to find beauty

my phone

I told Dave I didn't want a new smart phone: No to the iPhone. No to the Droid. No to any phone that isn't worth much without a dataplan.

I've been feeling this conviction for awhile. When you're managing a tight household budget, and each month you're scrimping for gas and groceries and all the other household bills... it's really, really hard to see over $200 go to a cell phone bill. Is it worth it?

I asked myself what I used my phone for - perhaps a good rationalization would sway me to stay with my smart phone (really, just an older Storm Blackberry). But other than checking my gmail account (which honestly is mostly junk mail left over from wedding registries - they don't warn you about this when you register!) and playing some silly games... the bulk of what I use my phone for is... checking Facebook.

Really Cori?! You have a laptop for that... and is it really that important to check FB every hour on the hour?

No.

So, I've been wrestling this feeling to downgrade my phone for a couple months now... and last night I was forced to make a decision.

The screen on my phone went black. I've had the phone a year and half. Already the buttons were failing me, but without a screen, a TOUCH SCREEN phone is pretty much pointless.

I handed Dave the phone. I told him: "I don't want another smart phone. (I have insurance, so I could get another Blackberry for a fee...) Do whatever you need to do, but I want a regular phone. One that makes phone calls and one that I can text with... oh, and I'd like to take pictures still... Cancel the dataplan. I will be FREEE!"

My husband is awesome. He told me: "Cori, we will get a new phone for you and we won't pay anything. I got the skillz to pay the billz."

And sure enough, a couple hours later he called me (well, he called the church where I work, because I don't have a phone... doh!) and told me the great news: new phone, no dataplan, no extra fancy phone features, everything will be credited and removed, no extra charges. 

The new phone? Well, I get it tomorrow. It's an LG Accolade. Less bells and whistles, but the reviews are decent for a flip phone. We'll see if its love at first sight. If I have any regrets or experience envy over any of my friends' fancy phones... I will just tell myself: "You're saving $35 a month. You're saving $35 a month. You're saving $35 a month."

And to be totally honest: it feels really good. Like I am sticking it to the so-called "man"! Resisting temptation and wanting what everyone else has... I can't wait to see the savings on our bill!

Best of all, I feel like I am obeying God and what is best for my family.

quick pork chops with green salsa

I've officially decided to turn my love for watching the Food Network and this blog, into a love for preparing delicious, creative meals that I can actually eat... not just salivate over on tv... and that means I need to get busy learning how to do fancy cookin' stuff. 

I actually love to cook (and have whipped up some pretty creative dishes!), so that's not an issue, but I think I get lazy. I don't make "fancy food" because I am daunted by the steps and skills required... and the time! But so-called "fancy food" is healthier, more economical and well, Dave and I need both!

My first action was to read through my various collected recipes, cookbooks, etc, and plan out some meals to prepare for the next week (or two?)

I wrote out a thorough shopping list, and then tackled numerous budget-friendly grocery stores ... And I know God was with me because 1. I stayed within price budget and 2. when I was standing in front of the dairy case looking for the heavy cream (where o' where are you dear heavy cream?), and a girl about my age was also looking for the heavy cream and she called her mom for instructions on what it looked like. (She was making alfredo.) Together, us and her mom via phone, found the little container of creamy goodness on the top shelf in the back... not called "heavy cream" but something else like heavy whipping cream. 

I managed to check off nearly everything from my shopping list (decided to buy salmon fresh the night I make it instead of in the frozen form)  and was very thankful to have a handy and handsome hubby to bring in all the grocery bags! Though he escaped to play Call of Duty on the xbox while I put everything away...

So, here it is. Meal numero uno. The first night of my fancy meal planning, and I am using a recipe from the Diabetes DTour Diet cookbook - one of the many cookbooks my hubby was blessed with when he worked at the family shelter. The cookbook promises "200 undeniably delicious recipes to balance my blood sugar and melt away pounds".... yay! As I was recently told my blood sugar was "pre-diabetic", I am kinda in a scare about it! (Dave's is fine though, of course.) 

The recipe I chose to begin this little sojourn looked tasty and I was attracted to the "quick" in the title - we'll see if it lives up to its name! I also like the idea of cooking with edamame and tomatillos! 

I had to change the recipe a bit because as awesome as I thought I was at menu planning and grocery shopping, I missed adding some items/spices to the list. Like cumin, the main spice.

Oh well. 

Also, I wasn't planning on Dave needing to "practice using the espresso machine" at the exact time I wanted to start dinner in our small kitchen... I am assuming this is pretty normal, typical man behavior, so I will give him a couple minutes to dinker around...

Quick Pork Chops with Green Salsa

1 1/2 cups frozen shelled edamame
4 boneless pork chops
1 tsp ground cumin (after a little Googlin' I learned that I can substitute ground coriander and chili powder. I think its fitting for me, Cori, to use coriander, don't you? I didn't have chili powder, of course, but I did have cayenne pepper. It worked.)
1/4 tsp salt
1 tbsp canola oil
6 tomatillos
4 scallions
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 chicken broth (the recipe calls for fat-free, reduced sodium - I am using what I have on hand, which was not fat-free or reduced sodium but it was all-natural!)
1/4 cup chopped cilantro 

1. Prepare the edamame according to the package directions; drain.

2. Rub the chops with the round coriander and cayenne peppper and salt. Coat a large nonstick skillet with cooking spray and heat over medium-high heat. Add the chops and cook for 4 minutes, turning over once (or until the temp is 160 and juices run clear.)  (I was very excited that the smoke alarm did not go off, as it is known to do whenever I cook anything hot.) Remove to plate and keep warm.

3. Heat the oil in the same skillet over medium-high heat, cook the tomatillos [Never made these before! Exciting!] scallions, and garlic, stirring constantly for 5 minutes or until browned. Add the broth, cilantro, and edamame and cook for 3 minutes (until the flavors "meld").

Serve with the chops to your happy, hungry husband on your pretty white dishes!

Check it out -- my food looks like the food in the picture! (Also, don't you love the Fiestaware butter dish holding my cookbook up? ha!)

And, it was, pretty darn good. I really liked the coriander and cheyenne pepper spice - which I didn't know beforehand! The pork chops were perfect! And the green salsa was sour with a kick to it. I am just so impressed with myself! Go Cori!

However, to gauge with the true meter: Dave. He gave it a 7 out of 10. Not bad for my first attempt at culinary greatness!

 

 

a time to plant and a time to uproot

Fall is my favorite time of the year. I love when the weather cools down and the wind blows through the golden red and brown leaves creating a whirlwind of color in the sky... I love breaking out the sweaters and hoodies and scarves - heck, it's Oregon: the mittens too! I also love seeing school supplies in the stores, Daylight Savings Time and even the unavoidable argument of Ducks vs. Beavers during football season.

I've been thinking a lot about seasons lately, and not just the seasons we learn about in kindergarten.

Seasons of life. For two years I was in a season of "finish school, work hard, squeeze in the fun." I didn't know it, but I was in a season of preparation. Getting ready to meet my husband. Getting ready for a full-time ministry position. Getting ready for my world to change completely!

I graduated. I got married. And I joined my husband, Dave, at My Father's House, a family shelter in Gresham, Oregon. We moved into a great, little one-bedroom apartment on the main level, and Dave's role went from Floor Manager to Overnight Manager. His job, amongst other things, was to keep the night safe for residents. I was also promoted to Office Support Director, a full-time position at Abundant Life Church which led to increased hours and responsibility. 

We loved it. We spent our precious off-the-clock hours enjoying each other, and settling into this new season of life and juggling plans with various friends and baby-sitting our wonderful niece. 

We've also been learning a lot about family shelters, homelessness, and the crazy co-existence of marriage and full-time ministry. Both are emotionally, if not time-wise, demanding. Both are wonderful. And as we navigated toilet seats being left up and who's cooking dinner or who's doing the laundry... we navigated how each one of us is gifted by God to serve and love Him... how together we bring a whole new team to the table for God. 

We thought we had planned things out perfectly. We'd live at the Shelter for year or two, working on some past debt, learning about each other and how to be married and praying for what God had for us next.

(I was hoping for Nicaragua; he was hoping for Croatia.)

And then our timeline got crunched. God had other plans for us!

Starting with our zip code. Hello packing boxes! We will be saying our farewells to the staff and residents of the shelter starting, well, now. We will be moving out of the shelter the first week of November. We will be moving from 97030 to 97060 - to a great two-bedroom apartment we found in Troutdale!

(For those who know me well: Elwood can come too! It also means I get my "shared" office area back!!!) 

And Dave will no longer serve and work at My Father's House. He didn't do anything "wrong" - just another victim to the downward economy. When giving to non-profits is down: you gotta do, what you gotta do. We love the shelter, we love the staff and the families. We especially love the youth kiddos who have enriched our lives this past year in the youth group. THEY have taught us so much about dealing with change and dealing with things out of one's control. They're pretty amazing, actually.

His last day will be October 28th. They told the staff and residents today; we waited for them to know before we made the news 'public'. Most people thought we were breaking baby news. 

Nope. 

And maybe you're confused because you thought we had "good news." Read on.

It's easy to feel bitter or scared. Read my previous post: Dave and I were going through big changes and it was causing me to wonder about my faith in God and the plan He had for us... not because it's bad, but for me: because I don't know what it is. I have to step back and trust in Him who has all things under His mighty, loving control.

During this time, Pastor George Powell (ALC) gave the staff the book Ruthless Trust by Brennan Manning. Honestly, the timing couldn't have been better for me. I could quote many things, but I love this (and it was easy for me to find again!): 

Unwavering trust is a rare and precious thing because it often demands a degree of courage that borders on heroic. When the shadow of Jesus' cross falls across our lives in the form of failure, rejection, abandonment, betrayal, unemployment, loneliness, depression, the loss of a loved one; we are deaf to everything but the shriek of our own pain; when the world around us suddenly seems a hostile, menacing place-- at those times we may cry out in anguish, "How could a loving God permit this to happen?" At such moments the seeds of distrust are down. It requires heroic courage to trust in the love of God no matter what happens to us. (pg 3-4)

Wow! was all I could say when I read it the first time. I needed to be reminded to be brave and to trust that God loves me so much. How easy it is to dwell in our own pain and to blame the world.

I also take condolence in the words Paul spoke to the Galatians. Now, Dave is the pastor-not me- so I'll need some grace here as a stumble through the biblical application portion of the post. But Paul shares his concerns to the Galatians (Galatians 4:8-11):

Formerly, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those who by nature are not gods. But now that you know God—or rather are known by God—how is it that you are turning back to those weak and miserable principles? Do you wish to be enslaved by them all over again? You are observing special days and months and seasons and years! I fear for you, that somehow I have wasted my efforts on you.

Yikes. How easy is it to forget that I am a child of God, and that I am not to be enslaved by the worldly values... values that could be also called sin. Separating me from my Abba father, when I need Him the most.

I love that Paul says not to dwell in the stuff God rescued us from, but (and this is where I twist words a little) says to celebrate! Okay, so he says NOT to celebrate the worldly holidays, but I am going to argue he'd be cool with celebrating the days, months, seasons and years that God gave us to serve and love Him! Because in these seasons, God is teaching me -us- so much. Besides isn't there something about a season for everything? A time to plant and a time to uproot... We are living in not just new zip codes, but in a new faith and trust for the future He has for us.

So, I gotta admit: we are getting pretty darn excited. Sad to say goodbye, of course, but we have chosen to look to the future with anticipation. We have pledged together to trust God wholeheartedly.

And new fall-time sweater adorned, my handsome, wonderful husband went to his first job interview this week... 

welcome back?

I've been a little busy. My life has changed so dramatically in the course of a summer... graduating, becoming an aunt again, getting married, turning 30... it can be overwhelming... and amazing.

I've given myself permission to devote my attention to my new husband, managing a new home or getting settled in at my work and ministry - the blog can wait. 

I am asked quite often how married life is going. The honest truth is... we're doing great. I love marriage. Though, we're tired most of the time (99%), and work and ministry has our minds and hearts heavy and full. We're addicted to Netflix and Chocolate and Peanut Butter Bugles. Dave is starting to eat salad... things are good.

I'm juggling a busy, exciting ministry career at Abundant Life Church and volunteering with Dave and the youth group at My Father's House. I am still recovering from an all-nighter all-girls slumber party last Sunday night. Girls are so silly! 

Dave is also setting into his role at MFH as the Overnight Manager... which means I share my husband at night with the emergency phone - and he becomes the house warden! Talk about a crazy first month of marriage! At any time in the night, the phone will ring, startling me out of sleep as Dave jumps out of bed, scrambling for clothes (heehee). I've been so impressed with his ability to not sound like a total grouch when he answers those late-night phone calls. He's got a lot of patience!

Some nights, there are no rings... other nights... well, the phone goes a little nutso and Dave is off helping someone with something and I get to hog the bed for awhile. As newlyweds, sharing your night-time moments with an interrupting telephone can be quite the romance breaker... but we are working it out and I think we've gotten more accustomed to an interruptible life!

And I miss my cat more than words can begin to express. Elwood, the best cat ever, had to stay with the "grandparents." I visit often, bringing my "child support" of his favorite food and treats. But I miss my cat, and I look forward to living somewhere someday where he can live too!

Every once in awhile, I get a little homesick for my old life... mostly I miss the comfortability of the life I had established as a single, independent gal. Weird, huh? I also never had to worry about toilet seat still being up, someone else's messes to clean up or watching football... ugh. And I had a lot more alone time.

I got used to being in control of my life... well, as much as one can really be in control... and with marriage and working in ministry... there is a lot of control that needs to be turned over to a spouse or to God. I am learning a lot, and while it feels painful sometimes, I love that God has Dave and I in his protective arms. 

I am also learning how to listen better. Catching myself from nagging too much (usually too late) and being totally AMAZED at how weird men are: especially Dave. He wants to bless me all the time. He's always saying wonderful, nice things to me. When I am cranky, he can still look at me and say I love you. He makes me breakfast, coffee and a lunch every morning. He helps with dishes, garbage, and sometimes even bathroom duties. He cleans the floors - the task I hate the most - and knows better than to drink the last Diet Coke. 

He does things like to leave his clothes on the floor (still learning about sorting colors with our fancy laundry sorter) and makes the bed like a ten-year old... But I love him.

I love him a lot. And as I learn how to write openly about this new season of life... I am sure God has many lessons for me to learn.