April and Randy dot com

Discomfort

Originally uploaded by livingstudios

The theme in my life recently has been one of “discomfort.” I keep hearing about living uncomfortably from many varying sources.

The idea is that God is going ask each of us to do things that will stretch us, that will make us more like Him and more reliant on Him. If we are living too quietly and comfortably, there is a good chance we’re not really seeking God’s will for our lives. At a recent conference Randy and I attended, Dr. Dan Allender (of Mars Hill Graduate School) put it in these terms (heavily paraphrased but hopefully accurate): If you are doing something you feel passionate about which at the same time you don’t really want to do it but feel that you need to do it (possibly because no one else will), then you are probably doing what God wants you to do. Did you follow that? Read it again.

A good friend of mine framed it another way. In most of the parables, Jesus would challenge people to do the very things they didn’t want to do. For instance, in Matthew 19 when the rich young man asks what he needs to do to have eternal life, Jesus tells him to sell all of his possessions and give the money to the poor (which the rich man decides he can’t do). Also in Matthew 15 when the Canaanite woman asks Jesus to heal her daughter, Jesus makes a jab at her and instead of walking away, she answers in humility (perhaps she had an issue with pride?) and Jesus grants her request.

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Matthew 6:19-21

I am wondering what God wants me to do but to be honest, there is a part of me that is afraid to ask, afraid to leave the comfort of my easy and known life. Still, more and more, this call to sacrifice is weighing on my heart. So I pray for God to use me. I pray for wisdom to discern His desires. I pray for strength to joyfully give Him what is not mine but has always been His.

In the midst of getting settled in our new home, I sometimes struggle with the fact that our daughter likes to “help” by generally spreading stuff everywhere and being a bit distracting. In the end, I know that this time is only a season and someday I’ll be begging for her to spend time with us.

There was a day recently where I was just feeling completely overwhelmed by what had to get done, and how little time and energy was left in reserves. Kes put it all in perspective that day. I had just received some shoes that I purchase off of eBay for her and put on one of the black pairs. We had no idea they were squeaky shoes. Every time Kes took a step, her shoes squeaked. Suddenly, she was giggling and I was laughing. Kes helps me to remember the little joys in life.

Today we worked on removing some of the flotsam and jetsam in our garage — stuff we had stored for years during apartment life. Kes sat in the garage while we worked, coloring in a coloring book with a new box of crayons, playing with the ping pong balls we found and just exploring her world. She’s a trooper. We are so blessed that we get to see the world again through her eyes.

Packing

Originally uploaded by aprilandrandy

We have made the plunge and are purchasing a townhouse. Luckily looking forward to the end result is exciting enough to go through the energy draining process of moving. Counting moves where we physically moved the majority of our belongings, since Randy and I got married, this will be move number 9.

Randy will be collecting our things from Kentucky where they have been in storage in our dear friends’ basement for 2 1/2 years. This is the stuff that we didn’t need or have room for in our aparment (e.g., washer & dryer, weed eater, china hutch, etc.) and when we finally open up all those boxes, it’ll be like Christmas. Or will it?

We’ve lived without this stuff for a long time. There is the school of thought that we just don’t need it all. We’ll try to employ the guidelines from Peter Walsh’s book “It’s All Too Much: An Easy Plan for Living a Richer Life with Less Stuff” which make a lot of sense. Over on 43 Folders, Merlin Mann is taking Walsh’s advice to heart and he has blogged about his journey to a richer life. I picked up my copy of this book from the side of my bed and am re-reading it in preparation for facing our stuff.

That aside, I am very excited to move into a new home with more room than our apartment, a patio where we can use our gas grill, and a kitchen that might hold most of my kitchen wares. And we won’t have to walk up three flights of stairs to get to our front door!

At the moment, my life is all about packing.

Oh and if this isn’t enough to do, the company I work for is moving to a new building the day before we move into our new home. When it rains, it pours.

laughing and shy

Originally uploaded by k-girl

One of my favorite organization blogs is having a little contest with great prizes. All you have to do is leave a comment that includes a clean and tasteful joke.

Have fun!

3 Generations

Originally uploaded by aprilandrandy

We received news from the Philippines that my lola (grandmother) fell asleep in the Lord yesterday. My mother was able to fly there and arrived just a day before Lola’s passing.

My Lola Juana lived with us for several years when I was young and I have wonderful memories of her. Although only 95 lbs., she was able to lift giant bundles of laundry tied up in bed sheets over her head, strong from a lifetime of hard work. Lola had a sweet, wonderful laugh and a kind spirit. I wish I’d had a chance to know her better once I became an adult, but those questions and conversations will have to wait until the hereafter now.

I love you, Lola, and will miss you.

Randy and I tried out our new underwater digital camera (Vivitar ViviCam 6200W) this week while snorkeling at Blackrock at Kaanapali Resort on Maui. After years of wrestling with disposable or even refillable 35mm underwater cameras, it was soooo nice to have the luxury of taking digital photos and video and having an inkling if we got a good shot or not.

We encountered three green sea turtles who couldn’t have cared less about the swarms of snorkelers surrounding them. It was like a little bit of magic being able to swim along side them (keeping our distance because 1) they are endangered and 2) turtles can bite).

I’m loving this camera so far and it seems to be just a good back up digital camera so Randy and I don’t have to fight over the Kodak.

In a cool twist of fate, flickr.com is now allowing pro users to upload short videos. I’m loving it!

Randy’s Hair

Originally uploaded by aprilandrandy

Back in the day, Randy had long hair. He was very popular around Easter as everyone wanted him to portray Jesus in their church dramas and musicals. The rest of the year, church people looked at him like, “We really need to get that boy saved.” Funny how that works.

One of his guitar students requested to see pictures of his hair and so I scanned a few to our flickr.com photostream. If I find any more gems, I’ll add them too.

lock & lock 9.06.07

Originally uploaded by yummy noodle

I’ve been a fan of Tupperware® for decades. I especially love their big bowls (like the Thatsa™ Mega Bowl). That being said, I have found a new love: Lock&Lock.

What makes Lock&Lock different is that they quick and easy to seal – you just press down two of the four tabs at a time and just like the name, you lock and lock. There has been many a time when I thought I’d properly sealed a container from other food storage systems only to find salad dressing all over the inside of my bag at the end of the day.

Lock&Lock has been on QVC since 2001 (and is now available at my favorite brick and mortar retailer Target) but I didn’t buy any pieces until just a couple of months ago when I bought the 4-piece pitcher & mixer set. Now that I’m addicted to Arbonne’s Go Easy! Protein Shakes, I constantly use the mixers. They have a little insert that looks like a wagon wheel that breaks up any lumps. I just put in some water, add some ice cubes (I like my shakes cold), and add the shake mix. I lock down the lid, shake the mixer and voilà – I have a tasty, smooth, healthy shake.

Now, I wasn’t sealing my mixers correctly, pressing only one tab at a time and over time I tore off one of the locking tabs. I called the U.S. office of Lock&Lock and they are sending me a new lid (free of charge, I must add). A great product AND customer service? I guess it can still happen outside of Nordstrom.

I think my next Lock&Lock purchase will be the divided container which is like a little bento box. As a child, there was a period when I wanted all of my food separated onto different saucers so nothing would touch. Now there is a modern, more convenient way to keep my foods’ flavors from getting all mixed up. Okay, maybe it’s not good to feed these OCD tendencies but bento sure is tidy and pretty as well.

Mini Caramel Cheesecakes

Originally uploaded by Daffodilious

Yeah. I know. Where have I been for the last few months? Well, I started working more hours and it seems to have wreaked havoc with my life’s rhythm. It feels like I’ve blinked my eyes and suddenly went from Christmas to almost St. Patrick’s Day.

I did manage to make a trip out to Seattle to see my family a couple of weeks ago. My sister flew in from Arizona so it was a nice mini-reunion. As I get older, seeing family has become more important, more valued, and more bittersweet. Now that I’m an adult and can really appreciate my family, it’s sad that we all live so far away from each other.

Amazingly enough, I didn’t gain any weight on this trip. It’s a miracle. I discovered The Confectional, a bakery specializing in mini-cheesecakes located in the Pike Place Market. They sell this hot chocolate, I think it was Colombian hot chocolate, which was unbelievable. I only bought a shot of it (yes, it’s that rich), but now I wish I’d indulged more. The cheesecakes are fabulous too.

I’ve posted some pictures on our flickr.com photostream. I didn’t take any pictures of the cheesecakes, but there are some food pictures, some family pictures and a zillion shots of Kes (naturally).

All Dressed Up

Originally uploaded by aprilandrandy

I’ve just posted pictures on our flickr.com photostream. It was great to spend the week of Thanksgiving with Randy’s family. Monday we went with our new nephew-in-law (is that a real term?) Mikey and his new bride our niece Cindy to visit Washington, DC. We went just a few months back with my sister and her family and at that time we felt broiled, but this time, we had to bundle up. The crowds were quite reasonable and the autumn leaves gave the city’s landscape a completely different feel.

One of the highlights was our dinner at Phillip’s Seafood Flagship Restaurant. Although we eat at Phillips in Ocean City, MD every summer during our family vacation, we’d never been to this location and never tried the buffet (we normally order off the menu). The seafood buffet was yummy. The sheer volume of food choices reminded me of the buffets in Las Vegas.

Another little adventure on this trip was our stay in the Marriott Renaissance M Street Hotel. Normally we don’t stay in 4-star hotels as they are just a bit out of our price range, but when we decided to stay overnight in DC, I remembered my beloved William Shatner and his campy Priceline.com commercials. Was I going to be a namby pamby? No! I offered a measly $65 for our one-night’s stay, and it was accepted! The hotel has undergone a multi-million-dollar renovation and it is lovely from the two LG HD LCDs in our suite to the modern bathroom sink and counter top. Ever since watching the movie “Beverly Hills Cop” in the ’80s, I’d always wanted to stay in a hotel that provided the guest bathrobes during their stay. Anyhow, we enjoyed our experience very much.