This one time I had a blog…

Sigh. Life seems somewhat settled and restful, in a good way. Thus I feel some sort of permission, or ability rather, to update my blog. Things are falling into place and making sense, even though things are still up in the air and I’m not sure what everything means.

I’ve moved back to San Luis Obispo, or as my mother keeps saying, moved forward to San Luis Obispo ha! I think I had to go through this whole process of uncertainty to be ok with coming back to my college town and see it in a different light. Coming back to SLO does in fact feel like moving forward, its not the same nor am I. Learning, its the word that keeps pressing me now, 25th year a year of learning and defininition. What? I don’t get it either.

I’m working at a cafe in SLO that has made it’s home near the train station for a year now. Sally Loo’s is a place for wanders, grumpy train-travelers and settlers. Its got the college crew but also I side of SLO that I wasn’t very aquatinted with; apparently people actually live in San Luis Obispo! Whoda thunk! Anyways, I’ve only worked a few times, and it already feels like a great place to interact with community, not to mention the people who I work with are pretty much amazing.

Point being: it feels great to be where I think I’m meant to be. For the time being at least!

When life hands you oranges…

candy them.

and thats what i will share with you, but first, life.

still living at home, still attempting to finish my senior project aka thorn in my flesh. transitioning out of college has not been easy, i long for the community i had in slo. really thats what ive learned to long for, community. really all ive had in this season is the Lord, which He has been gracious to grant me some good friends within driving distance, and good friends who will drive to me. another thing he has been gracious to grant me with (not to mention my parents and their friends): time to cook. my love for cooking good food, eating said food and sharing that good food with friends has  had plenty of time to grow and multiply. as my ideas of cooking have changed and my desire for community grown, ive seen how they are so connected. when i cook, i get to create and be messy and it makes me feel closer to the Creator. then when i get to watch others enjoy that food and i get to enjoy it with them, it gives me such joy and i feel connected to others. so i think im going to run with this, well see where it takes me.

two of the nice things about living at home are my mom’s cookbooks and the garden. so candied oranges. yum. easy. bonus: fills your house with citrusy honey goodness.

heres a recipe i found in The Redbook Cookbook:

about 4 oranges and a couple lemons

12 cups water

2 1/2 cups sugar

1/2 cup honey

1 3/4 cups boiling water

1 cup sugar

Remove peels from fruit with sharp knife, cutting as close to the pulp as possible. Cut into 1/4 inch wide and 2 inch long to make 3 cups of peels. Bring 6 cups of water to a boil in a large saucepan over moderate heat. Add the cups of fruit peels and return to boil. Boil, uncovered, 10 minutes. Drain and Rinse peels. Repeat with remaining 6 cups of water. In a large saucepan combine the 2 1/2 cups sugar, honey and 1 3/4 cups boiling water. Bring mixture to  a boil, stirring occasionally, over moderate heat and boil 1 minute. Add cooked, drained peels; simmer over moderately low heat about 40 to 50 minutes, stirring occasionally. Pour peels in colander and let stand about 10 minutes to drain well. In a large bowl toss the well-drained peels and the remaining 1 cup sugar to coat pieces well. Spread pieces out on waxed paper to let dry thoroughly. Cover loosely with waxed paper and let dry overnight at room temperature. Store in tightly covered jars. Makes about 1 pound.

i suggest gathering the oranges with friends and family. and in your yard

peeling the peels

i wish you could smell pictures

et voila!

tomorrow i will dip them in dark chocolate

Back burner

Welp…I may or may not(as in I have) been putting off updating my blog. Why you ask? Well…my insecurities of defeat? Of disappointment? Of typing? Meh…needless to say I’ve been meaning to give my blog an update on my life, so when my good friend asked me for a 42 word update, I thought it’d be a great opportunity to concur said task. Then I waited another month.

BUT! folks! joy! here you have it! my danielle-johnson-inspired 42 word update:

Was going to move to Portland; decided not a good soul health plan. Living at home. Baking. Cooking. Crocheting. Bike riding. Seeing old friends. Task at hand: finish senior project. Next step: perhaps move near the city. Most definitely find a job.

So there you have it. I’m currently in the bay area and life is very refining. I’m very grateful for the time with the folks and that I get to be nearer to slo and friends during the maddness that is transitioning from college.

So now that this dam blog post is done, the river of tid-bit updates will flow.

wow

“The real damage is done by those millions who want to ’survive.’ The honest men who just want to be left in peace. Those who don’t want their little lives disturbed by anything bigger than themselves. Those with no sides and no causes. Those who won’t take measure of their own strength, for fear of antagonizing their own weakness. Those who don’t like to make waves or enemies. Those for whom freedom, honour, truth, and principles are only literature. Those who live small, mate small, die small. It’s the reductionist approach to life: if you keep it small, you’ll keep it under control. If you don’t make any noise, the bogeyman won’t find you. But it’s all an illusion, because they die too, those people who roll up their spirits into tiny little balls so as to be safe. Safe?! From what? Life is always on the edge of death; narrow streets lead to the same place as wide avenues, and a little candle burns itself out just like a flaming torch does. I choose my own way to burn.”-Sophie Scholl

if they ask you for sign of the Father, you tell them its movement

dear infinite internet,

sorry ive been gone, for the past two months i have been in the internet deprived mountains of the sierras, working at a camp called Calvin Crest Conferences. many stories and lessons learned later, i am back at home. so much to tell, mostly likely a lot wont get to on this scripted virtual moleskin. so i will have to sum a lot up.

its hard to grow tired of this

camp: i got to hang out with a bunch of junior highers and high schoolers and really awesome fellow staffers. hilarity and lots of immaturity(meaning fun) was to follow[including constant fart jokes with my teammates]. lessons learned: God is movement, in pain and suffering and feels pain and suffering. He likes to use the weak little small things to bring changes, grassroots. mostly i got to see this first hand with 12 year olds who are tired of injustice, and weary of their parent’s generation attempting to do it all. according to one jr higher, in order to bring healing to the major issues of this world “we need to get small”. once again, while attempting to teach, i was taught.

currently: i’m at home in the bay area, soaking up the family time and all the naan and curry i can get. time is currently spent on the internet searching for studio apartments(meaning i might be living life all by my self, cue celine dion) and trying to unpack. also im trying to make all the medical appointments possible while im still on my parent’s insurance

near(?) future: finishing up my senior project, finding  that internet searching for apartments is somewhat trivial therefore road tripping to portland to find my new home, transplanting into said home, getting a kitten, making jam, getting a job(not carreer), make a friend?, farmers markets, keep moving

next news, sharing my little vision/dream for my path ahead…

Obsessions, birthdays and ending

Well its been a bit friends. A little expected at the end of a school year, in fact a school career! Yes that is right, by a strength beyond anything i could ever muster, i have made it through 18 odd years of institutionalized school! And for what? well maybe ill never know…

In the past few weeks ive managed to turn another year older. it was an event filled with surprise friends visits, good cheese, good wine, good food and picnics by waterfalls. to put the weekend events in perspective, Sunday night ended with an impromptu limbo contest in  an alley way will old cardboard tubes. we jiggled our keys and an egg shaker while singing samba music for a good half an hour. i love my life.

playing mystical music at a ferry's dwelling the mouth of a cave. unfortunately, it was not as magical as is seems thanks to the mosquitoes

we are expert tree climbers

And finally my latest obsession: the new mewithoutYou album. Its much lighter and different then their previous albums, but still musically interesting and some of the most amazing lyrics. poetry, really. heres a spinet from the song “a Stick, a Carrot & String”:

and the night was cool
and clear as glass
with the sneaking snake in the garden grass
deep cried out to deep
the disciples fast asleep

and the snake perked up
when he heard You ask
“if you’re willing that
this cup might pass
we could find our way back home
maybe start a family all our own”

“but does not the Father guide the Son?
not my will, but yours be done.
what else here to do?
what else me, but You?”

and the snake who’d held the world
a stick, a carrot and a string
was crushed beneath the foot
of Your not wanting anything

sun is fun

We made a fabulous discovery the other day: canvases for 2 dollars. it naturally followed that me and my friends would have a french cuisine party and paint the eiffle tower and mustaches. THEN i found out i really like painting. so i loaded up on supplies. the sun then enticed me and my friends to paint a birthday present for another friend. complete with hippie dancing outside: magic.

katelyn adding to the masterpiece

the finished work romans 8:28

the artists. magnifique!

the artistic inspiration then led us to play unicorn inspired organ songs. the organ was purchased for a mere $50 from craigslist. the lady who were bought it from said brian wilson played the same kind, therefore she bought it. her house smelled of incenses and perched on the organ was a framed copy of her Beach Boys fan club membership. needless to say, the organ has served us well

we be jamin'

fingers a flyin'

Good Friday indeed

enjoying friends, community of people who care and are just as messed up as i am. and to remember what that cost, and why i am free to love and love. i find good friday to be the great reminder of why i am alive, and where i pray to be going. God drives me forward and makes me grateful for where ive come from. i think i can some it all up in this song

chariot by page france
last night, me and good friends got together for “make-your-own-sushi night”. good food, good friends, good coffee, good cake, good friday! harhar. it was a good day.

learning to make sushi!!

New Home?

A few days ago my parents and I drove up to PDX(a trip we do at least twice a year) for a different purpose. As usual we have had wonderful family time and laughter, but i am also here to see the city as seeing my posible new home. I am excited to say the least, I absoultly love the weather. The grey clouds feel like a comforting sky hug and the rain feels like “im a plant being watered”(mom).  we went to kell’s and i had a nice ruben and guiness and reconnected with my good friend, i felt very irish. McCleland. Then to look at apartments. I think if SLO, Berekley and San Fransico had a child, Portland would be born. needless to say im excited. I took some pictures to try and show why

kell's! some of the best irish food ive had

seasons, growth, green

view from apartment, of course theres a farmers market on the street

family. cheese. wine. not to mention happiness.

this is going to be good…

break from the books…

welp finals week is upon me. i really can’t wait for the joy it will be to not massively cram for tests, although i think i will miss the camaraderie the mad rush brings between students. everyone chugs coffee. everyone is doubtful of those who still look their best. and some make their first trip to the library. the other day i saw a girl grab five small bottles of concentrated caffeine/ energy drinks. i sampled one of them a few years ago and literally thought i was having a heart-attack. oh dear.

of course, its beautiful outside and flowers are in full bloom, so me and my friend took a short break to compose this…

some of my favorite things, all found within 40ft of where i was studying!

i also have been taking study breaks to work on those headbands i mentioned, im about half way done, heres a little preview:

cozy! good thing its not always hot in el salv....

as of now i am thankful for these things and also good coffee and friendly coffee shops. theres something comforting about coffee shops, a natural sense of community, even if you aren’t speaking with those around you. i think that will be something i run with…

ah the civil war...