SURPRISE!

SOOO... I actually surprised D for his birthday. His birthday was Thursday and we went out to dinner in Roanoke which was fun. Friday, after his last day of work, he and his buddy, Stone, were going fishing for a few hours. I decided that would be a great night to get people together and try to surprise him. I called Stone up and we decided on a way to get Dennis to go over to Stone's house after fishing (and a back-up plan in case he didn't want to) and I made up a couple excuses saying I would be busy around the time they were finishing up fishing so that he wouldn't want to hang out with me... because naturally, he ALWAYS does. =) I was able to get off work a couple hours early, started making the cake at my house and then met my friend Kristi at Stone's to start working on the pizzas. There was quite a bit involved in making them because I wanted them all to be from scratch (minus the secret, EASY, pizza dough recipe). We had all the pizza crusts pre baked and toppings on them and cake frosted by the time Stone called saying Dennis was about 5 minutes away. It was a fun surprise and the pizza's were a big hit, exactly what I wanted.

Roasted eggplant and olive pizza with provolone cheese and fresh parsley.

A goat cheese and zucchini pizza with fresh basil.

And my new favorite was the fresh mozzarella and asparagus.

And how can we have Dennis's birthday without something chocolate and peanut butter?

i don't wanna grow up

sometimes i just don't want to grow up. i really like my life at the age i am. i have enough responsibility to feel well....responsible, and enough fun and energy to enjoy my age. vacation time at work is always an issue for me. there never seems to be enough, no matter how many i am allowed. my co-worker just returned from a week's 'vacation' and when i asked him how it was, he said he read two books and was bored the rest of the time. my other two co-workers recently took vacation time to college hunt with their children. i was so appalled at each. now, as i am typing this, however, i realize that where i am currently at in life affords me to be a selfish person. i don't have anyone that i need to give up my time for - i can use it however i please. someday i may be married and someday i may have children. when that time comes, i will not be selfish and will use my vacation time not on me, but centered on them. for now - i don't wanna grow up. is that bad?

green thumb 2010

This is my potted garden (minus the cilantro which is living on the back deck, for now). From front to back we have basil, mixed greens, and my incredibely large zucchini plants. It's so fun to see your little seeds prosper =)

This is my zucchini plant, the flowers just opened up today and thought it looked pretty tropical! The leaves are SO huge and beginning to take over our sidewalk but I have no other sunny place for them. I would love for them to produce veggies for me, they are looking promising! Check out how big the leaves are compared to my little feet!

motivation

Main Entry: mo·ti·va·tion
Pronunciation: \ˌmō-tə-ˈvā-shən\
Function: noun
Date: 1873
1 a : the act or process of motivating b : the condition of being motivated
2 : a motivating force, stimulus, or influence : incentive, drive


Here's my question for you. I have always looked at motivation as, some people are just very self motivated and some people are not. I saw it as something that came natural to some people and others would never 'become' motivated. What do you think? Do you think that someone who isn't self motivated is always going to be that way? Or can they work on 'becoming' motivated people? Thoughts? Comments?

convictions

Never let my heart become harder than I have allowed it to become. Keep me from fading so far from you that I become callous to who you are and what you can do, dear Father.

At work I am grumpy to co-workers, how does that exhibit Christ's love? At home I am grumpy toward my roommates, how is that different from a non-believer? I've let so many things slide and make every excuse why it's okay for me to act that way. In doing so, I've quit striving for higher. I've given up. I settle and say that my good days make up for my bad days rather than reaching over that 'line' and setting the higher standard. I don't know why. If I allow this to continue, my life will be meaningless. What's the point of living the mediocre life? I remind myself of that and believe it's true, but what am I going to do to really change? Right now, I don't know. I know it's going to be a struggle to change the poor habits I've let creep in. I know it's going to take time to recognize all the areas that need changing.

Father, remind me of you. Remind me that you are the LORD of Hosts: the first and the last and that there is no God besides you. I am not changing for other people, I am not changing for myself, I need to change to please you.