misstep

Shepherd King
Your hand gently leads
Your sheep hear your voice
and following it rejoice

What a sweet sound to hear the Shepherd call.
The only one who can restore our hearts.
Who leads us where the still waters run to give us rest

Shepherd King
Your hand gently leads
We don't know the way,
still we trust your heart

Life in a Boat

So what do you do
When life is not what you hoped,
And you find yourself alone
Out in the ocean in a boat?

What do you say
To the sky up above
As you scan the horizon
Looking for the one you love?

What do you feel
When no one answers back
When it seems like your fault,
Your navigation's just off track?

What do you think
When the waters are too deep,
Do you grab a life vest,
Or just let yourself sink?

El pajarito

Un poema
Por Trish

¡Suéltame ya, quiero volar!

No en mi mente, sino en mi corazón.
Quiero ser libre y sin inhibición.
Libre para ser y desear,
Libre para vivir y amar sin dudar.

Pero un pájaro libre no puede volar
Si lleva adentro una jaula.
¿Quién tiene las llaves para soltar
el pajarito que quiere cantar?


-- Post From My iPhone

Book # 34 Shepherding a Child's Heart- Tedd Tripp

"There is another problem. If you address only behavior in your children, you never get to the cross of Christ. It is impossible to get from preoccupation with behavior to the Gospel. The Gospel is not a message about doing things. It is a message about being a new creature. It speaks to people as broken, fallen sinners who are in need of a new heart. God had given his Son to make us new creatures. God does open-heart surgery, not a face-lift. He produces change from the inside out. He rejects the man who fasts twice a week and accepts the sinner who cries for mercy." - Tedd Tripp


-- Post From My iPhone